Nothing To Lose But Your Life An 18-Hour Journey with Murad

She stands in front of the mirror, trying to hide her womanly curves and fully aware that she is about to expose herself to danger. A tomboy at heart, driven by adventure and a desire to understand what her less privileged compatriots go through, architect and university professor Suad Amiry has decided to disguise herself as a man and cross the Israeli border illegally to seek work in the Israeli town of Petah Tikva. The 18-hour journey that she braves with Murad and his brother Mohammed starts with a bumpy late night ride in a bus crammed with other illegal workers - all men -whose endless stories are both horrifying and amusing. And in his pocket, Murad carries a photograph of his object of desire who lives in Tel Aviv but who seems to have her eye on his friend.

Architect Suad Amiry lives in Ramallah where she is the director of the Riwaq Center for Architectural Conservation and a professor at Birzet University. Amiry was awarded the Italian Viareggio-Verilia Prize for Sharon And My Mother-In-Law Ramallah Diaries (2005).