Enter Ghost

Mariam drops Sonia off at Haneen’s apartment in Haifa. They talk about the conflict brewing at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, also known as the Temple Mount, in Jerusalem. A few days prior, three Jewish Israeli guards were killed there. In response, Israeli authorities shut down access to the Muslim holy site. Haneen mentions that three students at her university were arrested for “suspicion of planning to organise demonstrations against the killing” of a Palestinian in Jerusalem (157). Haneen suggests there might be a collaborator on campus.

Later, Sonia takes a bath and texts Ibrahim. They agree to meet up later for drinks. From the bath, Sonia asks Haneen why she never told Sonia that Rashid died. Haneen apologizes and starts to say, “I didn’t think,” which Sonia thinks means, “I didn’t think you would care” (160).

Sonia meets up with Ibrahim at a bar. He tells her that he was involved in the Second Intifada (2000-2005) and that “a play is like an operation from the old days” (162). Ibrahim tells her that as a child growing up in Israel, he knew to be worried about collaborators with the Israelis. An event in 2000 where the Israeli military killed 13 Palestinian Israeli citizens at a protest politicized him; his school friend was one of those killed.