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| Once a traditional craft practiced by village women, Palestinian embroidery continues to be an important symbol of Palestinian culture & identity. A rich artistic tradition passed down through generations, it is now common in all of Palestine & among members of the diaspora |
Showing posts with label positive ideals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label positive ideals. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Palestinian embroidery continues to be an important symbol of Palestinian culture & identity worldwide #Thobe
Wednesday, February 6, 2019
Please stop putting Israeli interests before American interests and ideals -letters I sent to my Senators regarding BDS
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| United Nations Dove of Peace, presented by Pope John Paul II, on the occasion of his visit to the United Nations, 2 October 1979 |
Please stop putting Israeli interests before American interests.... Go visit Israel as often as you like- on your own dime, please.
Go idolize and worship what ever you want to idolize and worship in Israel, but please do not force all Americans to fund and applaud your personal religious preferences and investments.
Violence is very very wrong. BDS is a NONVIOLENT movement and American leaders seeking to make BDS illegal only make matters worse here, there and everywhere... If America only allowed Christians full freedom and rights here in America, and if America had an official religion and religious scholars funded by taxpayers I would hope that people would be able to boycott that blatant injustice and discrimination.
Substitute the word "Israel" for "America" in the following sentence to better understand the situation: It does not mean destroying America, it means making America more just and fair for all people, regardless of religion.
Thank you for your time & trouble
&
Dear Senator Casey
Please stop putting Israeli interests before American interests. BDS is a nonviolent movement and American leaders seeking to make BDS illegal only make matters worse here, there and everywhere... If America only allowed Christians full freedom and rights here in America, and if America had an official religion and religious scholars funded by taxpayers I would hope that people would be able to boycott that blatant injustice and discrimination.
Substitute the word "Israel" for "America" in the following sentence to better understand the situation: It does not mean destroying America, it means making America more just and fair for all people, regardless of religion.
Thank you for your time & trouble
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
Saturday, January 5, 2019
2019 #TweetYourThobe creator Susan Muaddi Darraj
2019 #TweetYourThobe creator Susan Muaddi Darraj
Author of A Curious Land
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| Winner of the Grace Paley Prize in Short Fiction |
Friday, July 11, 2014
Normalizing Intelligent Conversations, Diplomatic Support, and Hope for Palestine... ATFP Panel Briefing: Israeli-Palestinian War in a New Regional Landscape... July 17th, 2014, Murrow Room, National Press Club, Washington, DC
American Task Force on Palestine [ATFP] Panel Briefing:
ATFP Panel Discussion Israeli-Palestinian War in a New Regional Landscape
WHO: ATFP President Ziad Asali (moderator) ATFP Executive Director Ghaith Al-Omari ATFP Senior Fellow Hussein Ibish ATFP Board Member Saliba Sarsar, Professor of Political Science and Associate Vice President for Global Initiatives at Monmouth University
WHEN:
Thursday, July 17th
Event at 12:00-2:00 PM
WHERE:
Murrow Room, National Press Club
529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor
Washington, DC 20045
A light lunch will be served.
On Thursday, July 17, at noon at the National Press Club in Washington DC, the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP) will host a panel discussion on Israeli-Palestinian War in a New Regional Landscape. A group of noted ATFP experts will look at the ongoing conflict between Israel and militants in Gaza, as well as significant tensions between Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel itself.
The panel will consider a series of vital questions.
What are the consequences for innocent
civilians, particularly in Gaza?
How much damage and suffering will be
caused?
How does the new regional strategic landscape affect the course
and outcome of this latest round of violence, and how, if at all, will
it be different from previous similar conflicts?
In particular, what
is the role of the new Egyptian government?
Will Israel launch a
ground offensive?
What are the prospects for a cease-fire, and what will
the terms be?
And how will the outcome affect broader
Israeli-Palestinian relations and internal Palestinian politics?
July 17th, 2014 12:00 PM
through
2:00 PM
National Press Club
529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor
Washington, DC 20045
United States
529 14th St. NW, 13th Floor
Washington, DC 20045
United States
& then
Help spread the word
Please help by letting friends, colleagues and followers know about the page:
ATFP Panel Briefing: Israeli-Palestinian War in a New Regional Landscape
The American Task Force on Palestine supports Palestinian institution-building, good
governance, anti-corruption measures, economic development, and improved
living standards. ATFP holds that these same values are relevant to
the broader Arab world, and that the question of Palestine is
inextricably linked to regional realities and developments.
Thursday, July 10, 2014
Tala Haikal: Empathy Is Essential to Humanity
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| ATFP's Tala Haikal |
Nelson Mandela once said "you will achieve more in this world through acts of mercy than you will through acts of retribution." If only Mandela were still alive and could guide and inspire Israelis and Palestinians to eschew revenge and violence, especially when it comes to children.
Eyal Yifrah, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Fraenkel were three Israeli teenagers kidnapped and killed by Palestinian extremists in the occupied West Bank. The disappearance of the three teenagers triggered a manhunt that lasted for 17 days. Ultimately, the bodies of the boys were found in a field near Hebron, and it is evident they were killed shortly after being captured.
Mohamed Hussein Abu Khdeir, a sixteen year-old Palestinian teenager was abducted and killed by Jewish Israeli extremists. Mohamed's killing was an apparent "revenge attack." A recent autopsy reveals Mohamed was burnt alive.
To make matters worse, Mohamed's cousin Tariq, a fifteen year old Palestinian-American, was brutally beaten and arrested by Israeli police and then put under house arrest. His case attracted widespread attention largely because he is an American citizen, although abusive treatment of Palestinian children by Israeli authorities is widespread and well documented.
These crimes are tragic but not unexpected. And they are horrifying. The price of the lack of peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is inevitably paid in human life, and increasingly the lives of children.
Of course, children are not the only victims in this non-ending violent conflict. Whole communities are being terrorized. Families in southern Israel are being targeted with a barrage of rockets. People in Gaza are being bombed and killed. Civilians bear the brunt of the suffering.
