Love to all, Ibtisam the Palestinian author

Ibtisam Barakat

Good Palestinian moment: 

 

I went to the local authors exhibit at the public library and had a great time. Many people stopped by and said that they are sorry for what is happening in Palestine. . . That means they see our humanity . . I wrote their names in Arabic calligraphy, sold books, gave out sweet grapes rather than candy to the children and many signed up for my Arabic language and culture class on Zoom. 

 

The best part is that I don't have to fake anything. 

 

For many, many years, I had to act like I am American and my people are not facing genocide. Nobody wanted to hear that or accept that. I had to carry a mountain on my back for years. 

 

Now, people know and say they are sorry. The mountain is on the ground. It's a mountain of pain, but I can look at it and walk around it and aim to climb it now rather than it crush my soul alone . . . Thank you everyone who thinks about the humanity of Palestine denied for so long . . 

 

Love to all,

Ibtisam the Palestinian author

Ibtisam Barakat, author of 

TASTING THE SKY, a Palestinian Childhood

& 

BALCONY ON THE MOON, Coming of Age in Palestine. 

 

2010 photo: Helen Thoman, Anan Ameri, AANM director, and author Ibtisam Barakat at the AANM national book award ceremony. Ibtisam served as a judge for the fiction category, 2010. Helen's sculpture was unveiled at the event. She was funny and sad about that controversial comment that ended her career.. Sam Donaldson from ABC introduced Helen's speech. Two huge journalism icons. Washington, DC.  GALLERY   http://www.ibtisambarakat.com/ 

Ibtisam Barakat: A Palestinian Whose Childhood Was Destroyed by War Pleads for Peace- Never letting children endure war again is the “never again” that might actually heal our wounded humanity.

World / January 3, 2024

A Palestinian Whose Childhood Was Destroyed by War Pleads for Peace

Never letting children endure war again is the “never again” that might actually heal our wounded humanity.

Ibtisam Barakat

A child eats amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following Israeli bombardment in Rafah on the southern Gaza Strip on December 29, 2023, amid the ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. (AFP / Getty Images)

The violence in Gaza may have started on October 7, 2023 for Israel and for the world. But for Palestinians it started 75 years ago, and never stopped.

My Palestinian mother is 79 years old. She grew up in Jerusalem. Seventy-five years ago, she was 4 years old, and Israel drove her, her family, and all of her village out of their homes, which they would never see again. They became part of the Palestinian diaspora.

During the attack on Kharrouba, my mother’s village, she was asleep and when everyone fled, she was left behind. My grandfather walked for 16 hours, risking his life, to find her. That trauma still marks every day of my mother’s life.

Kharruba, her town of origin, was one of more than 400 Palestinian towns and villages that were either depopulated violently or destroyed after Palestine was torn up and Israel came into being on May 14, 1948.... READ MORE  https://www.thenation.com/article/world/palestine-gaza-children-peace/

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April: Celebrating Arab American Heritage Month with Ibtisam Barakat's Tree Day Celebration

in

Growing Gardens for Palestine

For this poem and 155 more (all in English AND Spanish), order your own copy of The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations HERE and for more Poetry Celebrations fun, click HERE. And for more on National Poetry Month, click HERE.

http://poetryforchildren.blogspot.com/2015/04/april-celebrating-arab-american.html

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

 

April: Celebrating Arab American Heritage Month 

In The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations, we feature DAYS, WEEKS, and whole MONTHS of celebration, too. We've already showcased December 10: Dewey Decimal Day; April 2: International Children's Book Day; and 2nd Week of February: Random Acts of Kindness Week. Today, we're featuring Arab American Heritage Month-- the month of April.

We're so pleased to feature poems by Palestinian American poet, Ibtisam Barakat, who has her own YouTube channel of poem readings here.  Here is her original poem in celebration of Arab American Heritage Month from The Poetry Friday Anthology for Celebrations. You can listen to her read the poem aloud by clicking here and see it translated into Arabic here. Cool, right?

For a lovely note with more information and details from Ibtisam, click here.
And here are the Take 5! activities that accompany this poem in the book:

1. Introduce the idea that tree-planting traditions are found around the world from Arbor Day to Christmas to the Tree Day Celebration in Arab countries, India, and elsewhere. Then read the poem aloud with a pause between stanzas.
2. Work with children to plan a dramatic interpretation of the poem, with two volunteers (one as child, one as tree) pantomiming the planting, measuring, sleeping, and sharing stories while you read it aloud again. 
3. Share planting experiences (of trees, bushes, flowers, etc.) and talk about the steps involved....READ MORE

Pomelo Books is Poetry PLUS!

