Saturday, April 13, 2024

CSM: Snapshots from Gaza: By sheer will, Palestinian women eke out a life

By Ghada Abdulfattah Special contributor

April 10, 2024 | Rafah and Deir Al-Balah, Gaza Strip

Wafaa Abu Irjilia never dreamed she would become a single mother.

Six months ago, she was a housewife, happy to nurture her growing family with her husband, Ahmed – her rock and “strength” – by her side.

Now she is a widow raising four children between the ages of 2 and 7 in a tent alongside her own two sisters and six other young relatives. “If I need to leave the tent,” she says, “I have to tread carefully so as not to disturb the others.”

Why We Wrote This

A story focused on

Resilience

In any war, women carry an outsize burden. The Israel-Hamas war is no exception. In these snapshots from the Gaza Strip, Palestinian women are holding families and communities together.

There is little time to grieve for her husband, “the kindest and most generous person I knew,” Ms. Abu Irjilia says. Instead, focus is on daily necessities: food, water, and the safety of her children.

“It is a huge responsibility on my shoulders,” she says.

Across the Gaza Strip, Palestinian women say they have been caught in a war of survival and adaptation ever since Israel began...

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes or watch videos) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]

Israel bombs UN school in central Gaza twice in 24 hours... the school shelters a large number of displaced people, mostly women and children.

A view of destroyed UNRWA Palestinian School following Israeli attacks hit Jabalia Camp in Jabalia, Gaza on December 12, 2023. [Mahmoud Sabbah – Anadolu Agency]

April 13, 2024

Within 24 hours, the Israeli army on Saturday once again bombed a UN school housing displaced persons in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, Anadolu reports.

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that Israeli artillery bombed a school run by the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in the New Camp area in Nuseirat, causing severe damage to the school.

There are no reports of casualties.

Meanwhile, a number of Palestinians were injured in a series of Israeli air and artillery raids targeting areas north of the Nuseirat camp during the past 24 hours, medical sources told Anadolu.

This is the second Israeli bombing on the school in less than 24 hours.

On Friday evening, the Civil Defense in Gaza announced that a number of deaths and injuries had occurred after Israeli artillery targeted the same school in the Nuseirat camp.

The Civil Defense said the school shelters a large number of displaced people, mostly women and children.

Settlers rampage through West Bank, burning cars and injuring Palestinians Palestinians in the West Bank faced large-scale attacks by Israeli settlers on Friday and Saturday, as cars were set alight and dozens injured

Burning cars and buildings in al-Mughir following the settler attack in the occupied West Bank [GETTY]

The New Arab Staff 13 April, 2024

Groups of Israeli settlers have been storming Palestinian villages, setting cars and buildings alight and attacking Palestinians, leaving one resident killed and dozens more wounded, as violence in the occupied West Bank soars.

Palestinians in the West Bank were on edge Saturday as Israeli forces patrolled towns and villages after hundreds of settlers descended on the village of al-Mughayir, northeast of Ramallah, on Friday and fired live bullets and set fires to vehicles and buildings.

The local mayor said that some 1,500 settlers stormed the town on Friday in a three-hour raid. Head of al-Mughayir village council Amin Abu Alia told Al Jazeera network that the attack was the “largest and most violent” the village had faced.

Overnight Friday, settlers attacked the village of Abu Falah, setting cars alight and attacking the residents, leaving five people injured, according to local reports.

Several villages were closed off by Israeli forces on Saturday, including al-Mughayir, Silwad and Turmus-Aya, local media reported. Settlers attacked Palestinian cars with live bullets near the villages of Atara and Duma, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

Confrontations between Palestinians and settlers near the town of Deir Dibwan took place on Saturday. Videos which could not be verified by The New Arab showed large groups of men accompanied by Israeli soldiers near the village entrance.

Since the start of the Gaza war in October, Palestinians in the West Bank have been subject to increasing violence by Israeli settlers, who are often armed and accompanied by the Israeli military.

Health officials say more than 460 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli fire in the past six months.

CNN: Israeli settlers storm village in West Bank and kill at least 1 Palestinian.

From CNN staff [Friday April 12th 2024]

A view of damaged houses and burning vehicles after a raid by Israeli settlers on a town near Ramallah, West Bank on April 12. Issam Rimawi/Anadolu/Getty Images

Hundreds of armed Israeli settlers stormed a village in the occupied West Bank on Friday, setting fire to several homes and cars — and leaving at least one Palestinian dead — in one of the largest attacks by settlers this year, according to Palestinian officials.

The settlers attacked Al-Mughayyir village, east of Ramallah, raided homes and fired gunshots at residents, according to Amin Abu-Alia, the head of the village council. Videos obtained by CNN show parts of the village burning, with smoke billowing over several buildings and settlers lobbing rocks. Houses and cars are seen completely burnt up, with sounds of gunfire and clashes heard in the background.

Here are other headlines you should know:

More Israeli attacks: An Israeli airstrike early Friday killed at least 29 people and injured dozens more after troops targeted a house belonging to the well-known Al-Tabatibi family in eastern Gaza City, according to a local health official. Israeli forces also surrounded and attacked the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, wounding several journalists and at least one other person. And in the occupied West Bank, troops killed two Hamas members in a raid on the city of Tubas, according to Israeli and Palestinian officials.

