“I continue to speak out because the kids are counting on us,” she said. “I continue because I would want people to speak out if it were my kids. It’s my calling to care about all children. It’s just who I am and I can’t not care.”

The current moment builds on decades of work – mothers harnessing their organizing power, meeting up with each other to keep their communities safe, launching and supporting campaigns, advocating for changes in public policy and getting out the vote. Composite: Rita Liu/The Guardian/Getty Images

 

‘I see every child like I see my children’: why US mothers are on the frontlines of resistance movements

Mothers’ experiences often intersect with federal policy battles over gun violence, immigration and childcare

Rachel Leingang in Minneapolis and Ankita Rao in Washington

Sun 10 May 2026

Sarah spent the first months of the year following immigration agents around the Twin Cities to document arrests and violations of constitutional rights. On the day Renee Good was killed by a federal agent after dropping her son at school, she too had been surrounded by agents who screamed that they were the good guys.

On the other side of the metropolis, Linsey Rippy showed up daily to a church, ready to assemble and distribute boxes full of produce, beans, rice, cereal, sometimes adding in formula for babies stuck at home with their parents because it wasn’t safe to go out during “Operation Metro Surge”, the Trump administration’s widespread and violent immigration enforcement crackdown.

Mothers built the backbone of the resistance in Minnesota, quickly setting up networks to get kids to school and feed people, march and protest, monitor immigration agents, give rides, protect school grounds and fundraise for rent – a revolution made of caregiving and community. The movement accelerated nationally when millions saw a now iconic photo of five-year-old Liam Ramos, who was detained in the state along with his father and taken to the Dilley immigration processing center in Texas.

Rachel Accurso, the popular children’s show host and advocate known as Ms Rachel, ramped up a campaign on social media and across TV networks to end immigration detention for children. She described a video call with a nine-year-old, Deiver, a spelling bee winner who was also held at Dilley detention center in Texas who wanted to be released so he could go to the state bee, as “devastating and surreal”.

“I see every child like I see my children and I think about their mothers having to see them suffer,” Accurso said. “It breaks me.”... READ MORE https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/may/10/mothers-resistance-protest-movements

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This Week in Palestine- Digital Horizons: Entrepreneurship and Economic Resilience

Issue: 331, February 2026

This rendering of the sunbird, Palestine’s national bird, copyrighted by Paltrade, was chosen to represent high-tech export. 

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https://thisweekinpalestine.com/331-Feb-2026/ 

Palestine painting by Mohammed Jabr, an artist from Gaza https://thisweekinpalestine.com/mohammed-jabr/

Message from the Editor

The war in Gaza is continuing unabated despite the so-called ceasefire, as tens of Gazans are killed on a daily basis. Yet the world has turned to other hotspots, emerging due to a resurgence of imperialist colonialism – or is it simply gaining greater visibility as it is not confined to more distant areas? And while many of us feel helpless in the wake of events and our inability to end the aggression against Gaza and the West Bank, there is one way in which we can make a difference: through the outsourcing of business services that include software development, business management, finance and accounting, and marketing. When internet and electricity are available, a skilled, resilient, and adaptable workforce of Palestinian young professionals and recent graduates can support businesses abroad. At the same time, their resilience can be strengthened as they are enabled to earn livelihoods for themselves and their families.   

This issue of TWiP highlights organizations that support Palestinian professionals by facilitating online work opportunities. We hope that this exposure will not only create visibility but also encourage greater engagement from abroad in this invaluable resource for our people who, while persevering under great hardship – unimaginable in the case of Gaza – excel in ways that might be unanticipated for many.... READ MORE  https://thisweekinpalestine.com/message-from-the-editor-331/

Table of Contents

https://thisweekinpalestine.com/table-of-contents-331/

 

From Aid to Agency

Building an Investment Ecosystem for Palestinian Innovation

By Sharareh Noorbaloochi

Humanitarian aid remains indispensable. In moments of acute crisis, it saves lives and preserves dignity. But aid alone cannot rebuild economies, restore agency, or create long-term self-reliance. For that, investment is also essential. Not symbolic investment, and not charity framed as capital, but structured, accountable investment that treats Palestinian founders as builders on equal terms. 

The highest form of solidarity is not donation. It is investment on equal terms, with shared risk, shared upside, and shared accountability. For impact-focused investors and ecosystem enablers, this approach shifts engagement from supporting activity to building durable systems grounded in ownership, incentives, and long-term alignment. 

Why Success Stories Matter
Venture capital follows a power-law dynamic: A small number of successful companies generate the majority of returns. For emerging ecosystems, building even a handful of investable success stories can unlock follow-on capital, talent retention, and long-term economic momentum.