Historically, more Palestinian civilians have been killed than Israelis at every stage in the conflict. However, it does not matter which side you are on to recognize that children, above all, should not be harmed. There should be a special place in everybody's hearts for children.
The "normal" reactions to such deeds are anger, horror, violence, revenge, incitement etc. Many young Israelis will be asking what's wrong with the Palestinians just as many Palestinians question the humanity of Israel. In the recent days I have seen Facebook posts and tweets urging more destruction, violence, and killing. Some young Israelis and Palestinians are being radicalized by the loss of their friends, community members and school mates and are being devoured from fear and hatred.
However, I believe the most constructive approach to dealing with these types of tragedies is to show empathy for the other side and ask empathy from them. Empathy cannot be demanded without also being shown. It always must be a two-way street. I understand that its hard for Israelis and Palestinians to show empathy in this existential conflict. There are a number of reasons why people want to suppress empathy in order to brace themselves for pain and loss on the other side. Despite the reasons why human beings suppress their fellow feeling empathy is required to keep Israelis and Palestinians humane in the context of the conflict. If you lose your empathy you lose your humanity.
We Arab-Americans, Jewish-Americans, Palestinians, Arabs and Israelis need to work together to eliminate violence and seek empathy for ourselves and others. The families of Eyal, Gilad, Naftali, Mohamed deserve our public and private sympathy. We need to retain the higher moral ground no matter where we stand on the political spectrum.
As a young twenty-two year old Arab-American woman I would like to send my condolences to all these families. I cannot understand what it feels like losing a child. However, I ask those families not to seek vengeance for healing purposes. Instead, the proper response is to advocate for an end to the conflict so that no Israeli or Palestinian child will face the same fate of Eyal, Gilad, Naftali and Mohamed. The future of these teenagers has been taken away, but we should work together so that no other future of a child, whether Israeli or Palestinian, is stolen away.
As long as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict exists, tragedies like these are unavoidable. It is the lack of peace that produces such evil deeds. It is important not to forget that violence does not prevent violence. Only a negotiated peace between Israel and the Palestinians can eliminate this violence we have inherited from our parents.
It is for these reasons why we need two states for two people. Israelis deserve to live in a secure and peaceful state alongside a free and independent Palestinian state. If there is no solution to the conflict, violence will continue. Violence will continue to target the most vulnerable people on both sides. We have now been put on notice. We need to commit to peace. The time to act is now.
Tala Haikal is the Youth Outreach Coordinator at the American Task Force on Palestine, and tweets @talamay
Follow Tala Haikal on Twitter: www.twitter.com/talamay
Monday, June 30, 2014
Why it's way too soon to give up on the Arab Spring
In this way, they are learning valuable organizational skills that — count on it — will one day be applied to politics. Their dislike of nepotism, narrow cliques and ethnic or sectarian rule has already had a lasting effect on the politics of the Arab world. And two or three decades from now, the twentysomethings of Tahrir Square and the Casbah in Tunis and Martyrs' Square in Tripoli will, like the Havels of the Middle East, come to power as politicians.
We haven't heard the last of the Middle East's millennial generation." JUAN COLE
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Why it's way too soon to give up on the Arab Spring
Wednesday, June 25, 2014
This Week in Palestine promotes the Palestinian cultural image as an expression of embodied experience, a mode of communication, and a form for understanding our society, history, ecology, and ultimately ourselves... Taking a very close look at Palestinian public diplomacy and promoting Palestine.
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Promoting Palestine
A
couple of nights ago I was having difficulty sleeping, so I decided to
casually browse through Facebook. The first status that jumped out at me
was that of a Facebook friend who had left Palestine a decade or maybe
more ago. It said something along the lines of how happy she is that her
children are not being brought up in a racist Arabic society. I could
not take it, so I responded. I had to. I had lived in the United States
for eleven years, and what I had often found most infuriating was the
Palestinians’ inability to promote and advertise themselves. In fact, we
turn quickly to self-defamation. If our streets are demonstration
battlefields filled with tear gas grenades and rocks, then the world is
our PR battlefield filled with all types of stereotype missiles. When I
was living in the States, it felt like we were losing. These days,
however, I think we’re doing better, though we still have a long way to
go.
This issue is meant to be a microscopic examination of the advertising industry in Palestine, along with a very close look at the idea of macroscopically branding Palestine; I mean taking a very close look at Palestinian public diplomacy and promoting Palestine. I am told that using the term “branding Palestine” is no longer appropriate. In this issue we have a heavyweight academic honing in on the subject, and she maps out the field quite well for us. We also look at advertising campaigns and the status of radio in Palestine, and we have an excellent piece on Palestinian online content and why Google does not seem to know us well.
A theme such as this is difficult to synthesise into an issue with an editorial section, a limelight section, and, of course, advertorials, but we’ve tried to do just that, and I hope we’ve succeeded. As usual, you, our reader, are the final judge. Be sure to read our Personality of the Month, a very prominent young media specialist is featured.
This issue is meant to be a microscopic examination of the advertising industry in Palestine, along with a very close look at the idea of macroscopically branding Palestine; I mean taking a very close look at Palestinian public diplomacy and promoting Palestine. I am told that using the term “branding Palestine” is no longer appropriate. In this issue we have a heavyweight academic honing in on the subject, and she maps out the field quite well for us. We also look at advertising campaigns and the status of radio in Palestine, and we have an excellent piece on Palestinian online content and why Google does not seem to know us well.
A theme such as this is difficult to synthesise into an issue with an editorial section, a limelight section, and, of course, advertorials, but we’ve tried to do just that, and I hope we’ve succeeded. As usual, you, our reader, are the final judge. Be sure to read our Personality of the Month, a very prominent young media specialist is featured.
