"Do mainstream news outlets like Fox, NBC, CBS etc even have a fact checking department anymore? ..." Susan Muaddi Darraj

 "Do mainstream news outlets like Fox, NBC, CBS etc even have a fact checking department anymore? 

 Or do they just let everything that "sounds correct" (i.e. fits the stereotype already in their head) get airtime?"

 

Susan Muaddi Darraj

 Susan Muaddi Darraj’s new novel, BEHIND YOU IS THE SEA, will be published in January 2024 by HarperVia. Her previous short story collection, A Curious Land: Stories from Home, was named the winner of the AWP Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction, judged by Jaime Manrique. The book was published in December 2015 by the University of Massachusetts Press. It also won the 2016 Arab American Book Award, a 2016 American Book Award, and was shortlisted for a Palestine Book Award. Her previous short story collection, The Inheritance of Exile, was published in 2007 by University of Notre Dame Press.

In 2019, she launched the viral #TweetYourThobe social media campaign to promote Palestinian culture. Later that year, she was named winner of the Rose Nader Award, by the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), an award given by the Nader family to a person who “demonstrates an unwavering dedication and commitment to values of equality and justice.”

 https://susanmdbooks.com/about/

  [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] 

What Is Anti-Palestinian Racism?

 "Anti-Palestinian racism entails the dehumanization and erasure of the Palestinian people. Anti-Palestinian racism can be implicit, overt, systemic and structural. It is perpetrated across Canadian society, including by political, intellectual, social and economic elites. Anti-Palestinian racism includes: denying that Palestinians are a people who belong to historic Palestine, devaluing Palestinian life, denying or excusing violence against the Palestinian people, pressuring institutions to exclude Palestinian perspectives, and stereotyping Palestinians and those who defend Palestinian rights as un-Canadian, anti-Semitic or supportive of violence."  https://pcaan.org/?fbclid=IwAR0xK7xoVBjO-sJabxu4pkSqa-RoNxikmV7npmgJg8U5PLEOH_cfjuvutas

About

The Palestinian-Canadian Academics and Artists Network (PCAAN) is a growing national and interdisciplinary network of Palestinian-Canadian academics and artists concerned with Palestine and Palestinians, including in relation to Canada and Turtle Island.

Our Mission

We help challenge anti-Palestinian racism in its various expressions. We provide Canadians a network through which they have access to Palestinian-Canadian academic and artistic voices, expertise, and opinions regarding past and current events related to Palestine.

Why We Do It

Palestinian Canadians are increasingly represented in the Canadian academic and  artistic landscape. At the same time, we are witnessing rising anti-Palestinian racism in Canadian academic and artistic circles. We believe it is our obligation to raise awareness of the realities of the Palestinian people.

PCAAN

Palestinian-Canadian Academics and Artists Network

“Oppressive pines: Uprooting Israeli green colonialism and implanting Palestinian A’wna” by Ghada Sasa

Articles, Research 

Abstract

This article provides a comprehensive overview of Israeli green colonialism, denoting the apartheid state’s misappropriation of environmentalism to eliminate the Indigenous people of Palestine and usurp its resources. I focus on the violence of ‘protected areas’, encompassing national parks, forests, and nature reserves. This article argues that Israel primarily establishes them to (1) justify land grab; (2) prevent the return of Palestinian refugees; (3) dehistoricise, Judaise, and Europeanise Palestine, erasing Palestinian identity and suppressing resistance to Israeli oppression; and (4) greenwash its apartheid image. I situate Israeli green colonialism within the broader histories of Western environmentalism – particularly its perpetuation of the human–nature binary – and Zionism. Furthermore, I identify various means through which Palestinians and their land resist this phenomenon. I also explore Palestinian environmentalism, which is influenced by the concepts of a’wna (collaboration), sumud (steadfastness), and a’wda (return), in addition to the Islamic concept of tawhid (unity). I offer it as an alternative environmentalism, which is holistic, anti-racist, feminist, socialist, and nonlinear, while rejecting the trope of the ecological savage. Overall, the intrinsic link between all humans, and them and the environment must be recognised, to realise a just and sustainable society, in Palestine and beyond.

Sasa, Ghada. (2022). Oppressive pines: Uprooting Israeli green colonialism and implanting Palestinian A’wna. Politics, online first, 1-17

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/02633957221122366

 

EXPLORE MORE

Visualizing Palestine....

 

Rising Tide/Apartheid

 https://visualizingpalestine.org/visuals/between-rising-tide-and-apartheid

Muslim Artists Perform to Break Stereotypes

Comedy Documentary Showcases Muslim Diversity ....The Muslims are Coming! is available to buy or rent on iTunes. Visit themuslimsarecoming.com for more details

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 [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.voanews.com/content/muslim-artists-perform-break-stereotypes/1789097.html

VOA NEWS

Elizabeth Lee

November 12, 2013 

LOS ANGELES — For decades, Arab actors have been successful in Hollywood. Among the most successful are Omar Sharif, Tony Shalhoub, and F. Murray Abraham; the latter won an Academy Award for his role in Mozart. However Muslims, openly proclaiming their religion, are a minority in the U.S. population and an even smaller minority in the U.S. entertainment industry. Those who are breaking in are trying to use their talent to discredit negative stereotypes. Several showcased their work at a recent gathering of predominantly American Muslims in Los Angeles.

