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Iván Castillo
Mahmoud, Waleed, and Hana’s mother. Fatima, like her husband Youssef, tries to keep her children’s spirits up and care for Hana as they take their long journey from Syria to Germany. Fatima becomes completely devastated, however, when Mahmoud has to make the decision to give Hana away to another rescue boat in the hopes of saving her from drowning in the Mediterranean Sea. Fatima spends the rest of the novel grieving and desperately searching for her daughter in all of the refugee camps they can find. Her grief becomes another way in which Mahmoud is forced to grow up early, as he becomes a caretaker for his parents and feels guilty over the burden of the decision that he made.
Fatima Bishara Quotes in Refugee
The Refugee quotes below are all either spoken by Fatima Bishara or refer to Fatima Bishara. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Mahmoud: Aleppo, Syria – 2015 (3) Quotes
Everywhere around them, people fled into the streets, covered in gray dust and blood. No sirens rang. No ambulances came to help the wounded. No police cars or emergency crews hurried to the scene.
There weren’t any left.
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Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey – 2015, 11 days (1) Quotes
Mahmoud screamed.
He howled louder than a fighter jet, and his parents didn’t even tell him to hush. Lights came on in houses nearby, and curtains ruffled as people looked out at the noise. Mahmoud’s mother broke down in tears, and his father let the life jackets he carried drop to the ground.
The smuggler had just told them their boat wasn’t leaving tonight.
Again.
“No boat today. Tomorrow. Tomorrow,” he’d told Mahmoud’s father.
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Mahmoud: The Mediterranean – 2015, 11 days (1) Quotes
“Please!” Mahmoud cried. He sobbed with the effort of fighting off the man’s fingers and hanging onto the dinghy. “Please, take us with you!”
“No! No room!”
“At least take my sister!” Mahmoud begged. “She’s a baby. She won’t take up any room!”
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Fatima Bishara Character Timeline in Refugee
The timeline below shows where the character Fatima Bishara appears in Refugee. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Mahmoud: Aleppo, Syria – 2015 (2)
After school, Mahmoud, Waleed, and their mother, Fatima, do their usual afternoon prayer. They wash their hands and pray facing Mecca, praising God...
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...is gone. But the only thing that matters to him in this moment is finding Fatima, Waleed, and his infant sister, Hana.
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Mahmoud: Aleppo, Syria – 2015 (3)
...toe in concrete dust. Waleed’s eyes are glassy, but he is able to talk. Then, Fatima emerges from the bedroom with Hana, thanking God that Mahmoud and Waleed are alive. Fatima...
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...any left. Mahmoud watches as their own apartment building collapses. He starts to panic that Fatima is still in the building, but then he sees her emerge from the rubble with...
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Fatima tries to call Youssef, Mahmoud’s father, but they see him running down the street, overjoyed...
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Fatima expresses doubts about getting to Germany, but Youssef assures her that they can drive to...
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Mahmoud: Just Outside Aleppo, Syria – 2015, 1 day from home
Youssef stops for gas a little north of Aleppo. Fatima puts on a long-sleeved dress and a headscarf, in case they run into stricter Muslims....
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Fatima finds a route to Turkey on her iPhone. An hour later, they are stopped by...
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...of the soldiers is hit and killed. The car skids to a stop, and Youssef, Fatima (with Hana), Mahmoud, and Waleed immediately get out of the car and dive into a...
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Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey – 2015, 4 days from home
...long days trying to get to the boat on time, and now it isn’t coming. Fatima asks where they’re supposed to go. The smuggler, shrugging, tells them that there’s a park...
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Mahmoud: Izmir, Turkey – 2015, 11 days from home (1)
...he has been saying for the past week: the boat will come tomorrow. Mahmoud screams, Fatima starts to cry, and Youssef is in shock. Each time they are given a different...
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Mahmoud: Somewhere on the Mediterranean Sea – 2015, 11 days from home (1)
...phone bobbing in the water in a plastic bag, and catches it. He then hears Fatima scream out, and watches as she struggles to lift a crying Hana out of the...
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...cry out for help, but the dinghy isn’t slowing down. Mahmoud grabs onto it, bringing Fatima and Hana with him. A woman in the boat yells for him to let go...
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...appears on the side of the boat and takes Hana from them. Then, Mahmoud and Fatima are thrown back into the ocean. Fatima sobs in the water.
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Mahmoud: Somewhere on the Mediterranean Sea – 2015, 11 days from home (2)
Fatima continues to sob at having given away Hana, and Mahmoud can tell that his mother...
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...the bottom of the sea, and says a funeral prayer for him. Mahmoud then gives Fatima the life jacket, and he floats alongside her, but he still doesn’t know how he’ll...
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Mahmoud: Somewhere on the Mediterranean Sea – 2015, 11 days from home (3)
...Greece. At the front of the ship are Youssef and Waleed. They pluck Mahmoud and Fatima from the water. Mahmoud explains how they gave Hana away. Youssef starts to cry, but...
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Mahmoud: Lesbos, Greece, to Athens, Greece – 2015, 12 days from home (3)
...the place feels mournful, as many people here lost someone in the crossing from Turkey. Fatima continues to go from tent to tent, asking about Hana. Mahmoud continues to blame himself...
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That morning, Mahmoud, Waleed, Fatima, and Youssef take a ferry from Lesbos to Athens. The inside of the ferry is...
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Mahmoud: Serbia to Hungary – 2015, 15 to 16 days from home
...thinks that he will never forget the fear of being so powerless in that moment. Fatima hugs Mahmoud, and as he cries over all of the events of the past two...
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Youssef tells Mahmoud and Fatima that they’ll have to walk to a nearby bus stop to get to the border....
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Mahmoud: Hungary – 2015, 16 days from home
...Hours pass without food or water, and Mahmoud and Youssef don’t know where Waleed and Fatima have ended up.
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...Mahmoud and Youssef line up, they pass another cell for women and children and find Fatima and Waleed—but the family is unable to be processed together. When they are processed, a...
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...be sent back to Serbia. When Youssef and Mahmoud return to their cell and pass Fatima again, she cries out to them. But they don’t acknowledge her, keeping their eyes on...
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Mahmoud: Hungary – 2015, 17 days from home
...refugee camp in a cold, muddy field surrounded by wired fence. They are reunited with Fatima and Waleed. Mahmoud can see that being beaten had broken his father’s spirit, and Mahmoud...
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Mahmoud: Hungary to Germany – 2015, 17 days from home
...and other supplies. One group is handing out diapers. This reminds Mahmoud of Hana, and Fatima continues to ask if anyone had heard of a baby pulled from the water—no one...
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Mahmoud: Berlin Germany – 2015, Home
For four weeks, Mahmoud, Waleed, Youssef, and Fatima live in a school in Munich, until a host family agrees to let them share...
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