Painting "Playing for Return" (2020) from the "The Flute and the Goldfinch" series - by Palestinian artist Fayez Al-Hasani

Painting "Playing for Return" (2020) from the "The Flute and the Goldfinch" series - by Palestinian artist Fayez Al-Hasani

 https://x.com/Boudicca61AD/status/2102201352726220955/photo/1

   [AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies here, there- and everywhere]  

Systematic Oppression by Israel

This graphic predates the most recent  Israeli  WAR on Palestinians in Gaza 2024-2025

 & don't forget to also factor in Israel's racist refusal to respect the Palestinians' inalienable right to return to original homes and lands as clearly spelled out by the United Nations and international law since 1948.

LOVE, DESPITE ALL DIFFICULTIES AND OPPRESSION: We reflected collectively on this theme from the context of our suffering as Palestinian Christian women. We hope to inspire other women around the world to bear with one another in love during troubled times. ...

Art by Halima Aziz created in honor of the World Day of Prayer 2024

 

“I Beg You… Bear With One Another in Love”

Ephesians 4:1-3
March 1, 2024 ​

This program calls us to bear with each other in love, despite all difficulties and oppression. The program was written by a group of ecumenical Christian Palestinian women in response to the passage from Ephesians 4:1-7. We reflected collectively on this theme from the context of our suffering as Palestinian Christian women. We hope to inspire other women around the world to bear with one another in love during troubled times. ​

 https://worlddayofprayer.net/palestine-2024.html

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History & Culture

Who among you has not heard of this tiny spot in the Middle East, that for over 3000 years has been significant to three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

However, the region is much older and has had many names, depending on the many tribes that have settled at different times in the land. The land has been nourished by an unfolding series of civilizations and structures because of its strategic position as a crossroad to three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe. 

In 1967, when Israel occupied the Palestinian territories, Western powers called the region the West Bank, because it was on the west bank of the Jordan River. After the Oslo Accords of 1993-1995, the West Bank was divided into Areas A, B and C. In order to travel between any of the areas in the West Bank, Palestinians must go through checkpoints. 

As of July 31, 2019, 138 of the 193 United Nations member states have recognized Palestine as a state, and the Palestinian flag now flies outside of the United Nations. 

There is a perception/belief around the world that women in the Middle East region are passive, silent, and non-influential. However, the role of women in Palestine (both historically and in modern times) is active and influential. They are steadfast, strong and courageous.

Although Palestinian women have played an influential role in society, there is still room for better conditions. Recently, some Protestant churches have progressed on gender issues, such as ordaining Sally Azar as the first Palestinian female pastor in Palestine.

About the Art & Artist

Halima Aziz (b.1999 in Hagen, Germany) is a passionate Palestinian visual artist and design student based in Germany. She spent her childhood in Palestine. Halima experienced the war in Gaza in 2008 and survived it. In 2009 she moved back to Germany. 

This artwork is made in honor of the World Day of Prayer. Through her artwork, Halima represents three Palestinian women praying together in nature in a peaceful place. In her work, she has different motives and symbols that indicate the origin of these women and their cohesion​.

Olive trees/ branches are a sign of everlasting and abundant life because they can live for thousands of years. 

The golden roots are underlining the fact that the Palestinians will always exist and as they exist, they will always resist for their rights and freedom. Poppy flowers are abundant and meaningful to Palestinians. They remind Palestinians of loved ones who have given their lives for their country. 

The women are wearing traditional Palestinian dresses like the tatreez (embroidery) thobe (dress) or the white scarf. And the keys are a symbol of the hope to return back to Palestine.

The Key of Return 🗝️ Symbol of Hope, Freedom, and Resilience: The Key of Return Unlocks Palestine's Promised Future 🇵🇸 ❤️

turathiceramics

The Key of Return 🗝️

Symbol of Hope, Freedom, and Resilience: The Key of Return Unlocks Palestine's Promised Future 🇵🇸 ❤️

A Rose Shoulders Up- poem fragment by Palestinian Poet Mosab Abu Toha, gracefully illustrated by Hannah Maguire

Illustrated by Hannah Maguire

 

'Our unwavering determination to return one day': Displaced Palestinians keep hold of keys to Gaza homes like their Nakba ancestors: Palestinians displaced by Israel's war on Gaza are holding on to keys from their damaged or destroyed houses as a symbol of one day returning to their homeland.

The significant act of holding on to the keys of their homes has become a powerful testament to the resilience of Palestinians in Gaza amid Israel's brutal war. 

Throughout Palestinian culture, art, and activism, the key of return is prominently featured as a symbol of resistance and a reminder of the ongoing quest for justice and peace.

It is also a testament to the enduring connection with their homeland, regardless of geographic distance or political circumstances.

“These keys, passed down through generations, represent not just physical properties, but also the cherished memories, identities, and aspirations of displaced families,” Dr Hisham Ahmed, a Palestinian anthropologist at Michigan State University specialising in peace and conflict studies told The New Arab.

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According to Dr Ahmed, “the key of return" holds profound significance in the Palestinian narrative and symbolises the longing for the right of return for Palestinian refugees and their descendants displaced during the Nakba —  the mass violent exodus of at least 750,000 people from Palestine in 1948. 

Now, history is repeating itself, as a staggering 85% of the total population of Gaza — 1.9 million civilians — have been forcibly displaced amid Israel’s war since October 2023. It is uncertain if they will ever be allowed to return.

And so, the current act of Gazans keeping hold of the keys to their houses serves as a tangible link to the past, evoking memories of lost homes and shattered communities displaced during the 1948 Nakba, many of whom still hold their keys in their possession. 

