Forbidden Plants of Palestine: Each tatreez [embroidery] motif documents a “Forbidden Plant of Palestine,” carrying a story of connection and resilience, offering a reminder of the enduring bond between the people and the land that nurtures them.

shereen.quttaine

Forbidden Plants of Palestine

For countless generations, Palestinians foraged and harvested the fruits of their land, from wild plants like tumble thistle (Akkoub), medicinal thyme (Za’atar), and wild sage (Meramieh) to cultivated staples like olives, oranges, and watermelons. Like all other facets of their lives, their autonomy over their own food is under occupation. In addition to confiscating farmlands and uprooting centuries-old fruit trees, the occupation imposes oppressive laws forbidding Palestinians from picking and growing the plants that comprise their culinary, medicinal, and cultural traditions. Despite this, Palestinians continue to find ways to resist.

Each tatreez motif documents a “Forbidden Plant of Palestine,” carrying a story of connection and resilience, offering a reminder of the enduring bond between the people and the land that nurtures them.

Palestinian women have long documented their stories and surroundings through embroidery, preserving history and identity in every stitch. Through creating my own motifs for the plants that Palestinians are restricted from accessing on their own land, I am continuing this tradition—using thread as a form of resistance. This project is my way of documenting apartheid, reclaiming narratives, and strengthening my connection to my roots and identity. Each tatreez motif is a testimony of endurance, belonging, and the fight to keep our heritage alive.

I created these motifs to be used for non-commercial purposes. The Palestinian cause is not for sale and should not be exploited for profit. If you wish to share or use these motifs, proper credit is required.

If you would like the pdf booklet for the designs dm me. 

Shereen Quttaineh

 #PalestinianTatreez #ThreadsOfResistance #ForbiddenPlantsOfPalestine#StitchingResistance
 

 https://www.instagram.com/p/DIzBSuTsqaq/ 

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"Archaeology has become yet another mechanism of oppression, alongside settler and military violence, movement restrictions, and daily dispossession. And while Palestinian communities resist with the few means available to them, Israeli archaeologists continue to legitimize and advance these forces. If Israeli archaeologists wish to maintain their academic legitimacy — and, more importantly, cease participating in an unethical project of colonial domination — they must heed the warnings of their international peers and reject the state’s cynical exploitation of their profession."

 Israel preparing largest ever act of ‘archeological cleansing’ in West Bank

Subordinating scientific value to colonial expansion, Israeli archeologists are putting up no resistance as the state moves to expropriate swaths of Sebastia.

By Alon Arad December 11, 2025

 

Graffiti sprayed on ancient archeological artifacts, in Sebastia, near the West Bank city of Nablus, May 12, 2025. (Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90)

https://www.972mag.com/sebastia-archeological-cleansing-west-bank/

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... On Nov. 19, Israel’s Civil Administration announced plans to expropriate 550 of Sebastia’s private plots — approximately 1,800 dunams (450 acres) of land that have been central to the village’s livelihood, cultural heritage, and identity for centuries. Residents say the project will devastate local agriculture, including destroying some 3,000 olive trees, some of which are hundreds of years old.

Sebastia is, undeniably, a multi-layered archaeological site of extraordinary value. Once the Iron Age city of Samaria, capital of the Kingdom of Israel, it contains remnants of King Ahab’s palace that were unearthed in the 1930s. In the first century BCE, King Herod of the Kingdom of Judea rebuilt the city, leaving behind a temple honoring his friend, Roman Emperor Augustus, near the older ruins. A well-preserved Roman theater, Byzantine church, and other antiquities have also been uncovered in the area.

But Sebastia’s archeological significance only sharpens the political contradiction at hand: While the site merits careful study, the gulf between the ethical commitments claimed by Israeli archaeologists and the state violence carried out in archaeology’s name to justify steps toward annexing the West Bank has never been more stark.

Israel’s takeover of Sebastia — its largest ever land expropriation for antiquities — began in May 2023, when the government allocated NIS 32 million for the site’s “restoration and development.” The campaign escalated in July 2024, when the military seized the summit of Tel Sebastia (the village’s highest point, home to its most significant archaeological remains) citing vague “security concerns.” Soon after, the government signaled plans to take over even more of the village. 

Palestinian residents — together with Emek Shaveh, the organization I direct — filed a formal objection with the Civil Administration, arguing that international law prohibits the use of cultural property for military purposes. The challenge was ultimately rejected.

Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu celebrated the expropriation online. “We will no longer hand over our inheritance to murderers,” he wrote on X last month. Eliyahu, a prominent advocate of West Bank annexation and Jewish resettlement in Gaza, added: “This is our historic homeland; we will never leave this place.”

Though the area currently targeted for excavation lies technically within Area C (under full Israeli control) and most of Sebastia’s built-up village falls within Area B (under Palestinian civil administration and Israeli security control), in practice the two zones form a single, continuous landscape. The village’s own antiquities are historically and culturally inseparable from those situated in Area C.

The new expropriation plan threatens to rupture that connection entirely. It envisions diverting Israeli visitors along a road settlers intend to build that bypasses the Palestinian village altogether, and includes constructing a visitor center, fencing off the archaeological zone, and charging entrance fees. If carried out, these measures would effectively cut Sebastia’s residents off from their land and heritage.

Archaeology in service of annexation

Israel’s use of archaeology to facilitate the takeover of Palestinian land — a practice that can aptly be described as “archaeological cleansing” — long predates Sebastia. For decades, the state has deployed this strategy both within the 1948 borders and across the West Bank: in East Jerusalem’s City of David park, in the village of Susya in the South Hebron Hills, in the Nabi Samwil national park, in Shiloh, and in numerous other sites. ... READ MORE 

  https://www.972mag.com/sebastia-archeological-cleansing-west-bank/

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In Growing Gardens for Palestine... The United Nations: International TRANSLATION Day- Translation is more than words; it is a connection. It bridges cultures, carries histories, and gives voice to those unheard. Today, September 30th on Translation Day, we celebrate those who make dialogue possible, the quiet architects of unity in every language.

Growing Gardens for Palestine 

United Nations Geneva

@UNGeneva

Translation is more than words; it is a connection. It bridges cultures, carries histories, and gives voice to those unheard. Today, on #TranslationDay, we celebrate those who make dialogue possible, the quiet architects of unity in every language.

Why 30 September?

30 September celebrates the feast of St. Jerome, the Bible translator, who is considered the patron saint of translators.

St. Jerome was a priest from North-eastern Italy, who is known mostly for his endeavor of translating most of the Bible into Latin from the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. He also translated parts of the Hebrew Gospel into Greek. He was of Illyrian ancestry and his native tongue was the Illyrian dialect. He learned Latin in school and was fluent in Greek and Hebrew, which he picked up from his studies and travels. Jerome died near Bethlehem on 30 September 420.

https://www.un.org/en/observances/international-translation-day 

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The role of language professionals

International Translation Day is meant as an opportunity to pay tribute to the work of language professionals, which plays an important role in bringing nations together, facilitating dialogue, understanding and cooperation, contributing to development and strengthening world peace and security.

Transposition of a literary or scientific work, including technical work, from one language into another language, professional translation, including translation proper, interpretation and terminology, is indispensable to preserving clarity, a positive climate and productiveness in international public discourse and interpersonal communication.

Thus, on 24 May 2017, the General Assembly adopted resolution 71/288 on the role of language professionals in connecting nations and fostering peace, understanding and development, and declared 30 September as International Translation Day.

Multilingualism, a core value of the United Nations

Languages, with their complex implications for identity, communication, social integration, education and development, are of strategic importance for people and the planet.

There is growing awareness that languages play a vital role in development, in ensuring cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue, but also in attaining quality education for all and strengthening cooperation, in building inclusive knowledge societies and preserving cultural heritage, and in mobilizing political will for applying the benefits of science and technology to sustainable development.

An essential factor in harmonious communication among peoples, multilingualism is also regarded by the United Nations General Assembly as a core value of the Organization. By promoting tolerance, multilingualism ensures effective and increased participation of all in the Organization’s work, as well as greater effectiveness, better performance and improved transparency.

Translation at the UN

The United Nations is one of the world's largest employers of language professionals. Several hundred language staff work in UN offices in New York, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi, or at the United Nations regional commissions in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva and Santiago. Translators are one type of language professionals employed at the UN.

UN language specialists include:

• Editorial and desktop publishing assistants;
• Editors;
• Interpreters;
• Précis-writers;
• Production editors and desktop publishers;
• Translators;
• Verbatim reporters

United Nations translators handle all kinds of documents, from statements by Member States to reports prepared by expert bodies. The documents they translate cover every topic on the United Nations agenda, including human rights, peace and security, and development. New issues arise every day. UN documents are issued simultaneously in the six official languages of the Organization (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). Some core documents are also translated into German. This multilingual documentation is made possible by United Nations translators, whose job is to render clearly and accurately the content of original texts into their main language.

