“The past two and a half years have been one of daily horror and fear as Palestinians have watched our families and friends massacred, starved and tortured,” she said, describing this period as the darkest chapter in Palestinian history since 1948: British Palestinians feel ‘gaslit’ and unable to speak out, says leading activist

Ahead of Nakba march, Sara Husseini says many feel they are being treated as suspects rather than victims of mass suffering

Aamna Mohdin Community affairs correspondent

Sat 16 May 2026 01.00 EDT

 

‘We feel a great deal of solidarity from the British public.’ A Together for Palestine march in central London in March. Photograph: Maja Smiejkowska/PA

British Palestinians feel unable to speak openly about Israel’s war on Gaza, the director of the British Palestinian Committee has said, amid what campaigners believe is a growing climate of hostility around Palestinian identity and activism in the UK.

Some were afraid to wear Palestinian symbols at work or display Arabic jewellery and keffiyehs in public, Sara Husseini said.

“We have many documented reports of Palestinians and allies being silenced or punished for wearing Palestinian symbols, watermelon pins, or speaking about the genocide,” she said. “Many colleagues across all kinds of sectors feel they are being gaslit while friends and families are being massacred back home.”

Speaking before Saturday’s national march in London commemorating the 78th anniversary of the Nakba (“catastrophe”) – the displacement of at least 700,000 Palestinians during the creation of Israel in 1948 – Husseini said many Palestinians felt they were being treated not as victims of mass suffering, but as suspects whose grief had become politicised.

“Cruelty is the word I would use, particularly for colleagues who are from Gaza or have family there, knowing these atrocities are being inflicted on their loved ones day in, day out,” Husseini said.

“And then being effectively told: not only are we not going to acknowledge that this is happening to you, we’re going to disbelieve you, interrogate you, stop you from speaking about it, and if you do speak, we’re going to paint you as the problem.”... READ MORE  https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/may/16/british-palestinians-feel-unable-speak-out-sara-husseini

   [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]  

Palestinian Thoub - Rome Thoubs Exhibition 2026 The cross-point of Palestinian identities

 

"This moment in Jerusalem feels heavy in a way that is hard to fully grasp. The Old City stands closed under the Israeli occupation, its narrow streets unusually silent, and for the first time in modern history, both Al Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre have been shut for such a prolonged period. Places that have always been alive with prayer, footsteps, and quiet devotion now feel distant, almost unreachable. For many, it is not just about restricted access, but about a deeper sense of separation from something sacred and rooted in identity. And still, people hold on, to faith, to memory, to the belief that these doors will open again, and that the life and spirit of Jerusalem will return to what it has always been." Palestinian Artist Sliman Mansour

Jerusalem (القدس), oil on canvas, 2010- Sliman Mansour.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DWRYoApDR7R/    

sliman.mansour

This moment in Jerusalem feels heavy in a way that is hard to fully grasp. The Old City stands closed under the Israeli occupation, its narrow streets unusually silent, and for the first time in modern history, both Al Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre have been shut for such a prolonged period. Places that have always been alive with prayer, footsteps, and quiet devotion now feel distant, almost unreachable. For many, it is not just about restricted access, but about a deeper sense of separation from something sacred and rooted in identity. And still, people hold on, to faith, to memory, to the belief that these doors will open again, and that the life and spirit of Jerusalem will return to what it has always been.

 

[AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO see art or 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]

Palestinian Mona Lisa. A well-preserved portrait of a woman, part of a mosaic floor found in a Roman villa in the city of Sepphoris near Nazareth. Her realistic expression, faint smile, and expressive eyes reminded viewers of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

Palestinian Mona Lisa. A well-preserved portrait of a woman, part of a mosaic floor found in a Roman villa in the city of Sepphoris near Nazareth. Her realistic expression, faint smile, and expressive eyes reminded viewers of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.

 

Arabs in Pictures | مدنيات عربية

@ArabsinPictures

They want you silent. Speak anyway Opinion

"... This is what authoritarianism looks like in America now.  Not jackboots. Not tanks. Just forms and subpoenas and investigations triggered by anonymous resentment. We don’t imprison you for your words—we just make you afraid to speak..."

