The secret quest to preserve Palestinian writer Raja Shehadeh's diaries

Raja Shehadeh looks at folders from his archive in 2026. Yazeed Abu Khdeir hide caption

The world's leading Palestinian writer, Raja Shehadeh, has been on a mission to save his most personal work: his diaries.

The award-winning author of more than 20 books has been documenting decades of Palestinian life, starting in 1967 at the very beginning of Israel's occupation of the West Bank when he was a teenager.

Raja Shehadeh's first diary entry from May 11, 1967. Raja Shehadeh hide caption

His diaries capture a unique voice and front row view of history: his meetings with world leaders, his work as a human rights lawyer, and his role as legal advisor to the Palestinians during peace talks with Israel.

Shehadeh, now 75, feared his diaries and archives — kept in his garage in the West Bank city of Ramallah — were at risk of destruction from Israeli military operations. (The Israeli foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment about Shehadeh's fears.)

Yazeed Abu Khdeir (left) and Mahmoud Muna work to digitize papers, as Raja Shehadeh (standing) looks on. Hannah Harper hide caption

So he took part in a two-year, discreet effort to spirit them to Scotland, where he has spent many summers. The archives are now at the University of Edinburgh, and the University of Exeter in England has published thousands of pages online .