Apeirogon

Rami surveys the town’s graffiti; there are markings about the war and occupation, and there are random tributes. On one of the walls, he thinks he sees Abir’s face painted there, but it is just another young girl.

Bassam visits Belfast to give his usual speech on peace between Israel and Palestine. His presentation is met by a standing ovation. Afterward, he talks and interacts with the Irish people. He feels listened to and heard. “It might even be easier,” he thinks, “to be a Palestinian abroad than at home” (177). The thought vexed him.

While building a palatial home atop Mount Gerezim for Palestine’s richest inhabitant, Munib al-Masri, builders discover wood beams, porcelain, and stone in the ground. Al-Masri halts building to do a complete excavation, in which they discover a monastery from 1600 years ago. He replicates the monastery and rebuilds the house 20 feet above it so the site can be opened to the public. People visit the home, which contains lavish works of art by famous painters and sculptors. With all his wealth and his polished appearance many people are surprised that he is Palestinian, much to al-Masri’s chagrin.

Some families of suicide bombers were given new houses by the Iranian government after their family members carried out the act. These payments were funneled through a labyrinthine process—political offices through Damascus, Switzerland, and back to Tehran. On a radical Islamic website there was a post, almost an advertisement for suicide bombers that read: “What you make fall, we will rebuild” (190). Rami viewed the inside of these houses in documentary footage. He watched the parents of the suicide bomber Youssef Shouli, who likely killed Smadar, speak into the camera.

Youssef Shouli studied graphic art at Bethlehem University. He wanted to make a Star of Bethlehem out of protest refuse. He was arrested outside a hotel where he was collecting discarded riot materials for his artwork. The court charged him with inciting protests even though the protest had long been over by the time he was there. He was given a four-year sentence.

Matti Peled, Smadar’s grandfather, was a military general. He taught her English and Arabic while she was growing up. Peled was Rami’s father-in-law, and he was the brains behind the Six-Day War, during which he directed surprise bombing raids and attacks. Despite his strong ties to Israel and his past in the creation of war and imperialism, Peled felt the Occupation was corrupt: “Freedom,” he told Rami, “begins between the ears” (194). He died of natural causes only a year and a half before his granddaughter. They were buried side by side under a grouping of trees.

Bassam was 24 years old at the end of his seven-year prison term. Upon his release, he resolved to find a wife though he’d never even held a woman’s hand. He met Salwa, and they have a date at her parent’s home, where they share Fanta and homemade food. They married just over a month after that date. They’d only talked for two full hours up to that point.

They had a son, Araab, who as a child had been caught throwing stones at school. Bassam was irate and made Araab promise on the Qur’an that he would never take part in a riot.

The end of the first half of the book finishes on a couple important notes. First, McCann describes the reasoning behind birds flying in V formations: “[B]irds position themselves in order to gain lift from the bird in front” (492). Secondly, McCann finally concludes the scene at the beginning of the book where Rami is driving around on his motorcycle killing time. Finally, Bassam meets him, they exchange kind words and discuss the number of people coming to their meeting that day. They are meeting in a monastery, and a monk greets them and takes them to their designated room.