In a clandestine operation that unfolded over several months, the personal archive of Raja Shehadeh — the Palestinian lawyer, writer and human-rights activist who has chronicled life under Israeli occupation for nearly six decades — has been secretly moved from the occupied West Bank to Scotland. The diaries, manuscripts and legal papers are now housed at a Scottish university, according to reports from NPR, Al Jazeera, MSN and other outlets. The transfer was kept secret to protect the archive from destruction or seizure, and it has been described by Al Jazeera as “an act of resistance.”
A Life Under Occupation, Recorded Day by Day
Raja Shehadeh was born in Ramallah in 1951, three years after the Nakba and 16 years before Israel captured the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War. He began keeping a diary as a teenager, and for more than five decades he has recorded the everyday realities of military occupation: land confiscation, curfews, military courts, settlement expansion, and the slow erosion of Palestinian civic life. Trained as a lawyer in London, he returned to Ramallah and co-founded Al-Haq, the Palestinian human rights organization, in 1979. His books, including “Strangers in the House,” “Palestinian Walks” — which won the Orwell Prize in 2008 — and “We Could Have Been Friends, My Father and I,” blend memoir, legal analysis and political history.
The Risk of Erasure
Shehadeh feared that the occupation might consume his archive. That fear is grounded in recent events. In August 2022, Israeli forces raided the offices of Al-Haq and other Palestinian civil society groups in Ramallah, seizing computers, files and equipment. In October 2021, Israel had designated Al-Haq and five other Palestinian NGOs as terrorist organizations — a move the groups vehemently deny and which international human rights bodies have criticized. For Shehadeh, the archive was not just a personal collection; it was a body of evidence. If it were confiscated or destroyed, a crucial Palestinian perspective on the conflict could be lost.
A Secret International Effort
NPR describes the operation as a “secret quest.” The outlet kedm.org calls it a “secret international effort.” MSN reports that the diary was “saved from risk of destruction by Scottish university.” The exact details of the transfer remain undisclosed to protect those involved and to avoid jeopardizing future efforts. According to the reports, the archive was moved in stages, with the help of academics, archivists and trusted intermediaries. The University of St Andrews in Scotland is understood to be the repository, though the university has declined to comment on security arrangements. The operation required careful planning: customs regulations, physical transport, and the constant risk of interception.
What the Diaries Contain
The archive is believed to include dozens of handwritten notebooks, correspondence, drafts of published works, photographs, and legal documents. It spans key moments in Palestinian history: the first Intifada, the Oslo Accords, the second Intifada, the construction of the separation barrier, the expansion of settlements, and the repeated failures of peace negotiations. The diaries also contain Shehadeh’s personal reflections on exile, identity, family and the assassination of his father, Aziz Shehadeh, a lawyer and politician who advocated for a two-state solution and was killed in 1985. For scholars, the archive offers a rare counter-narrative to official Israeli and Western accounts of the conflict.
Framing the Story: Resistance, Rescue, and Memory
Different outlets frame the story in distinct ways. NPR emphasizes Shehadeh’s personal quest to document the occupation “since day one” and his fear that it might consume his archive. Al Jazeera foregrounds “an act of resistance” and the diaries’ “new home,” highlighting Palestinian agency and the political significance of preserving memory under occupation. MSN focuses on the rescue by a Scottish university, emphasizing preservation and institutional support. kedm.org stresses the “secret international effort,” drawing attention to the collective action required. Together, these framings show a story that is at once deeply personal, politically charged, and historically important.
“An act of resistance.” — Al Jazeera’s framing of Raja Shehadeh’s diaries finding a new home in Scotland.
Implications for Scholarship and Cultural Heritage
The transfer raises urgent questions about cultural preservation under occupation. It also highlights the role of Western universities in safeguarding endangered archives. The University of St Andrews, which has a well-regarded special collections department, will now be responsible for conserving, cataloguing and eventually digitizing the material. Access for researchers may be restricted to protect sensitive information and individuals named in the diaries. For Palestinians, the archive is a testament to resilience. For historians, it is a primary source that documents the legal and human dimensions of the occupation. For Shehadeh, the diaries are not merely records; they are a form of resistance against erasure.
Conclusion: Memory as a Battlefield
The secret journey of Raja Shehadeh’s diaries from Ramallah to Scotland is a remarkable story of preservation. It reminds us that in conflict, the battle over memory is as fierce as the battle over land. By moving his archive to safety, Shehadeh has ensured that the Palestinian experience under occupation will be documented, studied and remembered. As the occupation continues, his diaries serve as both witness and warning — a record of what has been lost, and a refusal to let it be forgotten.
