The author and Ulladulla High School english teacher will launch ‘Ishmael’s Oud’ at Treehouse Cafe on Wednesday, November 2 from 5pm to 6pm.

The book is an account of Mr Rafidi’s first trip to Occupied Palestine.

He took the journey with his father who left after the Six-Day War in 1967 – never to return.

“He got two visas, one to Canada and and one to Australia but came here because it was further away,” Mr Rafidi said.

“He'd never spoken about it. He was a minority, a Palestinian-Christian and there were tensions with both the Jews and the Muslims.”

Upon return with his father, Mr Rafidi discovered personal history and even a town named after his family.

While he said it was an amazing experience, it was also a confronting one.

“I can’t even speak Arabic and I was pretty naive walking into this war zone,” he said.

“Because of my family name I was interrogated a couple of times.” 

Mr Rafidi penned the book over the past five years as part of his Doctorate of Creative Arts. He will have copies available at the launch.

He encouraged everyone to come along and share in his story.