"Liberation - Catharsis" by Najat El-Khairy- a collector and lecturer on Palestinian embroidery who uses her art to preserve this cultural legacy.... "The olive grove and doves are prominent features in the artwork. The olive grove with its trees represents peace, while the two doves in the sky symbolize freedom and the right of return."

"Liberation - Catharsis" by Palestinian artist Najat El-Khairy.

Zara Zhar

@Boudicca61AD

 

"Liberation - Catharsis" by Palestinian artist Najat El-Khairy. The artwork is part of a series that explores themes of purification and liberation from occupation, reflecting on the artist's personal journey and the Palestinian experience. 

 

Symbolism and Meaning 

 

The woman in the artwork represents the "Palestinian Fellaha" or village woman, and also the olive tree, which is a symbol of resilience, resistance, and determination. She is depicted with tree roots for legs, deeply entrenched in her land, proudly holding her history, culture, and heritage. 

 

Her face is intentionally omitted to represent all Palestinian women. The embroidery on the woman's dress and in the background is a central element. 

 

Najat El-Khairy is a collector and lecturer on Palestinian embroidery and uses her art to preserve this cultural legacy. The patterns often include motifs with specific meanings, such as "The Walls of Jerusalem" and "the Star of Bethlehem," and are used to assert the identity of the land. 

 

The olive grove and doves are prominent features in the artwork. The olive grove with its trees represents peace, while the two doves in the sky symbolize freedom and the right of return. 

 

The "forbidden colors" (red, green, white, and black) of the Palestinian flag, which the occupiers banned in artwork from 1980 to 1993, are freely used in this piece to assert Palestinian identity. 

 

Najat El-Khairy's art, including "Liberation - Catharsis," is her way of documenting and preserving Palestinian cultural heritage on a lasting surface, such as porcelain, to prevent it from being forgotten or appropriated. 

 

The artist was born in 1948, the year of the Nakba, which she sees as a driving force for her mission to keep Palestinian culture alive.

 https://x.com/Boudicca61AD/status/2051783193280323932/photo/1

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Mon 8 Sep 2025 08.00 EDT

 

When a history of resistance to the lurching authoritarianism of... READ MORE   https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/sep/08/mahmoud-khalil-update-release-detention-trump

 

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This Passover, we don’t need or want the false idol of Zionism. We want freedom from the project that commits genocide in our name. We need an exodus from Zionism- Naomi Klein

‘Too many of our people are worshipping a false idol once again.’ Photograph: Thalia Juarez/The Guardian

I’ve been thinking about Moses, and his rage when he came down from the mount to find the Israelites worshipping a golden calf.

The ecofeminist in me was always uneasy about this story: what kind of God is jealous of animals? What kind of God wants to hoard all the sacredness of the Earth for himself?

But there is a less literal way of understanding this story. It is about false idols. About the human tendency to worship the profane and shiny, to look to the small and material rather than the large and transcendent.

What I want to say to you tonight at this revolutionary and historic Seder in the Streets is that too many of our people are worshipping a false idol once again. They are enraptured by it. Drunk on it. Profaned by it.

That false idol is called Zionism.

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Pro-Palestine Activists Protest at the Met, Unfurling a Large Quilt Across Museum’s Stairs

The artwork “From Occupation to Liberation” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo: Alexa B. Wilkinson

 by Tessa Solomon 

 March 25, 2024 10:45am

A vast quilt calling for Palestinian liberation was unfurled across the steps of the Metropolitan Museum of Art on Sunday, making the institution the latest one in New York to be targeted by activists seeking a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Each of the quilt’s squares were rendered in the green, black, and red of the Palestinian flag, and bore an artist’s response to a prompt: “From oppression to liberation, free Palestine.”

According to the artist-led advocacy group Hope in the Art World, 64 artists participated in the creation of 30-by-50-foot quilt, titled From Occupation to Liberation. The squares variably invoked tatreez, a traditional form of Palestinian embroidery; poppies, a national symbol and a plant that is indigenous to Palestine; and Thomas Kilpper’s Jenin Horse (2003), a 16-foot sculpture installed removed by the Israeli military during a raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin.

