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What is freedom of speech worth if you cannot condemn genocide? |
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
“When the Sky Is No Longer” from Something About Living a poem by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha.
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| Something About Living by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha. Published by University of Akron Press April 02, 2024. |
When the Sky Is No Longer
by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha
a womb, prayers now besieged
inside your throat hum over whistles
and shrieks—the long how
puncturing what was.
Silence is the first casualty.
You no longer fear the clamor,
not because you are brave, but
because you’ve learned that death arrives
noiselessly, hovering
in the bowels of a missile,
that the clamor means
you are alive and someone else is dying.
You note the bleakness of your own heart
wanting to live in spite of this.
“When the Sky Is No Longer” from Something About Living by Lena Khalaf Tuffaha.
Published by University of Akron Press April 02, 2024.
Copyright © 2024 by Lena Khalf Tuffaha.
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission.
https://poems.com/poem/when-the-sky-is-no-longer/#featured-poet
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Palestinian journalist Hossam Shabat dreamed of one day traveling beyond Gaza. Though he never had the chance, in the past few days, people around the world have marched and paid tribute to him. He never left Gaza, but his name echoed across the globe. [Toronto , Canada]
Monday, March 31, 2025
Old Photos of Historic Palestine - before The Nakba of 1948
featuring true Christians- living links to a very precious heritage
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| Jerusalem from The Mount of Olves |
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| A Palestinian Woman |
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| A monk reads in the Garden of Gethsemane, at the foot of the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem |
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| The church of Nativity 1945 |
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| The nuns from Notre Dame de Sion on the Palm Sunday procession from Bethphage on the Mount of Olives to the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, c. 1932 |
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| Students from Notre Dame de Sion walking on the Palm Sunday procession from Bethphage on the Mount of Olives to the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem, c. 1932 |
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| The Basilica of Gethsemane or Church of All Nations c1924 |
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| Christian School Nablus, Palestine, c. 1903 |
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| Ramah, Palestine, c. 1900 |
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| Bible class of Christian mothers Bethlehem, Palestine, c. 1900 |
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| A Christian girl Nazareth, Palestine, c. 1900 |
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| 1898 Christmas Eve in Bethlehem Palestine |
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| 1896 Young Girls of Bethlehem, Palestine |
Escalations ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab
9th Station of the Cross JERUSALEM – Jesus falls the third time
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| 9th Station of the Cross JERUSALEM – Jesus falls the third time |
Kairos Palestine letter to The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
Date: March 25th, 2025
With heartfelt thanks to God for the recovery of His Holiness Pope Francis, we, Kairos Palestine; Palestinian Christian clergy and community leaders of all Churches in Jerusalem, address you with deep sorrow and urgency regarding the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) joint resource with the American Jewish Committee’s “Translate Hate document”. This decision comes at a time of immense suffering for our people, as tens of thousands are being killed, starved, and displaced under Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza and the West Bank including East Jerusalem—actions condemned by leading international and Israeli human rights organizations.
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Sunday, March 30, 2025
"We urge you to reconsider your stance and retract this endorsement. We need the Church’s voice to stand with justice and truth, not with narratives that conceal suffering and excuse oppression.
Kairos Palestine, the most extensive Palestinian Christian ecumenical non-violent movement, is based on Kairos Palestine document: A Moment of Truth, launched in 2009, affirming that the Palestinian Christians are part and parcel of the Palestinian nation, calling for peace to end all suffering in the Holy Land by laboring for justice, hope and love, embraced by the Christian community, signed by all historically recognized Palestinian Christian organizations, and endorsed by the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem. https://www.kairospalestine.ps/
You can now read Kairos Palestine letter to The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops on the resource "“Translate Hate document: The Catholic Edition” on the link below. "
By partnering in this document, the USCCB has alienated the indigenous Christians of the Holy Land, causing deep pain to a community struggling for survival. Ignoring their unalienable rights to live in their ancestral homeland and offering the State of Israel a justification for their forced displacement by considering their human and national rights as blood libels, only deepens this harm.
