Majeda Awawdeh is an academic, entrepreneur and advocate for women’s education. Born in the turbulent region of ‘1948 Palestine’, she is one of two million Palestinians who lived within Israel, navigating a complex identity under occupation. As a teenager, she experienced the rise of Islamic conservatism, shaping her early life and family dynamics.
Majeda holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, a Master’s in Mathematics Education, and a PhD in Mathematics Education and Cognitive Load Theory. In 2005, she received a scholarship to study at the University of New South Wales.
Following her academic career, she founded a business applying her research findings, and self-published 98 academic books and resources widely used in education. Her entrepreneurial achievements have been recognised with the Telstra Business Women’s Award for Small Business in NSW.
Majeda’s memoir, The Sky is Concave, offers a compelling story about surviving domestic violence, reclaiming her voice, and navigating cultural and political challenges as a Palestinian woman in Israel and later in Australia. Majeda prefers the term “domestic violence defeater” over “victim,” reflecting her commitment to resilience, empowerment, and transformation.
‘Rarely has a memoir held my attention with such magnetic force. By turns heartbreaking and fist-pumping, this rough diamond of a book shimmers with pulsating, page-turning energy. I was fully immersed in Dr Majeda’s double-bound world: the oppression and discrimination of being a Palestinian living in post-Nakba Israel, and the violence of being a wife trapped in an abusive marriage. Would she – could she – find her way out? And at what cost, to her colonised community and her subjugated self? The Sky Is Concave is at once a woman’s tale as old as time and a story of absolute political currency and specificity, written by a fresh and fearless new voice. Simply breathtaking.’ Clare Wright
‘The Sky Is Concave is a story of ultimate courage. Like so many Palestinians, Majeda Awawdeh has endured a life of deprivation and violence. Her story is also one of remarkable success. Majeda’s personal story is inspiration for all of us who seek justice for the Palestinian people. The Sky Is Concave, written with eloquence and dignity, is also an act of inspiration for all women demanding the basic human right to determine the life of freedom they wish to live.’ Tony Birch
‘A powerful, forensic memoir about resisting erasure. Dr Majeda’s story unfolds in stunning, unsparing detail as she outwits and ultimately overcomes the narrowing, violent constraints of patriarchal religion, family, marriage and state power. I found myself cheering out loud as time and again she outmanoeuvred those who sought to dominate her. Ultimately, this really is a testament to the extraordinary psychic power that’s required to protect your mind – and your love – under relentless pressure. And it is a triumph: brave, incandescent and certain to resonate with anyone, especially women, who sees their own survival and defiance reflected in its pages.’ Jess Hill
‘This book defies both taboo and censorship, providing an intimate insight into the ways in which the lives of Palestinian women and girls are defined by layered uprisings: uprisings against fear, uprisings against patriarchy and uprisings against occupation. With the mind of a mathematician, Majeda unpicks the equations that direct the lives of women and girls under siege and maps the counterforces they employ to shape their own futures.’ Amani Haydar