Mahmoud Darwish, “All I Have,” from The Tears of Olive Trees by AbdulKarim Al Makadma (Genius Media Inc.; 2015)
Last week, Israel refused asylum to a woman (name redacted) from Ghana because, according to the interior ministry designer, she chose to be a lesbian. For a nation that notoriously prides itself as a safe haven amidst a violently homophobic political sphere, Israel is brazenly hostile to LGBT community members itself.
A group of straight people sat around in a meeting and came to the wild conclusion that this woman’s story wasn’t authentic enough for them because they couldn’t locate her relationship history. To interrogate someone’s marginalized identity this way is intrusive, dehumanizing and deranged. And to reject their plea on this presumption alone is reprehensible.
Israel is a well oiled PR machine, churning out exceptionalist rhetoric it rarely delivers upon, if at all.
A Palestinian protester covers his face with a Palestinian flag during demonstrations outside the UN’s headquarters in Gaza after they announced a lack of funds to rebuild the Palestinian territory as some 100,000 people remain homeless after the July-August conflict, which killed nearly 2,200 Palestinians. (Mahmud Hams/AFP)
Just discovered the existence of the Palestine Poster Project Archives — a rather incredible catalog of nearly 10,000 posters from Palestine. They’re an excellent and often really beautiful historical resource.
1) “The Beginning of Victory" by Adnan al-Sharif. 1978.
2) “This is the Palestinian Wedding" by Emile Menhem (text is an excerpt of Mahmoud Darwish). Ca. 1982.
3) “Solidarity with Syria" by Lázaro Abrue Padrón. 1971.
Gaza Strip [Palestine]
The Gaza Strip has 8 refugee camps and 1,221,110 registered refugees.
West Bank/Jerusalem [Palestine]
The West Bank has 19 refugee camps and 741,409 registered refugees.
Syria
Syria has 13 refugee camps and 499,189 registered refugees. Three of these camps are unofficial (*).
Lebanon
There are ten refugee camps in Lebanon and 448,599 registered refugees.
Jordan
There are ten refugee camps in Jordan and 2,034,641 registered refugees.
Palestinian guerrillas in training
11-month-old Balqis Ghawadra became the youngest prisoner in the world, after visiting her father in Eshel Israeli prison, occupied Beer Sheva.
Nihal Ghannam Ghawadra from Bir Al-Basha village, near Jenin, waited passionately for the permission to visit her husband, Mu’ammar, only to be separated from her two little children, and to see her entire family become prisoners, Ahrar Center for Prisoners Studies and Human Rights reports. According to the PNN, Nihal headed to the prison on Wednesday, with her daughter Balqis, 11 months, and son Baraa’, age 2. As soon as she arrived, the three were separated. Nihal was imprisoned, along with her two children, under the pretext of sneaking a mobile phone to her husband. The entire family has now been imprisoned, as a result. Muammar’s mother told Ahrar that her daughter in law called to inform her that Israeli authorities had imprisoned her and her children, and began calling on people to help release them from the prison. Director of the center Fu’ad al-Khuffash declared the move by prison officials a flagrant violation of human rights and a crime against humanity, calling on local and international human rights organizations, as well as Palestinian authorities, for a speedy intervention.
"There is no substitute for Palestine.. except paradise"
Palestinian wedding 1922 - Jerusalem.
(via redphilistine)
This workshop connected developments in political prisoners’ movements for Cuban Five, Puerto Rican political prisoners, Palestinian prisoners, and the Black Liberation Movement, with a focus on Assata Shakur. The workshop addresses the current state of the respective struggles and their political prisoners.
The U.S. has imprisoned the Cuban Five since 1998 for trying to prevent Florida based terrorism against Cuba. An update on legal & political developments, including newly discovered evidence.
The Puerto Rican people have always resisted colonialism, and have waged campaigns for the release of the thousands of their compatriots who have been imprisoned for their commitment to independence, and have always advocated for their human rights.
The movement of Palestinian political prisoners has received growing attention internationally. The struggle of Palestinian prisoners, given the role of US aid and funding to Israel, is directly connected to that of other prisoners held by the US.
Recently, the FBI named Assata Shakur as the first woman on its “Most Wanted Terrorists” list, funding a $2 million bounty for her capture and return from Cuba. The workshop will address Assata’s case as an illustration of the criminalization of the Black Liberation Movement and numerous political prisoners that emerged from it.
Speakers:
Alberto Rodriguez
Alberto Rodriguez is a Puerto Rican Independentista who in 1983 was arrested by a FBI led task force and charged with the impossible crime of Seditious Conspiracy for fighting for the independence of Puerto Rico. After a lengthy federal trial during which many important political issues like the illegality of U.S. colonialism over Puerto Rico were raised, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison. After 16 years of incarceration, he along with most but not all the Puerto Rican Political Prisoners received Executive Clemency from then President Bill Clinton and was released.
Soffiyah Elijah
Soffiyah Elijah, Executive Director of the Correctional Association of New York, is the first woman and the first person of color to lead the nearly 170-year old organization in its mission to create a fairer and more humane criminal justice system. She served previously as Deputy Director and Clinical Instructor at the Criminal Justice Institute at Harvard Law School, and before that was a member of the faculty and Director and Supervising Attorney of the Defender Clinic at the City University of New York School of Law. Ms. Elijah has also worked as a Supervising Attorney at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, a Staff Attorney at the Juvenile Rights Division of the Legal Aid Society, and in private practice.