"... We have entered an era where dissent is punished not just by political operatives, but by the system itself. You say the wrong thing, and suddenly the police want your papers. Meanwhile, the billionaires who own our national platforms—Zaslav, Bezos, Murdoch, and Musk—aren’t standing up for speech. They’re sanitizing it...

...These are the new gatekeepers. Not elected. Not accountable. But absolutely in control of who gets heard and who gets silenced.  They don’t have to delete your words. They just make sure no one sees them. They don’t ban books—they bury them in algorithms. They don’t need to arrest you—they just make you so afraid of being called out, canceled, or investigated that you say nothing at all.  

And in that silence, they win.  But here’s the thing..."  READ MORE in context  https://www.pennlive.com/opinion/2025/08/they-want-you-silent-speak-anyway-opinion.html?gift=f7e0ead7-d04e-4b6f-a83b-3e2ffebe1203

 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]

This Week in Palestine: When Art and Artists Belong Ismail Shammout, an Ambassador of Palestinian Identity By Bashar Shammout

 This Week in Palestine

Growing up in the diaspora in Beirut as the son of two outstanding Palestinian artists – Ismail Shammout and Tamam El-Akhal – who significantly shaped modern Palestinian art, I have since my childhood been confronted more or less consciously with philosophical questions that deal with the themes of home, homeland, and belonging. I had to learn that arts and culture have to belong in order to deliver their message and endure when their creators pass away. I had to learn that arts and culture form the protective mother for nations that write history. And belonging is definitely not restricted to a geographical or physical place but rather allows sharing common thoughts and visions with many others and forming a wide-reaching intellectual horizon. So, belonging clearly forms the ground on which artists stand in order to express the thoughts, feelings, and principles that move them – and so it was with Ismail Shammout.

The Spring That Was, 1997.

Ismail had just turned 18 when the Nakba forced my late father and his entire family out of their home in Lydda, Palestine. After a long foot march in the scorching summer heat of 1948, without food or water, they settled down in the refugee camp of Khan Younis. Being a young Palestinian, a refugee, and a highly talented painter who dreamed of becoming an artist, he managed to travel to Cairo and then to Rome to study fine arts in the early 1950s. After that, he moved to Beirut, then to Al-Bireh, then back to Beirut and on to Kuwait, and finally to Amman. He dedicated his entire life to his people, his dreams, and his beloved Palestine and became the perfect ambassador of Palestinian identity, which he proudly and faithfully embodied... READ MORE

 [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]    

Palestinian embroidery continues to be an important symbol of Palestinian culture & identity worldwide #Thobe

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

PALESTINA The Gateway to Jaffa - 1930 Palestine Photos by Dutch photographer Frank Scholten "Mr. Scholten was clearly fascinated by Palestinian culture, especially by the way Muslims, Christians and Jews lived together peacefully ."

Captions translated from Dutch to English 2021

Customs control ("gumruk" in Arabic). From Jaffa, Palestinian agricultural products were exported all over the world. Oranges of course, but also wine.

Daughters of Palestine", this photo reads. Not all Arabs are Muslims, some are Christians. But no less Arab or Palestinian for that. Scholten speaks of "Catholic natives"

Different types of bread

Fair!

Farmer with typical farmer's scarf (keffijeh). During a major uprising against the British a few years after Frank Scholten's journey, this will become the symbol of Palestinian national identity, supplanting the Fez as the most popular headwear

Friday Prayer

In Palestine, all kinds of nationalities lived together. The book contains photos of Indians, Africans, Europeans, etc. This African Palestinian is clearly at ease with the Ottoman Fez.

In the 1920s, Jaffa was booming, judging by the photos of construction workers at work.

Jaffa

Jewish craftsman

Jewish quarter. The (small) Jewish communities in Palestine lived peacefully with the Palestinians.

Last Supper for the sheep chosen for the Feast of Sacrifice 

Tanning

Lunch from a tanner

Melon harvest (and "hump")

Mosque with Corinthian columns.