The Poetry Friday Anthology series helps teachers and librarians teach poetry easily while meeting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and the Texas TEKS for English Language Arts (ELA)/Poetry and Science & Technology. Celebrate Poetry on Fridays—and any day—with The Poetry Friday Anthology!

Palestinian-American Author Ibtisam Barakat: "Religions need inspiring people as much as people need inspiring religions. . . "

Ibtisam Barakat's butterfly

Author Ibtisam Barakat - Palestine الأديبَة إبتسَام بَركات

"Religions were sent to improve the conditions of people. . . And now people should improve the conditions of religions by making them sources of inspiration and beauty, not sources of pain and violence.

Religions need inspiring people as much as people need inspiring religions. . . "
Author Ibtisam Barakat 2014

Poet Naomi Shihab Nye is this year's recipient of the 2013 Neustadt Prize for Children's literature... keynote and poems by Ms. Nye, with music and a discussion of Palestinian culture

• Date: Friday, November 1st
• Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
• Venue: Oklahoma Memorial Union
• Address: 900 Asp Ave., Norman, OK, 73019, United States
• Categories: Author Readings, Keynote
• Tags: Naomi Shihab Nye, Palestinian Culture

The 2013 Neustadt Festival will celebrate the poetry and children’s literature by 2013 NSK Neustadt prizewinner Naomi Shihab Nye, as well as the works of the nine international writers who will be convening at the University of Oklahoma as the jury for the 2014 Neustadt Prize.

2013 NSK Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye. Photo by Chehalis Hegner

 The 2013 NSK keynote and poems by Ms. Nye, with music 

and a discussion of Palestinian culture

 (10am–noon, Meacham Auditorium, Oklahoma Memorial Union).

The 2013 Neustadt Festival Kicks Off with a Packed House   
 Oct 30th, 2013

Ibtisam Barakat

Laura Hernandez

Laura Hernandez

Laura Hernandez

The Neustadt Festival 2013 has officially begun! Ananda Devi regaled an overflowing room of students with stories of language, writing, and identity in the first Neustadt event of the week. Devi speaks over five languages fluently, and students were eager to ask her questions about her writing and learning process.


At opening night, the festival ignited with a celebration of poetry in all its forms. Two Norman high school students recited their favorite poems for our Poetry Out Loud competition, which sends students from across the country to compete in local, regional, and national poetry competitions. Ken Hada, Nathan Brown, and Ibtisam Barakat judged the competition, with WLT editor in chief Daniel Simon presiding as moderator.

In addition to student performances, we also heard poetry readings from all three of the competition judges as well as from two Neustadt jurors—Lauren Camp and Fady Joudah. NSK Laureate Naomi Shihab Nye closed the event with personal stories and two readings, including one of her most beloved poems, “One Boy Told Me.”

Palestinian author Ibtisam Barakat "...and the world is at heart playful..."

Ibtisam Barakat 

I went to buy something and the lady behind the counter pulled out the newspaper from a month or so ago and asked me if I would sign my name next to the article about me as a Palestinian author :):) She has been keeping the newspaper until I showed up . . I have signed books and shoes and extended arms and necks and small pieces of paper including napkins and even chests for teenagers, but today I signed the newspaper for a lady doing paper work behind a counter :):) I did not have to show my ID . . This makes me laugh . . . I feel like a child each time such thing happens . . and I feel that all people are children . . . and the world is at heart playful . . .
Poet and author Ibtisam Barakat 2012 

Tasting the Sky

 Winner, Arab American National Museum Book Award for Children's/YA Literature, among other awards and honors.

In this groundbreaking memoir set in Ramallah during the aftermath of the 1967 Six-Day War, Ibtisam Barakat captures what it is like to be a child whose world is shattered by war. With candor and courage, she stitches together memories of her childhood: fear and confusion as bombs explode near her home and she is separated from her family; the harshness of  life as a Palestinian refugee; her unexpected joy when she discovers Alef, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet. This is the beginning of her passionate connection to words, and as language becomes her refuge, allowing her to piece together the fragments of her world, it becomes her true home.

Transcending the particulars of politics, this illuminating and timely book provides a telling glimpse into a little-known culture that has become an increasingly important part of the puzzle of world peace.