Innovation does not thrive in isolation. It scales when talent, capital, and markets are connected through a functioning investment ecosystem. In deeply fragmented contexts, entrepreneurship can also serve as a unifying force. It creates shared incentives where politics often divides, and measurable value where rhetoric alone cannot. When paired with the right capital structures, innovation becomes a practical tool for rebuilding systems, restoring livelihoods, and creating durable pathways to growth... READ MORE https://thisweekinpalestine.com/from-aid-to-agency/

The Palestinian Diaspora

A Strategic Asset for the Tech Sector

By Feras Nasr

The Palestinian diaspora refers to the large community of Palestinians living outside historic Palestine, forming transnational networks connected to their homeland. Currently, nearly 8 million Palestinians live outside historic Palestine, with the majority residing in the Middle East and around 1 million living in North and South America and the Far East. Despite decades of displacement, the Palestinian diaspora continues to maintain close ties to its homeland and plays a significant role in preserving Palestinian national identity while providing social, cultural, and economic support. 

Know Thy Heritage Diaspora Conference 2025.

Members of the Palestinian diaspora have achieved notable successes across various fields and have been advocates of the Palestinian cause around the world. Names include Edward Said in academia, Rashida Tlaib in politics, Amer Zaher and Mo Amer in arts and culture, and the Hadid family in fashion. As entrepreneurs and business executives, Palestinians have created enormous value with well-known leaders such as Talal Abu Ghazaleh, Elia Nuqul, Farouk Shami, Samer Khoury, Ibrahim Dabdoub, and others who have founded and led multinational enterprises. 

In addition to these well-known figures, the Palestinian diaspora includes countless individuals who provide vital support and solidarity to their homeland... READ MORE https://thisweekinpalestine.com/the-palestinian-diaspora/

 * Know Thy Heritage Leadership Program empowers Palestinian youth in the Diaspora by strengthening their knowledge of their Palestinian identity, culture, history, traditions, as well as their understanding of the Palestinian economic environment, political landscape, social structures and conditions.  https://www.kthps.org/

 

UpScrolled

Born from Resistance, Built for Digital Sovereignty

Courtesy of UpScrolled

We’re living in a world where mainstream social media platforms are actively suppressing voices that aren’t toeing the line. Freedom of speech has become monetized, colonized, and villainized. When an expression of solidarity or critical thinking results in users being shadowbanned, marginalized, or cancelled, the premise of real connection and human engagement turns into empty slogans and hollow promises. 

The throttling of Palestinian voices and the online deletion of the Palestinian struggle has made this undeniable. For over a year, independent journalists documenting Gaza have watched their reach collapse overnight. Accounts that built audiences over years suddenly couldn’t reach their own followers. Posts with verified footage were buried while misinformation circulated freely. They simply made it invisible. 

Founder of UpScrolled, Issam Hijazi, at Web Summit Qatar 2026.

UpScrolled was launched in 2024 by Issam Hijazi, a Palestinian-Jordanian-Australian technologist, with support from Tech for Palestine. The creation of UpScrolled was an act of resistance and solidarity. If a platform cannot advocate for everyone, then it becomes a mouthpiece for its billionaire founders’ agendas and just another place to gatekeep truth and determine what discourse does or does not have value... READ MORE  https://thisweekinpalestine.com/upscrolled/

PALESTINE PAINFULLY BEAUTIFUL

By Patricio Hales  https://thisweekinpalestine.com/palestine-painfully-beautiful/

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Forbidden Plants of Palestine: Each tatreez [embroidery] motif documents a “Forbidden Plant of Palestine,” carrying a story of connection and resilience, offering a reminder of the enduring bond between the people and the land that nurtures them.

shereen.quttaine

Forbidden Plants of Palestine

For countless generations, Palestinians foraged and harvested the fruits of their land, from wild plants like tumble thistle (Akkoub), medicinal thyme (Za’atar), and wild sage (Meramieh) to cultivated staples like olives, oranges, and watermelons. Like all other facets of their lives, their autonomy over their own food is under occupation. In addition to confiscating farmlands and uprooting centuries-old fruit trees, the occupation imposes oppressive laws forbidding Palestinians from picking and growing the plants that comprise their culinary, medicinal, and cultural traditions. Despite this, Palestinians continue to find ways to resist.

Each tatreez motif documents a “Forbidden Plant of Palestine,” carrying a story of connection and resilience, offering a reminder of the enduring bond between the people and the land that nurtures them.

Palestinian women have long documented their stories and surroundings through embroidery, preserving history and identity in every stitch. Through creating my own motifs for the plants that Palestinians are restricted from accessing on their own land, I am continuing this tradition—using thread as a form of resistance. This project is my way of documenting apartheid, reclaiming narratives, and strengthening my connection to my roots and identity. Each tatreez motif is a testimony of endurance, belonging, and the fight to keep our heritage alive.

I created these motifs to be used for non-commercial purposes. The Palestinian cause is not for sale and should not be exploited for profit. If you wish to share or use these motifs, proper credit is required.