An accomplished advocate, scholar, and educator, Ms. Elijah is a frequent presenter on national and international media and at forums on criminal justice policy and human rights issues. Some of her work on behalf of political prisoners has included: post trial/appellate representation of Sundiata Acoli (the other African American survivor besides Assata Shakur from the NJ turnpike shooting), and of Marilyn Buck (who was charged and convicted of involvement in Assata’s escape); representation of the San Francisco 8, and of organizations such as the Venceremos Brigade.
Bradley Parker
Brad Parker is Staff Attorney and International Advocacy Officer with Defence for Children International Palestine, an independent child-rights organization dedicated to defending and promoting the rights of children living in occupied Palestine. He was previously the Legal Advocacy Officer with MADRE.
Rafael Anglada-Lopez
Rafael Anglada López is a lawyer and a civil rights activist. He was a member of the Federación de Universitarios Pro Independencia (FUPI-Federation of Pro-Independence University Students), a delegate for the Puerto Rican Socialist Party before the United Nations, and a reporter for Claridad, the major pro-independence newspaper. Anglada has dedicated his life to the struggle for Puerto Rican independence from the United States and, as an attorney, defending the rights of political dissidents. Atty. Anglada-Lopez has been associated with the defense of the Cuban Five since their trial in Miami in 2000-2001.
this is a hand-painted photograph of olive trees in Palestine from 1919
Beyond the Veil exhibit at the Milwaukee Public Museum (exhibit ended Sept 1, 2014)
Palestinian dress is so specific to each area that a woman’s village can be identified simply by her dress. Each town or village embraces a certain style, including colors and designs, which distinguishes it from a neighboring area.
Picture 1: Throughout Palestine, Ramallah was most famous for the roomi thob made of white linen embroidered with cross-stitching in wine-red silk. Although white roomi thobs were made for summer months, women could wear them year round. Black linen thobs were also made in Ramallah and most commonly worn on special occasions and during the winter months.
The chest panel of the thob has a distinctibe arch qos motif, native to the Ramallah region, displayed as a heavily embroidered tall palm motif on the back lower panel of the dress. The vertical bands (mawaris) on the back and front for the dress include stars, s-shapes, cypress trees, and feathers. Sometimes manajel, cube or spike grain-like shapes of different colors, line up next to, or substitute, the mawaris. The sleeves of the thob are long, pointed and triangular, commonly known as irdan, with embroidery only on the upper part of the sleeve and the cuff. The narrow sleeves (kum) were only popular during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, but later the irdan became more fashionable and worn on special occasions.
Picture 3: Everyday Palestine cross-stitch thob.
Picture 4: Bahrain (Gulf) with Sham Palestinian cross-stitching
Picture 5: Young generation Palestinian thob for special occasion.
Learn more about Palestinian traditional outfits here
Love and Revolution.
Palestinian resistance fighters in Lebanon, 1980.
The Keffiyeh is not a fashion statement. It is a political statement. Know what you’re wearing before you falsely adorn it.
Outside of the Middle East and North Africa, the keffiyeh first gained popularity among activists supporting the Palestinians in the conflict with Israel.
Its prominence increased in the 1960s with the beginning of the Palestinian resistance movement and its adoption by Palestinian politician Yasser Arafat. Another Palestinian figure associated with the keffiyeh is Laila Khaled, a female member of the armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. These photos often included Khaled wearing a keffiyeh in the style of a Muslim woman’s hijab, wrapped around the head and shoulders. This was unusual, as the keffiyeh is associated with Arab masculinity, and many believe this to be something of a statement by Khaled, denoting her equality with men in the Palestinian armed struggle.The colors of the stitching in a keffiyeh are also vaguely associated with Palestinians’ political sympathies. Traditional black and white keffiyehs became associated with Fatah. Later, red and white keffiyehs were adopted by Palestinian Marxists, such as the PFLP. Today, Palestinian Marxists have virtually disappeared, and red and white keffiyehs are instead identified with Hamas.
The color symbolism of the scarves is by no means universally accepted by all Palestinians or Arabs. Its importance should not be overstated, as the scarves are used by Palestinians and Arabs of all political affiliations, as well as by those with no particular political sympathies.
Unfortunately,
today, this symbol of Palestinian identity is now largely imported from China. With the scarf’s growing popularity in the 2000s, Chinese manufacturers entered the market, driving Palestinians out of the business. In 2008, Yasser Herbawi, who for five decades had been the only Palestinian manufacturer of keffiyehs, is now struggling with sales. The Herbawi Textile Factory has 16 machines. In 1990, all 16 machines were functioning, making 750 keffiyahs per day. Today, only 2 machines are used, making a mere 300 keffiyahs per week. Unlike the Chinese manufactured ones, Herbawis uses 100% cotton. Yasser Herbawis son, Izzat, states the importance of creating the Palestinian symbol, in Palestine, “the keffiyah is a tradition of Palestine and it should be made in Palestine. We should be the ones making it.”.
If you’re going to buy a Keffiyeh, make sure it is made in Palestine or the Mid East. Not China.
Another misfortune,
In 2007, the American clothing store chain, Urban Outfitters, stopped selling keffiyehs after “a pro-Israel activist… complained about the items”, and the store also issued a statement that “the company had not intended ‘to imply any sympathy for or support of terrorists or terrorism’ in selling the keffiyehs and was pulling them”.
And that is why I never shop at Urban Outfitters.
Point being people, know what it symbolizes. It’s not cute, it’s not on sale, it’s not ‘what’s in’ …it’s a support for freedom.
Free Palestine.
Unless it’s a sign of solidarity with Palestine, don’t wear the Keffiyeh if you’re not Arab.