Palestinian Arts Festival in Minneapolis May 3 through 6, 2012

Westminster Presbyterian Church, Minneapolis

 http://dwkcommentaries.wordpress.com/tag/ibtisam-barakat/

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

On May 3 through 6, 2012, Minneapolis’ Westminster Presbyterian Church will host a Palestinian Arts Festival. It will celebrate music, painting, film, dance, poetry and commentary by Palestinians.
The opening event at noon (CDT) on Thursday, May 3rd, will be a Westminster Town Hall Forum presentation entitled “Playing for Peace in Gaza” by Patrick McGrann. A Minnesota native, McGrann has spent the last 15 years creating toys and events for young people living in the midst of violence.  He now lives in Gaza where he has taught at the Islamic University, lead the rebuilding of the American International School and developed educational partnerships between the Middle East and the West. The Forum is free and open to the public and broadcast on Minnesota Public Radio. The Forum is preceded by a half-hour of free music and followed by a free reception and a discussion group.

Later that same day (May 3rd) at 7:30 p.m. at the Women’s Club of Minneapolis (410 Oak Grove Street) 14 young dancers from the Diyar Dance Theatre of Bethlehem, Palestine will perform. Tickets at $10 are available at Westminster on Sundays or on the web. Starting at 5:00 p.m. the public is welcome to dine at the Women’s Club; call 612-813-5300 for reservations. A reception with dessert will follow the performance.

Diyar Dance

 On Friday, May 4th, at 6:00 p.m. an art exhibit, Room for Hope, opens at Westminster.  It brings realistic, abstract and provocative images by Palestinian artists expressing their visions of the present and their hopes for the future.

Ibtisam Barakat (Steve Fisch credit)

 Also on Friday, May 4th, at 7:30 p.m. will be a concert at Westminster. Ibtisam Barakat will present her “Freedom Doors Made of Poems.” She grew up in Ramallah, West Bank, and now lives in the U.S. Her work focuses on healing social injustices and the hurts of wars, especially those involving young people. Ibtisam emphasizes that conflicts are more likely to be resolved with creativity, kindness, and inclusion rather than with force, violence, and exclusion. The concert will also include Palestinian musicians playing music from their homeland.
On Saturday, May 5th at 1:00 p.m. a Palestinian Short Film Festival will be presented in Westminster’s Great Hall.

Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb

The concluding event of the Festival will be part of Westminster’s Sunday worship service on May 6th at 10:30 a.m. (CDT). Rev. Dr. Mitri Raheb of Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem, Palestine will be the preacher. Palestinian musicians will lead the world debut of specially commissioned music during the service. Our guests will sing in Arabic while Westminster members and others sing in English. For those who cannot attend the service, it is live-streamed and subsequently archived on the web.

This historic Festival is the outgrowth of Westminster’s partnership with the Christmas Church and of mission trips to that church by Westminster members. (Westminster also has partnerships with churches and other organizations in Brazil, Cameroon and Cuba.)

Evangelical Christmas Church

 

*******************

 The Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church in Bethlehem

Palestinian-American author and poet Ibtisam Barakat

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine]
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2012/mar/18/ibtisam-barakat/
photo by Steve Fisch

Ibtisam Barakat

By Jill Renae Hicks

Columbia Daily Tribune

Sunday, March 18, 2012

For Palestinian-American author and poet Ibtisam Barakat, writing is not just a pursuit — it is almost a fever. "I don't think I can think without writing," she said, scratching her pen in a small notebook even as she spoke. She writes "every minute, every hour." Writing her thoughts, she said, brings her to her real self and makes those thoughts truly her own.

Barakat grew up in the West Bank under periods of Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Her first visit to the United States was as an intern for the magazine The Nation, and she eventually earned two master's degrees — in journalism and human development — from the University of Missouri. Her 2007 young adult memoir, "Tasting the Sky," propelled her to national recognition. In the novel, she recalls her family's escape to Jordan in wartime, their eventual return to Ramallah and the events that unfolded during the family's stay in Barakat's favorite childhood home. Stealing sweet pastries from a vendor's cart, running shoeless from gunfire, adopting the family goat as a pet, spying on Israeli soldiers with her brothers, making friends with the Arabic letter Alef, whom she believed lived in pieces of chalk — all of these are described in a winsome, honest childhood voice.

Barakat had to let other voices inside herself recede and allow her childhood voice to speak when she wrote "Tasting the Sky," she said. "I negotiate my life through writing, so I used writing to heal that past in important ways, to tell it against much silence in myself and in the world about childhood and war."

She added that children have much to say, but their voices often are suppressed or ignored.

The writer first met staff from The Nation while they were on a visit to Palestine, and then-Editor-in-Chief Victor Navasky invited her to participate in an internship at the magazine. The best skill she learned there, Barakat acknowledged, was fact-checking. "It is as though every piece of information is on trial until fact-checked enough. There is responsibility and great pride in that practice," she said. Even now, she checks her written facts against three different sources....READ MORE

or

BUY Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood

Ibtisam Barakat's Valentine

Ibtisam Barakat is the author of Tasting The Sky, A Palestinian Childhood (Multi-Award Winning International Book)

Macmillan Books

amazon.com

Barnes & Noble

or help support your local economy & your local book store- buy it locally

Ibtisam Barakat 2011: The mystery of life is beautiful . .