If you would like the pdf booklet for the designs dm me. 

Shereen Quttaineh

 #PalestinianTatreez #ThreadsOfResistance #ForbiddenPlantsOfPalestine#StitchingResistance
 

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

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"Across Palestine, the olive trees are disappearing, burned, cut, and uprooted by Israeli settlers, often under military protection. In Gaza, tens of thousands of dunums of farmland have been leveled, destroying nearly a million olive trees, some that had stood for centuries. Families are attacked or blocked from reaching their groves, their livelihoods erased before their eyes. Yet every year, people still go to harvest, even among the ashes and stumps, to remember that the land is theirs. When the trees are gone, they still reach, as an act of resistance." Sliman Mansour of Palestine

sliman.mansour

Harvest (حصاد), oil on canvas, 1997

"Across Palestine, the olive trees are disappearing, burned, cut, and uprooted by Israeli settlers, often under military protection.

In Gaza, tens of thousands of dunums of farmland have been leveled, destroying nearly a million olive trees, some that had stood for centuries.

Families are attacked or blocked from reaching their groves, their livelihoods erased before their eyes.

Yet every year, people still go to harvest, even among the ashes and stumps, to remember that the land is theirs.

When the trees are gone, they still reach, as an act of resistance." Sliman Mansour of Palestine https://www.instagram.com/sliman.mansour/     https://www.instagram.com/p/DQMWd4Vjc3Q/

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Arts & Culture Rescuing the Memory: Gaza's Archaeological Treasures Between Exile and Resilience... The exhibit “Treasures Saved from Gaza – 5,000 Years of History,” organized by the Institut de Monde Arab (IMA) in Paris, constitutes a major cultural event in many respects. It not only highlights an exceptional archaeological heritage but also speaks to the necessity to protect cultural heritage in conflict zones through the example of Gaza, an emblematic region both by its history and the trials it is going through today.

 

Arts & Culture

Rescuing the Memory: Gaza's Archaeological Treasures Between Exile and Resilience

Date: 

May 02 2025

Author: 

Sélim Abi Kheir

The exhibit “Treasures Saved from Gaza – 5,000 Years of History,” organized by the Institut de Monde Arab (IMA) in Paris, constitutes a major cultural event in many respects. It not only highlights an exceptional archaeological heritage but also speaks to the necessity to protect cultural heritage in conflict zones through the example of Gaza, an emblematic region both by its history and the trials it is going through today. 

A Dive Into 5,000 Years of History 

Since antiquity, Gaza has been an intersection of civilizations. Situated on a strategic commercial route between Asia, Africa, and Europe, it was influenced by a number of cultures – Egyptian, Philistine, Persian, Greek, Roman, Byzantine, Islamic, and Ottoman. This rich history is reflected in the objects presented by the IMA, which for the most part come from excavations performed in 1990 and 2000 in the Gaza Strip. 

The exhibit includes around 130 objects selected from a larger collection of 529 pieces belonging to the Palestinian National Authority, which have been kept at the Museum of Art History of Geneva (MAH) since 2007. The objects, ranging from the Bronze Age to the Ottoman Empire, include amphorae, oil lamps, funerary steles, votive figurines, jewels, and an exceptional mosaic from the Byzantine Empire found in Abu Baraqeh. Their diversity testifies to the cultural and religious importance of Gaza through the ages. 

The Treasures “Saved” and Sheltered  

What makes this exhibit particularly poignant is its context. The objects presented have never been able to return to Gaza because of the blockade and successive conflicts. They are kept in Switzerland, at the MAH, which has allowed them to avoid destruction. A large number of archaeological sites in Gaza have been damaged or destroyed in recent years. UNESCO has reported that since 2023, there have been attacks on over 69 cultural sites in Gaza, including a museum, religious sites, and historical buildings. 

 

Marble Statue of Aphrodite on display at the IMA

In this sense, the exhibit does more than simply display ancient artifacts: it is an act of cultural resistance, a reminder of the value of heritage in times of war. The exhibition also features a dedicated space for this issue, with a map of the bombings that have affected heritage sites, as well as rare historical photographs of Gaza in the early 20th century from the collection of the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem. 

 

 Hellenistic and Roman artifacts from Gaza on display at the IMA

A Tribute to Memory and Resilience 

For Jack Lang, president of IMA, this exhibit is a tribute not only to the memory and the resilience of the people of Gaza. It serves as a reminder that Gaza, long before becoming a symbol of conflict, was a place of life, exchange, art, and spirituality. By restoring visibility to this glorious past, the exhibit also seeks to revive a collective awareness of the importance of safeguarding world heritage, wherever it may be found. 

A Cultural and Educational Experience... READ MORE https://www.palestine-studies.org/en/node/1657291

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