Margalit Edelson was born in 1930 in Jerusalem and lived under the British Mandate in Palestine. In her memoir, I Am a Palestinian Jew, she describes her experiences growing up until the birth of the modern State of Israel. She offers a firsthand account of the growing pains of the new nation. As a child, she visited the Kotel, witnessed attacks by Arabs, and had the usual experiences as a student. As a teenager, Margalit joined the Irgun, commanded by Menachem Begin, and fought for the establishment of the new Jewish State.