Author Ibtisam Barakat - Palestine الأديبَة إبتسَام بَركات
Happy new December to all. The mystery of life is beautiful . . in ways people cannot understand . . I think it is meant to be seen as a mystery, as poetry, not as a shopping list and things that one understands . . . Have fun noticing the beauty in life..
-- Ibtisam Barakat 2011

Ibtisam Barakat's Pencil Tip

ATTENTION...

Ibtisam Barakat- Acclaimed author of Tasting the Sky

Problems, although, we dislike them greatly, come with gifts, making us behave and think in new, brave ways. . . break our fears. . . a problem simply tries to help, to say that things need attention and creative thinking. . . I want to take a minute to thank all the problems of the world for encouraging humanity to think and feel and wonder, not get lazy, dare, discover and change. . A problem is especially exquisite when a person is forced to stop blaming others, any others and all others, and see how they themselves have helped in creating the problem and can certainly help in solving it . . . :D :D
-- Ibtisam Barakat 2011

STIRRINGS poem by Ibtisam Barakat 2010 on YouTube Video

A poem about WOMANHOOD, GRATITUDE and FREEDOM ..About the poet: Ibtisam Barakat is a Palestinian-American author, poet, translator and educator. Her book, TASTING THE SKY, A Palestinian Childhood, about growing up in Ramallah, Palestine, is winner of the International Reading Association's best non-fiction and is a Book for Global Society, among 20 awards and honors. Tasting the Sky is available in six languages now, and it can be found on Amazon and at all book outlets. You are invited to learn about Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims from Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims!! like you would want others to learn about you from you. Thanks for creating more peace, beauty and healing in the world. -- Ibtisam Barakat.

"Everything we say or do , no matter how small or big, affects others..."

"Everything we say or do, no matter how small or big, affects others. If we do not notice this, or enjoy it, or accept responsibility for it, that does not change the fact. All of us are that important !!"-- Ibtisam Barakat 2011

Ibtisam Barakat is the acclaimed author of the imbeccably beautiful best selling book Tasting The Sky

The Poet Ibtisam Barakat's current status:

The rose that grows in Palestine everywhere is called ..........."Peace Keeper" I learned today.. الورد الجوري -- so the most gorgeous, fragrant flower is a failure at its task? :D :D These flowers gave me more than peace though during times of peace and war.. The queen of all flowers.. -- Ibtisam barakat 2011

Ibtisam Barakat Source of photo: http://www.humboldtrose.org/

The book of a shell -- author: The sea. -- Ibtisam Barakat 2011

كتاب الصُّدَف: تأليف البَحر -- ابتسام بركات 2011
The book of a shell -- author: The sea.
-- Ibtisam Barakat 2011

“Ibtisam Barakat is not only a luminous writer and thinker, she is a wondrous healer, too. In this exquisite, tender account of her Palestinian childhood, nothing is missing—love, attachment, struggle, fear, humor, resilience. The child in this story carries more wisdom and a keener sense of justice and injustice than do most people in seats of power. Tasting the Sky should be read by everyone with a humane interest in the story of Palestine.” —Naomi Shihab Nye, author of Habibi

Ibtisam Barakat: Singing in Key

May 21, 2011 -- Ibtisam Barakat with the Blind Boone Historic Piano at the event "Piano Originals". I dedicated this performance on the piano and spoken word to the Right of Return.. There are 88 keys on the piano and I suggested an 89th key for my work: The Key of Return: This is from the poem SINGING IN KEY.مع بيانو بلايند بون وهو بيانو تاريخي حيث قام 30 فنانة وفنان بتقديم ألحان مبتكرة -- أداء ابتسام كان تحت اسم مفتاح العودة -- وسميته مفتاح رقم 89 على البيانو -- عدد مفاتيح البيانو الكامل هو 88

Ibtisam Barakat: Palestine Spring 2011

"Netanyahu says everyone knows the Right of Return is not going to happen. Everyone? I think everyone knows it IS going to happen except for Mr. Netanyahu. After all slavery ended and women vote and Hitler was defeated and Egyptians kicked out Hosni Mubarak and all sorts of rights are achieved.. Palestinian Right of Return is a matter of time and the clock is ticking....... Everybody and everything has a clock :D" Ibtisam Barakat acclaimed author of TASTING THE SKY: A Palestinian Childhood

Ibtisam Barakat: When Palestine is Free I will . . .