Riyam Kafri-AbuLaban
Content Editor
[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.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=4276&ed=231&edid=231
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| Photo by Emad Badwan. |
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| Photo by George Azar. |
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| Sea of Acre. Photo by Ahed Izhiman. |
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| Hebron Mountains. Photo by Ahed Izhiman. |
By Ali Qleibo
This Week in Palestine
promotes the Palestinian cultural image as an expression of embodied
experience, a mode of communication, and a form for understanding our
society, history, ecology, and ultimately ourselves. Under its umbrella
the magazine embraces a variety of perspectives from diverse authors in
whose texts one may examine the intricacies of narrative identity
construction. Using verbal and pictorial, linguistic and visual,
scientific and literary texts, the diverse articles demonstrate how the
construction of selves, memories, and life-worlds are interwoven in one
narrative fabric that promotes, codifies, systematises, and promotes
Palestinian identity. In their totality these narratives give an account
of the fundamental capabilities and vulnerabilities that Palestinians
display in the activities that make up their lives.
Over the past fifteen years TWIP has been inviting its readers to explore explicit fundamental issues such as gender, folk customs, memory, communication, economics, history, and a great diversity of cultural expressions in Palestine. Together with the glossy advertisements of restaurants, cultural events, hotels, banks, and diplomatic offices, the monthly periodical has come to provide a wide panorama of Palestine and Palestinian society at a crucial moment of transition. Avoiding political clichés and slogans, the magazine has undertaken the task of unravelling the socio-economic cultural underpinnings of the on-going democratisation and modernisation of Palestine under Israeli occupation. Each monthly publication has a theme and invites specialists, politicians, economists, psychologists, educators, anthropologists, and local experts to contribute articles. The changing monthly theme allows a host of Palestinian academics and experts to review the foundations of contemporary Palestinian cultural identity.
TWIP favours essays with a personal flavour - and illustrated with photographs whenever possible - that provide an insider’s insight into Palestinian culture. Anthropological theory, historical details, political innuendos, and economic vision, in addition to personal commentaries and observations, enrich the varied accounts as proffered by specialists from diverse fields.
Over the past fifteen years TWIP has been inviting its readers to explore explicit fundamental issues such as gender, folk customs, memory, communication, economics, history, and a great diversity of cultural expressions in Palestine. Together with the glossy advertisements of restaurants, cultural events, hotels, banks, and diplomatic offices, the monthly periodical has come to provide a wide panorama of Palestine and Palestinian society at a crucial moment of transition. Avoiding political clichés and slogans, the magazine has undertaken the task of unravelling the socio-economic cultural underpinnings of the on-going democratisation and modernisation of Palestine under Israeli occupation. Each monthly publication has a theme and invites specialists, politicians, economists, psychologists, educators, anthropologists, and local experts to contribute articles. The changing monthly theme allows a host of Palestinian academics and experts to review the foundations of contemporary Palestinian cultural identity.
TWIP favours essays with a personal flavour - and illustrated with photographs whenever possible - that provide an insider’s insight into Palestinian culture. Anthropological theory, historical details, political innuendos, and economic vision, in addition to personal commentaries and observations, enrich the varied accounts as proffered by specialists from diverse fields.
TWIP
offers the space wherein scholars, economists, anthropologists,
politicians, experts from various fields, and researchers contribute
articles that present and update past and current Palestinian
experiences. In their totality these narratives construct, forge, and
promote the contemporary Palestinian image nationally and
internationally.
TWIP presents a dynamic exploration of Palestinian identity that interpolates the written narrative with visual imagery. Its design and layout juxtapose the literary and artistic sides - both word and image - to construct a positive and viable Palestinian identity. The result is two parallel narratives: the literary expository level and the reflexive photographic image. Both word and image form an inextricably linked unit. In the process each monthly issue emerges as a narrative vista, rich with contributions based on experience and personal research into the modern Palestinian experiential reality. Such an effort to bridge the gap between text and image is a challenge that the TWIP team face on a monthly basis. The product, the monthly TWIP, is a multi-textual narrative that stands at a point of axis between objective science, humanist literature, and art, in which word and image promote Palestine and the Palestinians.
The relation of the image to the written text is complex; the photograph has a referential power independent from that of the word. The photograph tears the veil of words. Through the photographs the reader is invited to examine surface details. The generic stereotype is displaced by the tangible image. The people, the landscape, and the social space are represented concretely. Through the depiction of detail the dynamic organisation of space is revealed. Moreover, the immediacy of the photo adds human pathos to the otherwise impersonal literary impression. In lieu of the elusive image of the highly politicised Palestinian as victim or hero, the photograph confirms Palestinian humanity within a social, ecological, and political context.
The repertoire of images employed is quite varied. The collection includes the conventional documentary genre in which the still photograph illustrates and remains, in a sense, subservient to the written word. However, the repertoire of photographs forms an independent text parallel to the literary narrative. Many are visual compositions that are photo specific. These photographs include the artistic mode that records the subjective elusive mood of the place and the moment.
Other photos capture individuals or groups in the course of their activities - in the market, at home, in the fields, at weddings, at the church, mosque, etc. Additional photos indicate the passing of the seasons, the changing landscape from spring to winter, the shifting light; in short, the ecological context with attention varying from the particular social detail to the overall dynamic organisation of space.
The photographs, anecdotes, and advertisements interlace to transport the reader/viewer into a personal encounter with everyday Palestinian life. Both photograph and word are expertly braided together to project the image of Palestinians the way we like to see ourselves and the way we like to be seen. The contrapuntal format of the articles, between social science, humanist literature, economics, and art underlies its objective - namely, to humanise the personal and collective levels of Palestinian identity.
TWIP has come to assume its current prominence by providing insiders’ insight into social, ethnographic, economic, political, literary, and artistic Palestinian cultural expressions in English. By providing an adroit mixture of both entertainment and knowledge of Palestinian culture, the magazine has forged a new genre of literature that stands midway between uncompromising academic work and reader-friendly articles.