Interested in working as a language specialist at the United Nations? Please check UN Careers on Competitive examinations for language professionals.

Did you know?

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights holds the Guinness World Record as the most translated document. It exists in more than 500 languages.
• The United Nations is one of the world's largest employers of language professionals.
• There are six official languages of the UN - Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
• A delegate may speak in any official UN language. The speech is interpreted simultaneously into the other official languages of the UN.

TRANSLATION: From one world to another

What does it really mean to translate? Translation is often the essential prerequisite for accessing a universal, multiple, diverse culture. In this issue of the UNESCO Courier, explore what this really entails.

Related Observances

• 21 February - International Mother Language Day
• 20 March - French Language Day at the UN
• 20 April - Chinese Language Day at the UN
• 23 April - English Language Day at the UN 
• 23 April - Spanish Language Day at the UN 
• 5 May - World Portuguese Language Day
• 6 June - Russian Language Day at the UN 
• 7 July - World Kiswahili Language Day
• 18 December - Arabic Language Day at the UN 
• 2022-2032 - International Decade of Indigenous Languages

Why do we mark International Days?

International days and weeks are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the UN has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool. We also mark other UN observances.

 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights... Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages

Looking for Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family By Edward Said's daughter Najla Said

http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=4145&ed=224&edid=224
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     Book of the Month
Looking for Palestine

Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family
By Najla Said
Riverhead Hardcover, August 2013, 272 pages, $19.00
Reviewed by Shams Hanieh

“I am a Palestinian-Lebanese-American Christian woman, but I grew up as a Jew in New York City. I began my life, however, as a WASP,” writes Najla Said in her funny and poignant memoir, Looking For Palestine: Growing Up Confused in an Arab-American Family. Najla grew up in New York City, as the daughter of a Lebanese mother from an academic family and Edward Said, the famous Palestinian intellectual and scholar. While Najla’s father affirmed Arab culture and Arab rights, his daughter was completely unsure of her identity or history. Was she Christian, American, Arab, Lebanese, Palestinian, or all of the above?

Her humorous yet melancholy biography begins with her speaking about her childhood, going to the elite Chapin School for girls, where she was the only Arab. She recounts funny anecdotes about her classmates living on New York’s Upper East Side, thinking her home in the Upper West Side was dangerous or had tumbleweeds. Her struggle with her identity eventually led her to become anorexic as a teen. A family trip to Palestine in 1992 was even more stressful when she witnessed how Palestinians really live, especially in Gaza. Making things worse, that first and so far only trip to Palestine came right after her father was diagnosed with leukemia. Najla saw how Palestinians struggled and how her father struggled, and so she wanted to ache and hurt as much as they did. On the other hand, Najla tells of both traumatic experiences during the civil war in Beirut, as well as fun, heart-warming memories with her family in Lebanon. After brilliant studies at Princeton University, Najla decided to pursue a career as an actress. She ended up meeting fellow Arab-American actors and began her journey to self-acceptance.

Edward Said’s death had a huge effect on his daughter. She went to Beirut the summer after his death, and the one following, and finally came to terms with her Arab identity. She spent amazing summers in Lebanon rebuilding after the civil war, helping her recover and giving her peace and pride in her origins.

This book is important for Palestinian readers who want to learn about Edward Said, the man and the father, and for readers in the diaspora, because they can relate to the frustration Najla feels about the way non-Arabs view Arabs and Arab society, with discrimination, ignorance, or hostility. Local readers can relate to the feeling of having no real country or homeland, given that theirs got taken away from them. The title of the book may be misleading for some, however, because the book is more about accepting oneself and coming to terms with one’s many identities - especially the fact that Najla is more attached to Beirut, where she has family, friends, and diverse memories, rather than to Palestine.

Personally, I could especially relate to Najla Said’s memoir as a Palestinian teenage girl with multicultural educational experiences. I enjoyed the informal tone of the book, which is written like a conversation, so that no matter how serious or disturbing the topic at hand is, it is written in a light and funny way. The book is actually adapted from Najla’s one-woman show, which she has performed throughout the United States. Hopefully, she will soon be invited to perform in Palestine so that we can enjoy her show and so that she can rediscover and connect with her father’s homeland.

See PDF www.thisweekinpalestine.com/i187/pdfs/article/botm.pdf

http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=4145&ed=224&edid=224

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