Madelyn Hoffman’s book about Palestine, A Fleeting Glance, is now available!
End the Genocide! Dismantle Apartheid!
Contacts:
in the U.S.: Barry Bendar at 609-276-3183 or Rose Roby at roseroby888@gmail.com
in Colombia: Madelyn Hoffman at mrhlepaix@gmail.com
“In December 2013, I had my initial first-hand look at the ugly apartheid wall in occupied Palestine, the part of the wall that encircles Jerusalem,” said Madelyn Hoffman, author of the recently released young adults book A Fleeting Glance. “I witnessed the impact of the separation of Palestinians living in East Jerusalem and the Calandia refugee camp and Israelis in the city of Jerusalem, a city sacred to the three monotheistic religions. I also traveled to Al-Khalil (Hebron) on the illegally occupied West Bank, in a drive that should have taken 20 minutes, but took about an hour and a half because of the check points and because Palestinians aren’t allowed to drive on new roads reserved for Israelis only. After 2 ½ days on the West Bank, I found myself changed for life.”
“Today, more than 12 years later, I still carry the trauma around with me, though it’s nothing like what Palestinians experience. I feel it more acutely, as the country I was born in continues to block every call for a cease fire (even as recently as June 4, 2025) and an end to the illegal occupation of Palestine. At the same time, much of the world watches with horror as the apartheid state of Israel takes the final steps in its ongoing genocide, erasure and extermination of the Palestinian people. The people of Colombia, the country I now reside in, know all too well what it’s like to live under a colonizer’s boot. I feel the pain of the colonized and occupied in my bones!!”
Here’s a brief look at the story of A Fleeting Glance. It follows Mariam and Miriam as they come of age under the shadow of apartheid and ethnic cleansing in the West Bank. The story follows the two girls for over a decade, starting when both are 8 years old. Mariam, a Palestinian, sees Miriam, an Israeli settler, through the wire netting constructed by Palestinians to catch the garbage and human wastes that settlers throw on the heads of the indigenous people of the land. Miriam watches her mother casually throw garbage into the netting with the intent to harm Mariam and her father. At that moment, these two girls catch a fleeting glance of their “enemy” and are unsettled by how much they resemble one another. Over the years, Miriam grows more disgusted with the system that turned her own parents into the kind of people who would feel empowered to dump garbage on the heads of children, while Mariam tries not to fall into a cycle of hatred and dehumanization against the oppressors of her people. All along, they both remain haunted by a moment that could have allowed them to see and hear one another. However, they know this to be impossible under the Israeli system of apartheid and the Israeli subjugation of the Palestinians.
All proceeds from the author’s sales of this book will go to Palestinians and their families, one family still living in Gaza under inhumane conditions, including forced starvation, and the other family, the one which inspired this book, living in continually deteriorating conditions in Al-Khalil on the West Bank. A member of this family acted as my guide during my 2 ½ day visit there and pointed out the wire-netting, constructed by Palestinians and suspended over the stone road of the old city of Al-Khalil.
“Unfortunately, it isn’t hard to see how apartheid can so dehumanize the other that they feel empowered to throw garbage on the heads of their so-called enemy, then go from that to attempting to destroy their lives completely. Former defense minister and indicted war criminal Jo’av Gallant called Palestinians ´human animals’ and then ordered there to be no water, no electricity nor other necessities allowed into the Gaza Strip. This full-fledged tragedy for the world and for humanity is unfolding in real time. Those with the power to stop it are only egging it on. I hope the message of my book will provide an opportunity for dialogue about an international response of solidarity by the people.”
Please note: Madelyn Hoffman is organizing book launches in both the United States and in the country where she currently resides, Colombia. She is working to get the book translated into both Arabic and Spanish, to build even stronger bridges of understanding around the world.
For more information about donating toward the book, the author’s background and how and where to meet the author, please visit her webpage at:
madelynhoffman.com
To make a donation for the book, please visit madelynhoffman.com/a-fleeting-glance. You can use PayPal, Venmo or Zelle. All proceeds from sales of these books will be split between two families…the family of the man who inspired the book, who lives in al-Khalil (Hebron) on the West Bank and a family in Gaza, living in a tent, doing their best to survive.
