Bethlehem is a dramatic and emotional novel that explores friendship, loss, and identity under occupation.

In a city divided by walls and faith, Dalal, a young Muslim woman, and Nadia, her Christian best friend, have shared every secret since childhood. When war takes the life of Bahaa, the man they both loved in different ways, Dalal’s world collapses. Grief drives her into a dangerous plan — to exchange identities with Nadia and escape the country under her name.

What begins as an act of survival soon becomes a journey of guilt, truth, and self-discovery. In Canada, Dalal—now living as “Nadia”—finds herself investigating the mysterious past of Billy Mark, a former soldier linked to Bahaa’s death. Her search for justice blurs the line between vengeance and forgiveness, revealing how every lie creates a new prison.

Bethlehem is a story about two women, one city, and the cost of love in a world that forces people to become someone else to stay alive.

This novel is not the biography of one person — it's a mirror reflecting countless faces across Palestine.


It tells the story of Bethlehem, the city that witnessed birth but never peace; where Muslims and Christians lived side by side, sharing bread, laughter, grief, and endurance.


From its narrow alleys emerged two little girls — Dalal and Nadia — carrying the innocence of childhood and its dreams, before the shadow of occupation fell upon them.


In their story, friendship, love, loss, and exile intertwine. It's a tale that says: Palestine is not only a geography — it's a heartbeat, a memory, and a resistance that refuses to die.


These pages are an attempt to keep the voice alive — to remind the world that behind every headline, there is a human being with a home, a story, and a dream called freedom.


Chapter 2 - Preface