Palestine was then still a British colony. Here the British gendarmerie clears the way for the High Commissioner who will pass

School

Soldier with banner. The author chose this photo to emphasize how graceful the Arabic script is.

The "congregation servant" sounds his trumpet to announce the Sabbath.

The Bedouins are a nomadic people who still live in Palestine today, but who have even fewer rights within Israel than the Palestinians.

The old port of Jaffa. This important Palestinian port city was largely destroyed in 1948 by Zionist militias. "Tel Aviv", the capital of Israel, was founded on the ruins.

The sailors of Jaffa rest, with fez (typical Ottoman hat for townspeople) and water pipe. Image reminds me of a film by Fellini (Roma or Amarcord), where they are eating on a tram track and have to stand up every time the tram passes.

Today Orthodox Jews still live in Palestine (Israel), descendants of these communities. They have nothing to do with the Zionists and are explicitly against the existence of the Israeli state.

Arab women with hookah. The woman on the left suffers from cataracts ("ophthalmia" apparently, according to the book).

Typical wooden "upper rooms". The Palestinian cities are often centuries old, these kinds of renovations were often the only way to create more space.

We used to make our own "kites" with my grandpa. This one looks a bit more complex

Young lad in "Friday clothes"

Frank Scholten   PALESTINA  The Gateway to Jaffa

Photos & post shared by

Mike Hanini Odetalla

who shared it from

Olivier Goessens

Nov2tembS14p2chelnrt 8g2ai aat 9oc0r1e2d:i23 PMm  ·

Last weekend I came across Jonas Adriaensens at a cafe in Ghent . He was carrying a big book under his arm that he found at a flea market, and had me browsing . In the end, he even gave me the book, with the intention that I could donate it to an organization that fights for the rights of the Palestinian people .

 

It concerns a unique book from 1930, when printed on 1000 copies, from a Dutch photographer, traveler and religious scholar named Frank Scholten . I had never heard of the book, there's a chance that there are hardly any copies of it . The book contains a treasure of beautiful "artistic photographs" (dixit the author) of life in Palestine a hundred years ago . Mr. Scholten was clearly fascinated by Palestinian culture, especially by the way Muslims, Christians and Jews lived together peacefully . He didn't know how meaningful his photos would become a century later...

 

Because these photos prove something the Israeli and Western colonists are trying to deny: that there was a prosperous country called Palestine before Israel was founded . Not a "country without a people", but a rich history of a prosperous Palestinian nation . A buzzing, multicultural and tolerant society even . They're powerful images, featuring indelible faces of real people .

 

I have been to Palestine three times and I feel deeply connected to the Palestinian struggle for dignity and justice . A battle that starts with acknowledging their existence, something the colonizers are so stubbornly trying to prevent . As I browse through this book, I look into the eyes of the Palestinian ancestors who live today between the illegal settlements, between barbed wire and checkpoints; or in the Gaza open-air prison; or those born just like their parents are in refugee camps that 70 years ago as "temporary" Designed by . The ancestors of the 4650 Palestinian political prisoners who, often without trial, have been locked up in brutal circumstances by the Israeli occupier . Ancestors of the ten thousand Palestinians murdered by the regime since 1948 . From the Nakba, over the Sabra and Shatilla genocide, to the nearly weekly victims of the Israeli occupation army . Like the young Mohammad Da'as, 15, who was shot dead last week .

 

The Pashtoons were not allowed to speak out about Israel’s establishment - replaced by Western powers who wanted to maintain a bridge head in the region after Arab colonies’ independence . Suddenly the Zionist occupiers were there, with tanks and planes, bombs and machine guns . Suddenly Palestinians were forcefully deported from their country . Suddenly they were told it was never their country . That they were uncultured barbarians, who had to take place for a "civilized people". These photos prove .

 

I will do my best to scan these photos correctly . Whoever wants them (digital) just let them know . I already have a destination in mind for the book itself, but @Jonas if you think about it, you'll definitely get it back

#FreePalestine