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Showing posts with label Songs and Pictures from Palestine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Songs and Pictures from Palestine. Show all posts

Thursday, March 21, 2013

"I come from there and I have memories... "


Woman of Nazareth
between 1898-1946
Library of Congress

Poetry


Poem by Palestine's beloved Mahmoud Darwish
 

I come from there and I have memories
Born as mortals are, I have a mother
And a house with many windows,
I have brothers, friends,
And a prison cell with a cold window.
Mine is the wave, snatched by sea-gulls,
I have my own view,
And an extra blade of grass.
Mine is the moon at the far edge of the words,
And the bounty of birds,
And the immortal olive tree.
I walked this land before the swords
Turned its living body into a laden table.

I come from there. I render the sky unto her mother
When the sky weeps for her mother.
And I weep to make myself known
To a returning cloud.
I learnt all the words worthy of the court of blood
So that I could break the rule.
I learnt all the words and broke them up
To make a single word: Homeland

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Almond Blossoms and Beyond......

Songs and Pictures from Palestine

If you walk on the street that does not lead to an abyss,
say to the garbage collector, Thank you!
If you come back home alive, as rhyme returns,
unharmed, say to yourself, Thank you!
If you have expected something, and your guess has deceived you,
go tomorrow to see where you were, and say to the butterfly, Thank you!

Almond Blossoms and Beyond: Poems by Mahmoud Darwish
 
 
 
 
 
The first English translation of recent poetry by the late Mahmoud Darwish, the most important Palestinian contemporary poet. Almond Blossoms and Beyond is one of the last collections of poetry that Mahmoud Darwish left to the world. Composed of brief lyric poems and the magnificent sustained Exile cycle, Almond Blossoms holds an important place in Darwish's unparalleled oeuvre. It distills his late style, in which, though the specter of death looms and weddings turn to funerals, he threads the pulses and fragilities and beauties of life into the lines of his poems. Their liveliness is his own response to the collection's final call to bid "Farewell / Farewell, to the poetry of pain."
 

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Songs and Pictures from Palestine: Najat El-Taji El-Khairy ... the wall


“The Wall” Entitled “The Return of the Soul”

About her piece, porcelain artist Najat El-Taji El-Khairy states:

  “The depiction of the Palestinian soul, returning to engrave its identity on
the wall, attests that the wall itself was built on Palestinian land.

  No matter how high, no matter how imposing, this wall will be unable, indeed incapable, to prevent Palestine’s growth. 

  Her flowers rise onto the wall, empowering it with cross-stitched   Palestinian designs that graced her beautiful, traditional village dresses for centuries.”
 
  The technique: A three dimensional porcelain sculpture painted with a pen and fired in a kiln to preserve the Palestinian motifs.

Saturday, August 18, 2012

We Palestinian are locked in a fierce struggle for our independence....to make the matter straight and simple this is not a clash of religions...


it's justice against injustice, truth against lies, freedom against colonization and occupation, right against wrong..........we need the support of all just and righteous men and women, those who cannot support physically can at least convey our story, our message to the world that we Palestinians are struggling for righteousness, truth and a people's right to their lands, lives, livelihood and freedom......under such circumstances will you continue to stand on the sidelines and just watch? dear page fans help us as active supporters by letting all those who still are unaware about the epic struggle of your Palestinian friends.............

A very happy Eid to all of you.
Team Songs and pictures from Palestine

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

My letter to the New York Times RE Aaron David Miller Preserving Israel's Uncertain Status Quo

The Lady of Oranges by Palestinian painter Ismail Shammout (1930 – 2006)
RE:  Aaron David Miller Preserving Israel's Uncertain Status Quo
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/15/opinion/preserving-israels-uncertain-status-quo.html?ref=global

Dear Editor,

Aaron David Miller is part of preserving Israel's status quo, naively and foolishly crafting excuses that buy time for more of the same rather than really noticing the very dire plight of the Palestinians: Every day that goes by adds up into more Israeli violations of international law and the Palestinians' basic human rights.

Analysts, think tanks, newspapers and politicians that depend on Israeli Hasbara for facts and figures and opinions and economic forecasts miss the big picture. Out in the real world there are many individuals and organizations that keep a careful tally of Israeli crimes, and there is also a creative revolution for Palestine worldwide as artists and writers and forward thinkers find ways to express their compassion and respect for Palestinians past, present and future. 

Palestinian refugee camps now have rooftop gardens.... and MIFTAH, the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue & Democracy continues to explain how "Palestinians must endure an occupation that robs them of their land and water resources but most of all their freedom and individual potentials to be who they want to be or who they are meant to be."