Objective yet reflexive, the magazine provides narrative space for negative as well as positive trends and practices on the institutional, social, political, cultural, and individual levels. Certain subjects are blatantly avoided, namely, probing into thorny religious issues such as secularism, fundamentalism, the production of sexual desire, child abuse, prostitution, incest, homosexuality, divorce, political corruption, and questioning basic issues such as the validity of the 1948 Taqsim in the modern guise of “the two-state solution.” A self-imposed censorship blocks the deployment of socially censured discourses. Between shy silences and the traditional Arabic concept of opprobrium, the magazine seeks to give expression to what is collectively acceptable. TWIP does not question the status quo. The overlooked objects of writings, the “oversights,” and the systemic lacunae in the discourse of TWIP overlap with what are deemed worthy topics of writing to impart a unique identity to the magazine. Beyond the image and word, a deep sense of nationalism and commitment underlies this cultural venture. It is hoped that in the future these subjects will be broached.
TWIP is a mirror image of Palestinians with all our contradictions. In fact, Palestinians identify with TWIP because it is the image we like to reflect to the world about ourselves. By the same token the topics of Palestinians and how we live have become easily accessible through the Internet. To know the Palestinians one simply turns to TWIP online. Over the years, the magazine has rightfully come to assume its position as the major disseminator and promoter of Palestinian identity: TWIP has become a Palestinian icon.
Dr. Ali Qleibo is an anthropologist, author, and artist. A specialist in the social history of Jerusalem and Palestinian peasant culture, he is the author of Before the Mountains Disappear, Jerusalem in the Heart, and Surviving the Wall, an ethnographic chronicle of contemporary Palestinians and their roots in ancient Semitic civilisations. Dr. Qleibo lectures at Al-Quds University. He can be reached at aqleibo@yahoo.com.
***
- Palestine: People and Land
By Hamdan Taha
Name: Palestine, Filastin, Canaan, Holy Land, etc.
Boundaries: sea to river
Capital: Jerusalem
Topography: coast, mountains, Jordan Valley, and desert
Climate: moderate
Altitude: 1,200 m above sea level to 400 m below sea level
History: one million years
Population: 10 million
Language: first alphabet to Arabic
Religion: monotheistic
Culture: diverse
World Heritage: Jerusalem and Bethlehem
National Poet: Mahmoud Darwish
Political System: constitutional, democratic
Nakba: 66 years
Refugees: 58 camps
Military Occupation: since 1967
Separation Wall: 770 km
Checkpoints: 600+
Flora: 10 million olive trees, citrus trees, figs, and vineyards
Cuisine: maqluba, mansaf, musakhan, and khubeiza
Breakfast: olive oil and za’atar
Sweets: kanafeh
Snack: falafel
National Hope: freedom
Boundaries: sea to river
Capital: Jerusalem
Topography: coast, mountains, Jordan Valley, and desert
Climate: moderate
Altitude: 1,200 m above sea level to 400 m below sea level
History: one million years
Population: 10 million
Language: first alphabet to Arabic
Religion: monotheistic
Culture: diverse
World Heritage: Jerusalem and Bethlehem
National Poet: Mahmoud Darwish
Political System: constitutional, democratic
Nakba: 66 years
Refugees: 58 camps
Military Occupation: since 1967
Separation Wall: 770 km
Checkpoints: 600+
Flora: 10 million olive trees, citrus trees, figs, and vineyards
Cuisine: maqluba, mansaf, musakhan, and khubeiza
Breakfast: olive oil and za’atar
Sweets: kanafeh
Snack: falafel
National Hope: freedom
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| Dead Sea. Photo by Hayel Baraat. |
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| Jerusalem. Photo by Tarek Bakri |
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| Photo by Shareef Sarhan. |
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| Photo from Palestine Image Bank. |
- Image, Word, and Text
Promoting Palestinian Cultural Identity
By Ali Qleibo - Palestinian Public Diplomacy
By R.S. Zaharna
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| Palestine Youth Orchestra in Greece. Photo courtesy of ESNCM. |
- If Content Is King, Let Palestine Ascend the Throne
By Anan Abu Rmieleh
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| Photo by Emile Ashrawi. |
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| Photo by Tarek Bakri. |
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| Photo by Elias Halabi. |
- Seizing the Opportunity through Public Diplomacy
By Hiba Darwish
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| Photo by Emile Ashrawi. |
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| Detail from Helen Zughaib’s “Another Wall.” |
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| Photo by Emile Ashrawi. |
- Jericho Gate An Interview with Samir Hulileh, CEO PADICO Holding
- Noor Daoud
A Woman Who Breaks into a Man’s World
By Murad Idrisi
Book of the Month
Olives, Lemons & Za’atar The Best Middle Eastern Home Cooking
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| Look Inside (& maybe buy)
Olives, Lemons & Za'atar: The Best Middle Eastern Home Cooking
Hardcoverby
|
- Exhibition Review
GENTLY I PRESS THE TRIGGER - Personality of the Month
Ihab Al Jariri - Where to Go ?
WHERE TO GO? - Al-Nabi Musa
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Friday, June 13, 2014
The saga of Prof. Dajani is a subset of a broader Arab struggle between the forces of intelligence and stupidity
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https://now.mmedia.me/lb/en/commentaryanalysis/550810-the-knowledge-constituency-versus-the-ignorance-lobbyThe knowledge constituency versus the ignorance lobby
The saga of Prof. Dajani is a subset of a broader Arab struggle between the forces of intelligence and stupidity
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| A brave man. (Image via Blogspot) |
Chalk up another victory to the mighty Arab ignorance and stupidity brigade. Or should we?
Professor Mohammed S. Dajani Daoudi, who runs the Al-Quds University Department of American Studies and University Library has been allowed to resign his position following the uproar over a trip he led of Palestinian university students to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Some Palestinians, including some of his own university colleagues, attacked Prof. Dajani with a mishmash of incoherent and utterly irrational condemnations.