Dean Obeidallah is not just an American comedian.

“My ethnicity and my faith make me a little different than many other comedians,” said Obeidallah.

He is a Muslim with Palestinian roots, and says his identity has not created barriers for him. However, he also says that stereotypes of what he represents do exist in the U.S.

Obeidallah uses comedy to talk about misconceptions and about what it means to be Muslim. He has co-directed a comedy documentary on this theme called, The Muslims Are Coming! Obeidallah said he has received positive reviews from both Muslims and non-Muslims, but sometimes non-Muslims don’t know how to respond to his jokes.

 “It can make audiences a little bit uncomfortable because they’re not sure what’s politically correct to laugh at and what’s politically incorrect to laugh at,” explained Obeidallah.

American Muslim poet Amir Sulaiman points out that some Muslims feel uncomfortable listening to him perform.

“Some people they feel nervous. Some things I say are not politically correct. They’re not fashioned and perfected in a political kind of way. Some people will say we don’t want you to say this; we don’t want you to say that as a Muslim person. When you are an artist or a public figure, many times you automatically become a spokesperson for millions of people. All these people have different points of view and different way that they want to be portrayed, but every artist can’t be responsible for everyone,” said Sulaiman.

Sulaiman also said that being a minority artist presents unique challenges.

“So I’m sure there are some walls, hurdles because I’m Muslim, black or because the types of things I talk about. But the most important thing is for me to be sincere and heartfelt and from that, it always works,” said Sulaiman.

Singing from her heart has worked well for Yuna, the first artist from Malaysia to break into the U.S. market. Abeer Khan is a fan, but she says not every Muslim will be able to accept a Muslim woman as a performer.

 “I think it’s something so new it’s going to take time for people to fully understand it, maybe come to grasp with there are very talented Muslim women out there. She’s a trailblazer and that’s what we need,” said Khan.

Whether it’s through music, poetry or comedy, Dean Obeidallah feels it is important for Muslim artists and entertainers to appear in the U.S. media.

“I think after 9/11 we became aware as a community that we need to get involved in the media. We need to tell our story. I don’t want other people answering questions.  In the United States, only one to two percent of the country is Muslim.  We can’t reach the other 98% unless we go in mainstream media,” explained Obeidallah.

He also pointed out that with more visibility, Muslim artists and entertainers can showcase their identity and talents to the public to change anti-Islamic beliefs and stereotypes. 

*** 

Theme song The Muslims Are Coming! - Title track to the motion picture The Muslims Are Coming! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=il3wk1tpt00

Dean Obeidallah 
If you know any Oscar voters (Im serious) please let them know about The Muslims Are Coming - we are one of 150 films that qualified for the Best Documentary Academy Award this year. Voting is open through Nov 22. Here's our Oscar ad running next week in The Hollywood Reporter. Thanks!

Sometimes, the Palestinian images we see just mirror the usual stereotypes....Change the picture! UNWRA photocompetition for young Palestinian refugees 2012

http://www.unrwa.org/photocompetition_e

Change the picture!

There are many photographic images of Palestinian refugees out there. Sometimes they pick up the out-of-the-ordinary: the dust kicked up by some children running to school, or the Sun sneaking its way between the electricity wires of a camp.

But all too often, the images we see of Palestinians don’t reflect the real experience and ambitions of the refugee community – especially young refugees. Sometimes, the Palestinian images we see just mirror the usual stereotypes.

We invite young Palestinian refugees to change that image. We ask that you produce and send us one photo that reflects your refugee experience; and we put no limits on your creativity.
Together, let’s try to see Palestinian refugees from a different angle.

Let’s try to change the picture.

Entry rules

• The competition is open to all Palestinian refugees aged 16-29.
• Submitted photos must be recent (since the beginning of this year).
• Send one photo of high quality.
• The photographs submitted must be the participant’s own.
• Participants agree to grant UNRWA the rights to publish and reproduce their photographs, in print, as part of exhibitions and in other publications.
• The last date of entry is 21 September 2012. No entries will be accepted thereafter.

Prizes

• First prize: US$ 1,000
• Second prize: US$ 750
• Third prize: US$ 500

To enter, please send us the following

• One completed entry form and photo (in JPEG format), sent as an e-mail attachment to photos@unrwa.org.
• A description or caption for the photo, not exceeding 100 words.

Photos will be judged by a panel of UNRWA and professional Palestinian photographers. Winning photographs will be exhibited at a special ceremony on the occasion of UN Day on 24 October 2012.

UNRWA’s 2012 photography competition is made possible through generous funding from the European Union.