Meanwhile half a world away Hanan K. Munayyer, President of the Palestinian Heritage Foundation and a board member of the American Task Force on Palestine will be giving a speech at the Library of Congress on Traditional Palestinian Costumes and Embroidery.... Palestine Food أكل فلسطيني shares scrumptious photos and recipes... Songs and Pictures from PalestineHamza Kanaan Art  & Palestinian Surprises & many other online efforts delight a growing and loyal audience... Larissa Sansour's Nation Estate project is now finally completed. To name only a few of the many various and valiant public efforts being made for Palestine.

Golden Rule thinking frees hearts and minds- and adds into the momentum that makes a tipping point to actually end the Israel-Palestine conflict.  Negotiations need to start with full compliance with international law and full respect for universal basic human rights.

Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
NOTES
Larissa Sansour's Nation Estate project is now finally completed

This should be obvious ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

Hamza Kanaan Art

"If tears could build a stairway, and memories a lane...(for Palestine)

2012 International Youth Day: Building a Better World: Partnering with Youth

Karima Aboud the First Photographer in Palestine

Zahi Khouri: The Palestine Romney doesn’t know

 
Another Look at Palestinian Culture:"Palestinians deserve the opportunity they've been denied for so long, to build their own state and develop their culture in independence and freedom"

International Day of Peace... Anyone, anywhere can celebrate Peace Day: September 21, annually

Dr. Salam Fayyad, Palestinian Prime Minister: Inscribing Bethlehem on the World Heritage List... This Week in Palestine

Talal Siam- Palestinian Calligrapher... in This Week in Palestine

Abbas says going to UN even if it conflicts with others' interests


When Israeli bulldozers arrived to demolish her home, 14-year-old Palestine refugee Salha Hamadin called on her pet Hantush to take her somewhere far away until they finished.

Violent attacks by settlers on Palestinians and their property, mosques and farmland had increased by 150% over the past year.

Palestinian officials point out that US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is undermining peace... "What this man [Mitt Romney] is doing here is just promoting extremism, violence and hatred"

'Separate and Unequal' is Unacceptable to Palestinians

"If you have to modify it, it isn't really a democracy."

Romney Versus the World Bank

World Bank says Palestinian economy unsustainable noting that "Israeli restrictions remain the biggest impediment to investing, creating high uncertainty and risk"

Do you support as a solution to this conflict the emergence of a fully sovereign state of Palestine on the territory occupied in 1967, including East Jerusalem? Yes or no?




********
The Office of International Religious Freedom ( http://www.state.gov/j/drl/irf/Given the U.S. commitment to religious freedom, and to the international covenants that guarantee it as the inalienable right of every human being, the United States seeks to:
Promote freedom of religion and conscience throughout the world as a fundamental human right and as a source of stability for all countries

Refugees and the Right of Return: "Palestinian refugees must be given the option to exercise their right of return (as well as receive compensation for their losses arising from their dispossession and displacement) though refugees may prefer other options such as: (i) resettlement in third countries, (ii) resettlement in a newly independent Palestine (even though they originate from that part of Palestine which became Israel) or (iii) normalization of their legal status in the host country where they currently reside. What is important is that individual refugees decide for themselves which option they prefer - a decision must not be imposed upon them."

"It is in Israel's vital interest to come to a complete resolution of the conflict between it and the Palestinian people sooner rather than later, relieving the weight of this tragic conflict from both of our peoples' shoulders. We owe it to ourselves. We owe it to the world." Maen Rashid Areikat: The Time for a Palestinian State Is Now

"Where, after all, do universal human rights begin? In small places, close to home - so close and so small that they cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the world of the individual person; the neighborhood he lives in; the school or college he attends; the factory, farm, or office where he works. Such are the places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice, equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning anywhere. Without concerted citizen action to uphold them close to home, we shall look in vain for progress in the larger world."Eleanor Roosevelt

The Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you


Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Songs and Pictures from Palestine: Thyme & a poem



Thyme from homeland Palestine
14 photos by Manal Abdallah



Did You Know ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab
Did you know
when your fingers fumbled with the fabric
and your mind played with the design
Did you know
as you stitched and pulled
the threads
Did you know
as you danced with color
and shape
rhyming patterns
to repeat
close to her heart...
your heart
mother daughter sister aunt
Did you know
how long
this art would last
& how much it would be shared.

Thursday, July 19, 2012