The whole saga has been most impressively chronicled by the redoubtable Matthew Kalman of the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, whose latest report suggests that Prof. Dajani sought and received promises of support from the university leadership, only to have his resignation letter accepted rather than rejected. Presumably Al-Quds University just doesn't want to hear any more criticism and prefers to turn its back on the entire "controversy" rather than uphold academic freedom in its own institution.
Prof. Dajani told Mr. Kalman that he saw his letter of resignation as "a kind of litmus test to see whether the university administration supports academic freedom and freedom of action and of expression as they claim or not.” If this was indeed a test, they just got a resounding F.
But the whole squalid affair is redolent with Palestinian, and broader Arab, collective neurotic symptoms about others. What, after all, do Palestinians have to gain by insisting their students remain ignorant of the Holocaust? Prof. Dajani argued from the outset that it is essential to understand the Israeli mentality and the Jewish experiences, especially in Europe during the first half of the 20th century, that inform it. It's an unassailable argument.
Nonetheless, there are those, including professors, who, with a straight face, argue that Palestinians should only be taught, and by implication think, about their own Nakba.
Others tried to argue that the problem was not with the trip to Nazi death camps itself, but rather that Prof. Dajani's trip was coordinated with an Israeli university that took Jewish students to a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank.
Shock! Horror! Normalization! It's laughable.
There's little hope of Israelis and Palestinians improving their dreadful relationship without, among many other things, trying to understand each other's histories and narratives. That's hardly a panacea. Real coexistence can only emerge in the absence of occupation, and the structural relationship of dominance and subordination built into that profoundly unhealthy and abusive structure. But better mutual understanding may be an essential component of helping to end the occupation and the conflict.
Even if none of that's true, knowledge is, nonetheless, power. The constituency for keeping Palestinian students ignorant of certain facts, presumably because they present the truth about Jewish suffering in Europe during the 20th century and that this complicates the understanding of Jewish Israelis simply as oppressors in the occupied Palestinian territories, is a perfect example of the "stupidity lobby."
And it's not just restricted to Palestinians and their relationship to Jewish history and the Holocaust. There is a broader conflict throughout Arab culture between those who want to embrace the world, in all its complexity and challenges, versus those who want to crawl inside a warm cocoon of insularity. Relying on nostalgic fantasies about former periods of greatness, the broad Arab ignorance constituency is very powerful.
It includes not only Islamists and other religious dogmatists, including apolitical clerics, but also strident nationalists, leftists, fascists, and chauvinists of every possible variety. Among all of these groupings, as well as the important open-minded and globally-conscious constituencies that are most in favor of engaging the world, there are people who push back against insularity. But for the past century at least, the majority trend in the Arab world has been to try, insofar as possible, to shut out knowledge of and engagement with outsiders, except for commercial purposes.
Many Arabs seem to be suspicious of and hostile towards real knowledge of others (as opposed to myths and stereotypes, of course), and even more engagement with them. Too many of us just don't want to hear it. Those, like Prof. Dajani, who try to break through this curtain of insularity are frequently punished, or at least criticized, for their embrace of broader realities, some of which are uncomfortable and destabilize reassuring mythologies.
Prof. Dajani says he doesn't regret the turn of events. Why should he? He's done something noble and constructive, and he will continue to do so without the support of his former university, through many other venues such as his Wasatia movement. But he, and all those like him throughout the region who want to smash the shackles of decades of carefully cultivated ignorance and embrace history and reality in all its troublesome complexity, are pointing the way.
The whole Arab world is at a turning point. If it continues to allow the stupidity and ignorance lobby, in all its myriad forms, to insist on cultural insularity, chauvinism, and deafness to the outside world, it will remain utterly stuck and unable to successfully join and compete in a globalizing world. But if the intelligence and knowledge constituency, as embodied by Prof. Dajani and so many other important leading Arabs, succeed in turning their societies away from decades of enforced parochialism, they will be among the most important groups in building a better future for the Middle East.
The saga of Prof. Dajani, and the whole battle between the Arab ignorance versus knowledge constituencies, is far from over. My money is on the intelligence community ultimately defeating the stupidity brigade, but it's going to be an uphill struggle.
Professor Mohammed S. Dajani Daoudi, who runs the Al-Quds University Department of American Studies and University Library has been allowed to resign his position following the uproar over a trip he led of Palestinian university students to Auschwitz-Birkenau. Some Palestinians, including some of his own university colleagues, attacked Prof. Dajani with a mishmash of incoherent and utterly irrational condemnations.
The whole saga has been most impressively chronicled by the redoubtable Matthew Kalman of the Israeli newspaper Ha'aretz, whose latest report suggests that Prof. Dajani sought and received promises of support from the university leadership, only to have his resignation letter accepted rather than rejected. Presumably Al-Quds University just doesn't want to hear any more criticism and prefers to turn its back on the entire "controversy" rather than uphold academic freedom in its own institution.
Prof. Dajani told Mr. Kalman that he saw his letter of resignation as "a kind of litmus test to see whether the university administration supports academic freedom and freedom of action and of expression as they claim or not.” If this was indeed a test, they just got a resounding F.
But the whole squalid affair is redolent with Palestinian, and broader Arab, collective neurotic symptoms about others. What, after all, do Palestinians have to gain by insisting their students remain ignorant of the Holocaust? Prof. Dajani argued from the outset that it is essential to understand the Israeli mentality and the Jewish experiences, especially in Europe during the first half of the 20th century, that inform it. It's an unassailable argument.
Nonetheless, there are those, including professors, who, with a straight face, argue that Palestinians should only be taught, and by implication think, about their own Nakba.
Others tried to argue that the problem was not with the trip to Nazi death camps itself, but rather that Prof. Dajani's trip was coordinated with an Israeli university that took Jewish students to a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank.