Ibtisam Barakat

When Palestine is Free I will . . .
حين تتحرر فلسطين احب ان انظم مهرجانا سنويا "للكعك والفلافل" في مدينة القدس لكل أطفال فلسطين -- ابتسام بركات 2011
ابتسام في القدس -- نيسان 2011 -- عدسة نيفين شاهين

When Palestine is Free I will . . .
...By Ibtisam Barakat

When Palestine is free the first thing I will do is establish an annual sesame-cake and falafel feast to be held for all Palestinian children on the streets of Jerusalem.

Two weeks ago I visited Palestine for an author tour in various Palestinian cities. I asked the students in the 6th grade in some schools this question: what will you feel when the occupation is over and Palestine is free? They complained that they could not imagine that freedom. There were too many hostile images that came at them -- soldiers, checkpoints, tanks and many fears.

And when I said freedom can happen only if you imagine it first, vividly, and that imagining our dreams is not a luxury but the first step toward them.. that it requires resistance too of all the hostile images inside.. at that point the children closed their eyes with heart-breaking child defiance and began an inner fight for the feeling of freedom in themselves.

And they began to speak of their dreams and rescue their hopes. Their voices rose above their silence telling what freedoms they just arrived at. Mostly, and before anything, the 6th graders of Palestine wanted to go to the city of Jerusalem. Under occupation, only a few miles away from their cities, Jerusalem is an entire map of freedom away. Most of them had not seen Jerusalem all their young lives..

They hear about it daily, and love it and dream of it and some have relatives living there too. And from stories, they know of the carts on Salah Eddin Street that sell sesame cake and falafel. They are as famous for for children as the Jerusalem ancient walls and the churches and the mosques.

So when Palestine is liberated I will establish an annual sesame-cake and falafel festival on the streets of Jerusalem for all Palestinian children.

First we will eat and dance and run and touch everything in the city like it touched us for lifetimes. And then I will ask them about history and how the occupation used to be. I dream that they will say that they can't imagine the occupation anymore, and that they cannot imagine being anything but free.. that the space in their infinite minds is filled with freedom and its possibilities.

And I imagine we will discuss history, imagined and real; freedom, imagined and real, and Jerusalem, the city to which the Rahbani brothers wrote: "our eyes travel toward you daily. They wander in the hallways of your temples.." And I will add the hallways of the temples of our heads, where our imagination and reality begin, bringing to life thoughtfulness, kindness and the beauty of transcendence.

Ibtisam Barakat 2011

Ibtisam Barakat At the Read Everywhere Awards Ceremony for Children Literature in Arabic. Cairo, Egypt, April 14, 2011

The Arab American National Museum celebrates Helen Thomas with a warm reception & a statue

Ibtisam Barakat ابتسام بركات From the Arab American National Muesum: on Flikr -- All the photos from the book awards ceremony and honoring Helen Thomas in Washington, DC on Monday, October 4, 2010.

Arab American National Museum's Photostream

The Arab American National Museum raised the $10,000 it was seeking to finance a statue of Helen Thomas to be placed in its Dearborn building across from City Hall. The sculpture is by former White House photographer and Virginia-based artist Susan Tinsley McElhinney

Sam Donaldson and Ralph Nader and the award winning Palestinian American poet Ibtisam Barakat, author of Tasting the Sky, were some of the notable people who attended the ceremony honoring Helen Thomas at the Arab American National Museum.

Helen Thomas, the recently retired “Dean of the White House Press Corps,” is a legendary journalist and Arab American. Thomas was born in Kentucky to Lebanese immigrant parents but raised primarily in Detroit, where she graduated from Wayne State University.

Thomas covered presidential administrations from Eisenhower through Obama, working more than five decades for United Press International (UPI) and later for Hearst Newspapers. She marked her 90th birthday in August.

Thomas is considered a pioneer for women in journalism. Unfortunately Thomas was forced to resign from Hearst Newspapers in June after telling a rabbi on camera that Israelis should "get the hell out of Palestine" and "go home" to "Poland, Germany and America, and everywhere else." Thomas later apologized for her comments (which had very much been taken out of context)

Helen Thomas has received numerous awards through out the years and more than 30 honorary degrees. In 1976, Thomas was named one of the World Almanac's 25 Most Influential Women in America. The White House Correspondent's Association honored her in 1998 by establishing the Helen Thomas Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2000, her alma mater, Wayne State University, established an award for journalists in her honor, the Helen Thomas Spirit of Diversity award. In 2007, Thomas received a Foremother Award from the National Research Center for Women & Families.