Born in 1963 in Beit Hanina, East Jerusalem, Ibtisam grew up in Ramallah, West Bank. She immigrated to the United States in 1986 and now lives in Columbia, Missouri. Ibtisam holds Master of Arts degrees in journalism and human development and family studies. Ibtisam has a diverse career history. She has taught language ethics classes at Stephens College and founded the Write Your Life (WYL) seminars and other educational programs. Ibtisam is a writer, photographer, poet, speaker, and peace activist.

In Arabic, Ibtisam’s name means “smiling,” or “to smile,” and suggests happiness and joy. While Ibtisam has some cheerful memories, Tasting the Sky reveals how the Six-Day War stole much of the happiness and security from her childhood and adversely affected the lives of everyone it touched. In an interview with Robert Hirschfield for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Ibtisam admits that the Six-Day war left her with “a huge amount of fear that separated me from my mind and my memory, from all sorts of things in me.” (Hirschfield, Robert. “Author Ibtisam Barakat Unites English Language, Palestinian Memory.” Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July 2007).

Discovering Alef changes young Ibtisam’s life forever.