Shock! Horror! Normalization! It's laughable.
There's little hope of Israelis and Palestinians improving their dreadful relationship without, among many other things, trying to understand each other's histories and narratives. That's hardly a panacea. Real coexistence can only emerge in the absence of occupation, and the structural relationship of dominance and subordination built into that profoundly unhealthy and abusive structure. But better mutual understanding may be an essential component of helping to end the occupation and the conflict.
Even if none of that's true, knowledge is, nonetheless, power. The constituency for keeping Palestinian students ignorant of certain facts, presumably because they present the truth about Jewish suffering in Europe during the 20th century and that this complicates the understanding of Jewish Israelis simply as oppressors in the occupied Palestinian territories, is a perfect example of the "stupidity lobby."
And it's not just restricted to Palestinians and their relationship to Jewish history and the Holocaust. There is a broader conflict throughout Arab culture between those who want to embrace the world, in all its complexity and challenges, versus those who want to crawl inside a warm cocoon of insularity. Relying on nostalgic fantasies about former periods of greatness, the broad Arab ignorance constituency is very powerful.
It includes not only Islamists and other religious dogmatists, including apolitical clerics, but also strident nationalists, leftists, fascists, and chauvinists of every possible variety. Among all of these groupings, as well as the important open-minded and globally-conscious constituencies that are most in favor of engaging the world, there are people who push back against insularity. But for the past century at least, the majority trend in the Arab world has been to try, insofar as possible, to shut out knowledge of and engagement with outsiders, except for commercial purposes.
Many Arabs seem to be suspicious of and hostile towards real knowledge of others (as opposed to myths and stereotypes, of course), and even more engagement with them. Too many of us just don't want to hear it. Those, like Prof. Dajani, who try to break through this curtain of insularity are frequently punished, or at least criticized, for their embrace of broader realities, some of which are uncomfortable and destabilize reassuring mythologies.
Prof. Dajani says he doesn't regret the turn of events. Why should he? He's done something noble and constructive, and he will continue to do so without the support of his former university, through many other venues such as his Wasatia movement. But he, and all those like him throughout the region who want to smash the shackles of decades of carefully cultivated ignorance and embrace history and reality in all its troublesome complexity, are pointing the way.
The whole Arab world is at a turning point. If it continues to allow the stupidity and ignorance lobby, in all its myriad forms, to insist on cultural insularity, chauvinism, and deafness to the outside world, it will remain utterly stuck and unable to successfully join and compete in a globalizing world. But if the intelligence and knowledge constituency, as embodied by Prof. Dajani and so many other important leading Arabs, succeed in turning their societies away from decades of enforced parochialism, they will be among the most important groups in building a better future for the Middle East.
The saga of Prof. Dajani, and the whole battle between the Arab ignorance versus knowledge constituencies, is far from over. My money is on the intelligence community ultimately defeating the stupidity brigade, but it's going to be an uphill struggle.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
"The unusual thing that Bassem was able to do was to be good and decent both in his politics as he conceptualized them, and in his dealings with those he disagreed with." Hussein Ibish
The outpouring of shock and raw emotion at his death from people on
every side of a deeply divided Egyptian society is the most powerful
testament. Radicals, liberals, Islamists, traditionalists, and others
all expressed profound sorrow. It's not that they all agreed with him;
most of them didn't. It's that he had demonstrated an unusual
willingness to treat them all with respect and consideration....
.jpg) |
| The late Egyptian public intellectual Bassem Sabry. (Image via Facebook) |
Bassem Sabry: An appreciation
The untimely death of public intellectual Bassem Sabry is a blow to Egypt and the entire Arab world
One always hesitates to write a eulogy. It inevitably feels unspeakably tawdry, because nothing one can put into words can do justice to the person being remembered. Worse, it feels vaguely exploitative. It may not come across that way as a reader, but writing fondly about the departed often feels transgressive. It's the same sickly feeling one would probably get by crashing an intimate family gathering.
Time, perhaps, ameliorates that feeling of transgression, which is probably why all of my remembrances of those who have passed away tend to come later than people would expect. I suppose I'm hoping that a "decent interval" will make the experience somehow feel less obnoxious.
I waited as long as I could before putting together my thoughts on Bassem Sabry, who passed away at the tragically young age of 31 last month. When I heard about his death, it was immediately clear to me that the Arab world in general, and Egypt in particular, had lost a major asset, someone who would certainly have made an extraordinary contribution in coming years.
Even at his young age, he had already made his mark. He was respected internationally as an activist and thinker of the first caliber. And he takes with him rare qualities that Egyptians and other Arabs have in disturbingly short supply. We simply cannot afford to lose people like him: we just don't have enough of them.
First, he was an extraordinarily good person. Decent, right down to the core. There are a lot of people all over the world, including the Middle East, who are fundamentally good and decent. Probably most are.
But the unusual thing that Bassem was able to do was to be good and decent both in his politics as he conceptualized them, and in his dealings with those he disagreed with.
The outpouring of shock and raw emotion at his death from people on every side of a deeply divided Egyptian society is the most powerful testament. Radicals, liberals, Islamists, traditionalists, and others all expressed profound sorrow. It's not that they all agreed with him; most of them didn't. It's that he had demonstrated an unusual willingness to treat them all with respect and consideration.
Bassem was a genuine liberal in the best sense of the term. He actually wanted a pluralistic society in which people with serious differences could openly and passionately disagree without being disagreeable. In the contemporary Arab world, Egypt included, there are very few people who are able to not only espouse that ideal but to demonstrate in practice how it looks. Bassem did exactly that. Through openness, patience, and a serious, practical commitment to the values of pluralism and tolerance, he was living out the principles of a decent society.
I regarded his work as crucial not only because I fundamentally agreed with his values, but even more so because, in my view, there was a powerful pedagogical element to the way he was conducting himself: modest and respectful, but unwavering on core ideals. This, his public engagement seemed to say, is how reasonable people ought to conduct themselves in a society in flux and under difficult circumstances. This is what it looks like.