The quilt also honored the poet Refaat Alareer, who was killed in an airstrike in Gaza in December. His writings have frequently been invoked by pro-Palestine protestors, most notably the verse, “If I must die/you must live/to tell my story…”

The presentation of the quilt at the museum was realized by a group of autonomous organizers working with the artists. Scattered worldwide, the artists rallied around feelings of solidarity and resistance—which coalesced into Hope in the Art World—and began gathering contributions to the quilt.

One artist who contributed a square and was present at the action told ARTnews: “I worked on putting the quilt together, gathering artists to paint and stitch. It was an act of love, unfurling the quilt felt like alchemy. We must find a way for love to win, artists, dancers, musicians, culture bearers and activists all brought their care and skills together to demand an end to genocide and to show support for Palestinians.”...  READ MORE      https://www.artnews.com/art-news/news/pro-palestine-activists-protest-met-stairs-quilt-1234700782/

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Together, we have the power to shift the narrative on Palestine and build a future of collective liberation- Visualizing Palestine NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTIONS

Visualizing Palestine

@visualizingpal

As 2023 closes, we vow stronger resolve to continue to expose Israeli oppression of Palestinians. Together, we have the power to shift the narrative on Palestine and build a future of collective liberation. Join us: use our visuals, subscribe, become a member.

 

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“Breaking the cycle of poverty, breaking the cycle of discrimination, breaking the cycle of inequity – the choice is ours to make.”

Flagship report launched: Adolescents are key to prosperity and equity

'The State of the World's Children 2011'

By Chris Niles

NEW YORK, USA, 25 February 2011 – Young people are the key to a more equitable and prosperous world, according to UNCEF’s new flagship report, ‘The State of the World’s Children 2011 – Adolescence: An Age of Opportunity,’ launched today at UN headquarters in New York.

VIDEO: 25 February 2011 - UNICEF correspondent Chris Niles reports on the launch of UNICEF's flagship publication,‘The State of the World’s Children 2011 – Adolescence: An Age of Opportunity,’ at UN headquarters in New York.

The report says that investing in the world’s 1.2 billion adolescents – those who are between the ages of 10 and 19 – can break entrenched cycles of poverty.

“We need to focus more attention now on reaching adolescents, especially adolescent girls, investing in education, health and other measures to engage them in the process of improving their own lives,” said UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake.

Need to reach older children

While the international community has made tremendous gains in improving the health and well-being of children under 10, the SOWC report emphasizes that less progress has been made in reaching older children.

The vast majority of these adolescents live in developing countries. Their numbers are rapidly growing, and the challenges they face are formidable:

• Almost half the world’s adolescents of secondary school-age don’t go to secondary school; they are vulnerable to trafficking and recruitment into armed groups
• About 150 million young people between the ages of 5 and 14 are engaged in child labour
• More than 70 million girls and women have undergone genital cutting, which usually occurs by the onset puberty.

“These outrageous statistics don’t even begin to cover the countless numbers of adolescents who are denied adequate nutrition, who lack access to basic health services and care, who become mothers in childhood, at great risk to their lives,” said UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Hilde Johnson, who launched the report at a press conference, together with a panel of experts.

Girls are the most overlooked

SOWC also finds that girls are often the most overlooked, even as they have the most potential to pass wealth and well-being on to their children.

“Two cents of every development dollar goes to adolescent girls globally. That makes me think that we as a community can do better,” said UN Foundation Executive Director for Women and Population Tamara Kreinin.

The report indicates that not only is it right to meet the challenges that adolescents face and give them the opportunity to participate in their societies, but it makes economic sense, as well.

“It is also the smart thing to do, enabling us to consolidate our historic gains in early childhood and child survival, and to accelerate progress,” said Ms. Johnson. “Breaking the cycle of poverty, breaking the cycle of discrimination, breaking the cycle of inequity – the choice is ours to make.”