Hope of return 

Before Bou Adnan and Um Adnan were displaced from the South of Gaza to a Rafah refugee camp with their four children. The family insisted on taking the keys to their home with them.

"We must hold onto our hope and our dignity, these keys are not just for our house; they symbolise our unwavering determination to return one day, to rebuild and reclaim what is rightfully ours,” Um Ahmad told The New Arab.

"The key is our symbol of resistance against occupation and oppression with the hope that one day we will reclaim the rightful of return to our places"

Amid the devastation of the war, the key of return represents a collective aspiration for a just and lasting resolution, one that recognises the rights and dignity of all Palestinians, including those living in Gaza.

“The key is our symbol of resistance against occupation and oppression with the hope that one day we will reclaim the rightful of return to our places,” said Bou Ahmad.

For Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, the simple act of holding onto their home keys goes beyond material possession as it connotes a connection to their lost homeland since their displacement.

These keys to the homes passed down through generations, carry the weight of memories, longing, and resilience.

“My mother would often recount tales of her childhood spent playing in the courtyard, of the fig trees in her family's garden, and of the warmth of family gatherings that filled every corner of the house, of the Palestinian neighbours, food, weddings and traditions,” Said Mahmoud Hammami, a 56-year-old Palestinian refugee who lives in Lebanon’s Burj Brajneh camp.

“She tells us we are too young to remember the home we had never known, but we always listened to her stories, with our eyes alight with curiosity,” Said recounted.

To them, the keys represent not only the promise of a physical home but also the hope for a return to their homeland.

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In the face of adversity and the passage of time, these keys serve as silent testaments to the determination of the Palestinian people to preserve their identity and heritage, even in the most challenging circumstances.

“The keys represented the hopes and dreams of past generations, the struggles and sacrifices that had shaped my family's journey through displacement and diaspora,” Said added.

Despite the hardships they’re facing, the scarcity of food, the fear of airstrikes and the uncertainty of tomorrow, some families in Gaza are still holding onto their home keys with the belief in the right of return, where they reclaim their homes and rebuild their lives.

“For those individuals, their home keys are not just simple metal objects, they show the strength of a population who dared to believe that amidst the chaos of war, the promise of home would always endure and for Palestinians who were displaced in the past, the keys are a reminder of where they came from,” said Sarah Al Omari, a Jordanian researcher and expert on Palestinian refugees who has extensively studied the issue of the right of return for Palestinian refugees.

There are institutions, museums, and cultural centres in various locations, including Lebanon, that have showcased or highlighted artefacts symbolising the Palestinian experience, including keys symbolising the Nakba.

The Memories Museum is located in a hidden alleyway in Beirut's Shatila Palestinian refugee camp. It is home to several hundred objects brought by the Palestinian refugees in 1948, which were later donated to the museum's originator, Muhammad al-Khatib.

The museum contains ancient clay cookware, decorative jewellery boxes, quaint wooden combs designed with caricatures from antiquated times, muddied wheat cutters once owned by Palestinian farmers, and a dozen ruined keys meant for dilapidated Palestinian homes.

“The Memories Museum plays a vital role in preserving Palestinian heritage, it is proof that this is our land and we were once there,” said Sarah.

In the Occupied West Bank, giant keys can be seen in various locations as a symbol of displacement for refugees there.

This artistic expression serves as a visual reminder of the Palestinian narrative of displacement and dispossession, particularly in areas where Palestinians are confronted with physical barriers such as the Israeli West Bank barrier often referred to as the "separation wall" or the "apartheid wall, according to Sarah.

Rodayna Raydan is a Lebanese British journalism graduate from Kingston University in London covering Lebanon

Follow her on Twitter: @Rodayna_462

  https://www.newarab.com/features/symbol-resistance-gazans-keep-hold-keys-homes

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

"... and birds shall return" The Deluge and the Tree poem by Fadwa Tuqan, written in 1967, right after the Naksa (ongoing israeli made Nakba) & remembered #Gaza 2024

 

Found online:  

 

"Eid Mubarak.

 

Let me offer you this poem, which has been my talisman during these six brutal months. By our glorious Fadwa Tuqan, written in 1967, right after the Naksa.

 

Translated by Naomi Shihab Nye and Salma Khadra Jayyusi"

Artist Fayez Elhasani of Palestine... full of hope

Painted by Artist Fayez Elhasani of Palestine

  

I painted this work “Return to Palestine 2” while I was in my besieged city #غزة , but I am full of hope and certainty that I will restore the lines and colors of the work again in the heart of the city #القدس , which was liberated from occupation and colonialism. . Artist Fayez Elhasani

75 Years On: Palestinians Hold Strong to Land and Dreams of Return

Hanan Ashrawi on Oslo, Academia, and Women in Politics

"How can I go Home"... Ashrawi on why she, a Palestinian with a Ph.D in Medieval and Comparative Literature, was drawn into politics.

Ma'an News Report: Ashrawi Interview

BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- The Head of the PLO Department of Culture and Information, Hanan Ashrawi, visited Brown University on Sept. 26 and spoke to Palestinian-American professor Beshara Doumani about the Oslo Accords, academia, and women in politics.

A long-time activist, lawmaker and scholar, Ashrawi was the first woman to be elected to the executive committee of the PLO.

Ashrawi visited Brown as part of a series of events organized by the Middle East Studies Initiative and spoke with Doumani, professor of the Department of History and director of the Brown Middle East Studies program.
Hanan Ashrawi on Oslo, Academia, and Women in Politics (Part 1)  Hanan Ashrawi on Oslo, Academia, and Women in Politics (Part 2)  Brown University