What's more, Bassem was brilliant in a region and a world that cannot spare its brilliant sons and daughters. He was initially one of a cadre of young Egyptian public intellectuals and bloggers who became known outside of their country in the course of the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak. However, Sabry, at least in my own mind, established himself as particularly insightful when he was the first to predict, several months in advance, that Mohammed Morsi would be the next Egyptian president.
Bassem pieced together a straightforward puzzle, but one that had previously eluded everybody else. Khairat el-Shater would not be allowed to run on technicalities. The Muslim Brotherhood would nonetheless field a Freedom and Justice Party candidate. Morsi would almost certainly be that candidate, and would probably win. No sooner had he sketched out the scenario than the pieces began to fall into place, and exactly what he had anticipated happened.
But even if it hadn't, because things can always change, it was a brilliant piece of political analysis. After that, I didn't read Bassem occasionally: I read him religiously. And I had numerous Skype conversations and meetings with him, which I will always treasure. Particularly when discussing Egypt, he invariably managed to teach me something important.
His death was a tragic and untimely loss, not just for his friends and family, but for his country and the region. Bassem Sabry was a rare talent and a remarkable young man. Selfishly, and somewhat transgressively put, we simply do not have enough people of his caliber to spare them to the cruel caprices of fortune.
Hussein Ibish, PhD
Senior Fellow
American Task Force on Palestine
http://www.americantaskforce.org/
Twitter: @ibishblog
Blog: http://www.ibishblog.com/
The untimely death of public intellectual Bassem Sabry is a blow to Egypt and the entire Arab world
One always hesitates to write a eulogy. It inevitably feels unspeakably tawdry, because nothing one can put into words can do justice to the person being remembered. Worse, it feels vaguely exploitative. It may not come across that way as a reader, but writing fondly about the departed often feels transgressive. It's the same sickly feeling one would probably get by crashing an intimate family gathering.
Time, perhaps, ameliorates that feeling of transgression, which is probably why all of my remembrances of those who have passed away tend to come later than people would expect. I suppose I'm hoping that a "decent interval" will make the experience somehow feel less obnoxious.
I waited as long as I could before putting together my thoughts on Bassem Sabry, who passed away at the tragically young age of 31 last month. When I heard about his death, it was immediately clear to me that the Arab world in general, and Egypt in particular, had lost a major asset, someone who would certainly have made an extraordinary contribution in coming years.
Even at his young age, he had already made his mark. He was respected internationally as an activist and thinker of the first caliber. And he takes with him rare qualities that Egyptians and other Arabs have in disturbingly short supply. We simply cannot afford to lose people like him: we just don't have enough of them.
First, he was an extraordinarily good person. Decent, right down to the core. There are a lot of people all over the world, including the Middle East, who are fundamentally good and decent. Probably most are.
But the unusual thing that Bassem was able to do was to be good and decent both in his politics as he conceptualized them, and in his dealings with those he disagreed with.
The outpouring of shock and raw emotion at his death from people on every side of a deeply divided Egyptian society is the most powerful testament. Radicals, liberals, Islamists, traditionalists, and others all expressed profound sorrow. It's not that they all agreed with him; most of them didn't. It's that he had demonstrated an unusual willingness to treat them all with respect and consideration.
Bassem was a genuine liberal in the best sense of the term. He actually wanted a pluralistic society in which people with serious differences could openly and passionately disagree without being disagreeable. In the contemporary Arab world, Egypt included, there are very few people who are able to not only espouse that ideal but to demonstrate in practice how it looks. Bassem did exactly that. Through openness, patience, and a serious, practical commitment to the values of pluralism and tolerance, he was living out the principles of a decent society.
I regarded his work as crucial not only because I fundamentally agreed with his values, but even more so because, in my view, there was a powerful pedagogical element to the way he was conducting himself: modest and respectful, but unwavering on core ideals. This, his public engagement seemed to say, is how reasonable people ought to conduct themselves in a society in flux and under difficult circumstances. This is what it looks like.
What's more, Bassem was brilliant in a region and a world that cannot spare its brilliant sons and daughters. He was initially one of a cadre of young Egyptian public intellectuals and bloggers who became known outside of their country in the course of the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak. However, Sabry, at least in my own mind, established himself as particularly insightful when he was the first to predict, several months in advance, that Mohammed Morsi would be the next Egyptian president.
Bassem pieced together a straightforward puzzle, but one that had previously eluded everybody else. Khairat el-Shater would not be allowed to run on technicalities. The Muslim Brotherhood would nonetheless field a Freedom and Justice Party candidate. Morsi would almost certainly be that candidate, and would probably win. No sooner had he sketched out the scenario than the pieces began to fall into place, and exactly what he had anticipated happened.
But even if it hadn't, because things can always change, it was a brilliant piece of political analysis. After that, I didn't read Bassem occasionally: I read him religiously. And I had numerous Skype conversations and meetings with him, which I will always treasure. Particularly when discussing Egypt, he invariably managed to teach me something important.
His death was a tragic and untimely loss, not just for his friends and family, but for his country and the region. Bassem Sabry was a rare talent and a remarkable young man. Selfishly, and somewhat transgressively put, we simply do not have enough people of his caliber to spare them to the cruel caprices of fortune.
Hussein Ibish, PhD
Senior Fellow
American Task Force on Palestine
http://www.americantaskforce.org/
Twitter: @ibishblog
Blog: http://www.ibishblog.com/
Saturday, March 29, 2014
National Geographic rates the Abraham Path the #1 New Walking Trail in the World!