Thursday, April 11, 2024

"... and birds shall return" The Deluge and the Tree poem by Fadwa Tuqan, written in 1967, right after the Naksa (ongoing israeli made Nakba) & remembered #Gaza 2024

Found online:

"Eid Mubarak.

Let me offer you this poem, which has been my talisman during these six brutal months. By our glorious Fadwa Tuqan, written in 1967, right after the Naksa.

Translated by Naomi Shihab Nye and Salma Khadra Jayyusi"

17 children’s books for Arab-American Heritage Month - 2024 - Rebekah Gienapp [nurturing antiracism]

17 children’s books for Arab-American Heritage Month

March 29, 2024 Posted by Rebekah Gienapp

April is Arab-American Heritage Month, so it’s the perfect time for your family or learners to read books starring Arab-American characters. (Though I’ll add the disclaimer I always do about heritage months. This is a time to amplify the learning we should be doing all year round!)

First, it’s important to clarify which groups of people are considered Arab-American. As the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee explains, Arabs are united by Arabic language, culture, and history, rather than by race or religion.

While most Arabs are Muslim, most Muslims are not Arab. (For example, Pakistan is a majority Muslim country, but it is not an Arab country. Yet, I still found many children’s book lists online for Arab-American Heritage Month that heavily featured books about Pakistani-Americans.) There are also significant numbers of Arab Jews and Christians. There are 22 Arab countries, though the majority of Arab-Americans are from Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine.

Now that that’s clarified, let’s dive into these wonderful books!

Cover of Baba, What Does My Name Mean? A Palestinian girl with dark brown hair holds a key, tree, mosque, and other symbols of Palestine above her head.

Baba, What Does My Name Mean? A Journey to Palestine by Rifk Ebeid. Illustrated by Lamaa Jawhari.

Purchase from Bookshop.org (supports independent bookstores and my business!)

When classmates ask Saamidah what her name means, she only knows that it’s an Arabic name. When she asks her father to tell her more about it, he tells her that her name means patient and persistent. Her parents chose this name because her Palestinian people must have these qualities as they fight for their rights.

With a special key and a dove of peace to guide her, Saamidah is whisked off to Palestine, where she visits many special places, from the Qubbet Al-Sakhra mosque and the Church of the Nativity, to her Papa’s childhood home from which he was dispossessed. There are many ancient sites, delicious foods, and carefully created items to learn about. Through all her journey, Saamidah is encouraged to believe that one day the Palestinian people will be free. (Recommended for ages 6 – 10. Palestinian-American author.)

Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Christians for a Free Palestine just shut down the US Senate cafeteria. If our leaders don't let Gaza eat, then they don't deserve to eat lunch.

Eid Mubarak: Remember our brothers & sisters from Palestine in your prayers

Sunday, April 7, 2024

Debating ancient Middle East history is a distraction from the death and human suffering now ravaging Palestine | Opinion in my local newspaper

Palestinians search for survivors of the Israeli bombing in Rafah, Gaza Strip, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2023. (AP Photo/Hatem Ali)AP

By The Rev. Sandra R.Mackie

As the massacre in Gaza continues and good people around the globe are demanding an end to the US sponsored genocide, efforts to distract us ramp up.

In Gaza, Israel is bombing homes and killing entire families, blowing up neighborhoods, destroying libraries and Palestinian history, bombing hospitals, destroying houses of worship, razing schools, blowing up universities, destroying essential infrastructure, and poisoning farmland. Meanwhile, apologists work to distract the U.S. public.

Paula Fredriksen’s Opinion piece (March 31), is obviously an effort to distract. In the middle of the global discussion of “plausible” genocide in Gaza, Fredriksen’s concern lies in the past; Americans who have understood Jesus to be “a Palestinian Jew.” As a Catholic who converted to Judaism, she may have a different interpretation of ancient Christianity than Middle East historians and seminary professors with whom I have studied.

Her premise seems disingenuous, an effort to distract from the important issues of the day. I tire of such word games, natural outgrowths of the Palestinian “deniers.” (“No such thing as Palestinians,” etc.)

Viewing history from a 21st-century perspective, Fredriksen intentionally overlooks the fact that people of the ancient world were subjects of empires and members of tribes. is obviously an effort to distract. In the middle of the global discussion of “plausible” genocide in Gaza, Fredriksen’s concern lies in the past; Americans who have understood Jesus to be “a Palestinian Jew.” As a Catholic who converted to Judaism, she may have a different interpretation of ancient Christianity than Middle East historians and seminary professors with whom I have studied.

Her premise seems disingenuous, an effort to distract from the important issues of the day. I tire of such word games, natural outgrowths of the Palestinian “deniers.” (“No such thing as Palestinians,” etc.)

Viewing history from a 21st-century perspective, Fredriksen intentionally overlooks the fact that people of the ancient world were subjects of empires and members of tribes... READ MORE https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2024/04/debating-ancient-middle-east-history-is-a-distraction-from-the-death-and-human-suffering-now-ravaging-palestine-opinion.html