We urge you to reconsider your stance and retract this endorsement. We need the Church’s voice to stand with justice and truth, not with narratives that conceal suffering and excuse oppression." kairospalestine.ps/images/Kairos_
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| READ MORE https://www.kairospalestine.ps/images/Kairos_Palestine_letter_to_The_U.S._Conference_of_Catholic_Bishops.pdf |
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March 29: Happy Nameday to His Eminence Alexios, Archbishop of Tiberias in Gaza “As long as there is at least one Christian in the territory of Gaza, I will not go anywhere, because I can be a hope for them”
Happy Nameday to His Eminence Alexios, Archbishop of Tiberias in Gaza “As long as there is at least one Christian in the territory of Gaza, I will not go anywhere, because I can be a hope for them”
You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Mark 12:31
Saturday, March 29, 2025
Orthodox Vespers in Gaza Saint Porphyrius Church March 29, 2025
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| Orthodox Vespers in Gaza Saint Porphyrius Church March 29, 2025 |
We need to bring to life the values and principles of the UN Charter in every corner of the world
Thursday, March 27, 2025
For over 75 years Palestine Refugees have endured loss and hardship- UNWRA- Until there is a just solution to their plight, a world where Palestine refugees thrive: Families newly displaced by the escalation in northern Gaza, including Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, are facing dire conditions. With limited food and water, some of them now live in makeshift tents on the main street near the UNRWA Gaza main compound. #CeasefireNow
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Families newly displaced by the escalation in northern Gaza, including Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, are facing dire conditions.
With limited food and water, some of them now live in makeshift tents on the main street near the UNRWA Gaza main compound.
#CeasefireNow |
For over 75 years, #PalestineRefugees have endured loss and hardship.
For Arabic:Bluesky: bsky.app/profile/unrwa.
Middle Eastbit.ly/4f3VPgh
Until there is a just solution to their plight, a world where Palestine refugees thrive.
unrwa usa
mission
UNRWA USA lifts up the voices, experiences, and humanity of Palestine refugees to secure American support for resources essential to every human being, for the promise of a better life.
voices of unrwa blog
We aim to shed light on the daily realities faced on the ground by Palestine refugees and the impact of our work in providing humanitarian relief and support. Here, you will find insightful articles from our staff, partners, and beneficiaries about UNRWA’s education, health, and emergency assistance programs. Join us as we share inspiring stories of resilience, hope, and determination from Palestine and beyond. https://www.unrwausa.org/voices-of-unrwa
Gaza, My True Home: A Palestine refugee’s story of hope and return
Amjad Shabat, a former freelance content producer for UNRWA USA, reported from Gaza before she was evacuated in 2024. Now residing in Texas with her husband and young daughter, she contributes as a guest writer for the Voices of UNRWA blog. Through her writing, she reflects on her identity as a refugee and her longing to return home.
The phrase “no place like home” has echoed a lot in my family. I remember my late father saying it the moment he stepped through the door after a long day at work. To keep the tradition, I hung the tapestry at the entrance of my apartment. This simple phrase is deeply rooted in my consciousness now. No matter where I live, if I’m away from Palestine, I can't feel home. 
I learned other lessons watching my people find creative solutions to life under siege. I admired the countless female nurses and doctors who treated injuries with scared and shaky hands under fire. In devastating conditions, UNRWA workers continued their efforts to deliver life-saving aid while trying to survive themselves. They arrived at our makeshift tents and camps under the continuous massive bombings to deliver the only food available. My daughter, who was two and a half years old at the time, would have an egg every three days delivered by UNRWA. During these days, this single egg was her only source of protein.
As refugees, our perspective of home is complicated. We move around while remembering our homes are temporary, until we return back to our rightful, ancestral land. And yet, despite its challenges, life as a refugee has taught me resilience and profoundly shaped my identity.
Growing up in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, I remember the winters were the most difficult. Our metal-ceiling houses and narrow streets used to sink and float each time it rained. We never had a playground to play in. Our most joyful games took place in the alleys. Gaza has been under an illegal blockade since 2007, and at one point early on in the siege, our resources were so limited that we could not even get paper or pencils to write down our lessons.
I went to UNRWA schools where classes were crowded. This pushed me to work hard so I could stand out. My passion for writing emerged, and with the encouragement of my UNRWA teachers, I joined storytelling competitions across elementary schools in Jabalia. I felt proud of myself as I heard my classmates’ applause after winning first and second place. Their little hands clapping is a memory I cherish as the true sound and image of success.
Appreciating the value of education is a core concept in our lives as Palestinians and as refugees. My parents always told me that education would lead us toward a better future—a lesson I now strive to pass on to my own young daughter. Through education, our generation is able to tell our narrative in different languages, playing a major role in the growing global solidarity movement for Palestine.
What also left a strong impression on me were the female journalists and UNRWA humanitarian workers—women who, while carrying the weight of their roles as mothers surviving a military assault— prepare and pack their children's meals before heading out to document what experts know to be a genocide or deliver life-saving UNRWA aid. They balanced motherhood with the immense responsibility of helping others, all while trying to survive the same brutal conditions and stay strong for their children.... READ MORE https://www.unrwausa.org/voices-of-unrwa/gaza-my-true-home
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