Get closer to your destination and lace up your
boots for a trekking trip — relying on a map and negotiating tracks
under your own steam is as rewarding as it is healthy. Whether you’re
keen to pace the Wales Coast Path, walk in the shadow of Caribbean
volcanoes, or tackle the Himalayan peaks, here’s our guide to the
world’s best new walking routes
Published March 06, 2014
01 Abraham Path, Middle East“I started walking these hills when I was seven, collecting wild honey with my father,” says Habib, my guide. We’re in the northern West Bank. From east to west, he points out the outcrops of Jordan, the banks of the Dead Sea, an Israeli settlement, two Palestinian villages, pale hills, Ramallah city and, in the distant haze, Jerusalem. It’s a lot to take in. “I still love to walk. It’s in my head, in my heart. If I have a problem, a big thing to think about, I come here and walk,” Habib adds.
In the Middle East there are a lot of big things to think about. It’s one of the reasons the Abraham Path — a long-distance hiking trail that, once complete, will stitch a route across almost the entire region; through Turkey, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Israel — is such a singular project. It currently comprises over 280 miles of trails, with more added each year.
The route is based on the ‘cultural memory’ of Abraham — a key figure in Islam, Judaism and Christianity — and loosely traces the on-foot journey he made some 4,000 years ago. The overarching idea is for the path to build a connection between Middle East communities and visitors from across the world.
In the village of Al Mughayir, there’s a disturbance going on. My group is walking a three-day, 32-mile section of the path through the West Bank, winding along stony hillside tracks from the northern city of Nablus down to the outskirts of Jericho. It’s our second day, and after a morning spent passing through wheat fields and olive groves we reach the village as the day’s heat takes hold.
But we haven’t banked on coinciding with school break time. Spying the walkers, children begin charging at the playground fence: 10, 20 — suddenly more than 100. Their faces are urgent, their voices a frenzy. Through it all, it’s possible to pick out individual shouts. “How are you? Hello!”
“Welcome to Palestine!” “What’s your name?”
The landscape has a hardiness that conceals gifts: mistletoe, wagtails, dragonflies and pink cyclamen. And the walking is often dramatic, particularly in the canyons of Wadi Auja, where the only sounds are birdsong and footfall on loose rock.
We sleep in welcoming homestays. I learn that lamb-filled flatbreads and pomegranate juice make good hiking fuel, and the valleys glow gold at first light. There are surprises too, not least in the Christian town of Taybeh — pre-trip, I hadn’t envisaged myself ordering locally brewed beer from a nun.
It’s a spirit-lifting hike — and Habib provides an all-seeing eye throughout. Here the smoke from a Bedouin camp, there an Israeli military base. Here a porcupine print, there a sacred mountain. And this sense of immersion is what makes the Abraham Path project so extraordinary — it gives travellers the chance to shape their own perspective. abrahampath.org
Best for: Those looking for more than a scenic trek.
Difficulty rating: 6/10.
How to do it: In the West Bank, the Siraj Center runs tours along the Abraham Path from $650 (£398) for four days, including transfers from Jerusalem. EasyJet flies to Tel Aviv from Luton and Manchester; British Airways from Heathrow; El Al from Heathrow and Luton; Jet2 from Manchester. The airport is 27 miles from Jerusalem, with regular public transport. sirajcenter.org easyjet.com ba.com elal.co.il jet2.com
***
We
welcome YOU to experience Palestine
through our walks!
 |
| Walking trails in Palestine are as old as the stones of Jerusalem. Caravan routes were used to cross Palestine through three different areas: the Jordan Valley (rift valley), the Central or Patriarch’s Route, and Via Maris. Caravans were used to trade and exchange goods with the people who lived in Palestine through all ages and civilizations. The people of Palestine have always offered great hospitality to first-time visitors, not knowing where they come from or how long they will stay. Hospitality and offering the best of what they have is still the main characteristic of the people of the land. Building on the great hospitality and kindness of the Palestinian people, and on the same routes that people have been using for thousands of years, new hiking and walking routes have been emerging in Palestine. |
Friday, February 21, 2014
This Week in Palestine: Human Rights in Palestine
[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]
....Every time my children Basil and Taima cry because they are hungry or cold, I am immediately transported to Al-Yarmouk, and I imagine toddlers my children’s age crying endlessly, not having eaten for days, or even worse, not crying at all as they slowly slip into eternal silence. The world remains oblivious, uninterested, and unmoved by the Palestinian plight. And our cause is often diluted to a situation of two neighbours unable to live together, which could not be farther from the truth. This is why an issue on human rights had to be produced. This Week in Palestine’s main mission is to document and celebrate Palestine rather than mourn her, but this issue is far from celebratory. Nor is it mournful. If anything it is a solid documentation on the status of human rights in Palestine. We cover everything: prisoners, women, children, business, and human rights. We share the world’s pain on losing Nelson Mandela, as we also lost one of our own human rights champions, Eyad Sarraj. This issue is serious, well written, and heavy. It need not be taken lightly. However, you will, no doubt, feel a few rays of hope shimmering somewhere within its folds.
So read on. And could someone please send a copy to Scarlett Johansson!
Riyam Kafri AbuLaban
Content Editor
Content Editor
 |
| Human Rights in Palestine |
- Palestine’s New United Nations Status Brings Human Rights Obligations
By Mutaz M. Qafisheh - The Rights of Palestinian Children
By June Kunugi and Monica Awad - Let It Out
By Laila Joseph - Eulogy for Dr. Eyad Sarraj
- Palestinian Women between the Hammer of Colonialism and the Anvil of Patriarchy
Stateless and Invisible
By Maha Abu-Dayyeh - Social Security Is a Human Right
By Mounir Kleibo - The Status of Human Rights in Palestine
By Randa Siniora
- Artist of the Month
Amer Shomali - Book of the Month
Golda Slept Here - Exhibition Review
Interstice - Film Review
Suspended Times - Personality of the Month
Mamdouh Aker - Picturesque Palestine
Picturesque Palestine
 |
| The Offices of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation in East Jerusalem forcefully closed by Israel in 2001. Photo by George Azar. |
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