Palestinian Writer Raja Shehadeh Secretly Moved Decades of Diaries to Scotland

Palestinian writer Raja Shehadeh has spent decades documenting Israel's occupation of the West Bank, keeping detailed diaries since the occupation began, according to a report by NPR.

According to the report, Shehadeh grew concerned that his archive could be destroyed or lost amid the ongoing occupation. To safeguard the material, he secretly arranged for it to be moved to Scotland, NPR reported.

NPR described the effort as a quiet, deliberate operation to preserve a personal record considered significant given Shehadeh's standing as a leading Palestinian author and his firsthand documentation of events over many years.

The report did not specify further details of how the archive was transported or where in Scotland it is now held. NPR framed the move as part of a broader effort to protect historical and personal records from the risks associated with the region's prolonged conflict.

NPR's account centers on Shehadeh's decades-long practice of writing about daily life and legal and political changes under occupation, work that has informed his published writing over the years.