CATEGORIES

Palestine Outside Gaza: TWO EXPERIENCES

Irrespective of how the current situation plays out, the Palestinian spirit is too deeply entrenched to be defeated

UNHOLY WAR

Violence destroys the conscience and renders us captive to the reptilian mind within

"Resistance is at the Core of Our Identity"

Rifat Kassis, a Christian Palestinian human rights activist, author, and speaker, who is presently living in the West Bank, feels Israel is paving the road for another Nakba

The Olive Tree

Artist and writer Ghia Haddad on Palestinian children and hope

"Like Seeds, We will Continue"

Reem Anbar, a Palestinian oud player and a music therapist from Gaza, has been telling stories about her land and the ongoing war through her performances across Europe

'We are Packing for Exile ... or Death'

In the first week of December, the Aljazzar family was preparing for its forced emigration from Gaza. They didn't know what to pack in their small backpacks

"I See a Circle of Light"

Palestinian poet Ghassan Zaqtan's poems sing of losing the war and living for love

'Even Before the War, Life Was Very Hard'

Cartoonist and visual artist Mohammad Sabaaneh was imprisoned in an Israeli prison for six months because his art depicts how Palestinians suffer Israeli atrocities daily

"Women of Gaza Are Holding On, But For How Long?"

What is happening in Gaza now is a backward step in every way for the feminist movement, says Farah Barqawi, a Palestinian feminist, performer and poet, pursuing an MFA degree in non-fiction creative writing in Brooklyn

'The Nakba Has Not Ended Yet'

Palestinian artist Ahmed ElKhalidi, who lives in Adelaide, uses his art to make people aorund him become more aware of the Palestinian issue

'My Death Should Not be Passing News'

A promising novelist and an engineer, Noor Aldeen Hajjaj, wrote this piece barely one month before he was killed in Israeli bombing on December 3 in Gaza

"No, it Did Not Begin on October 7"

Khaled Abuqare says as an activist, it has been difficult to put the Palestinian perspective on the table because in the initial weeks of the war, the focus was on the Israeli perspective

Steadfast in Exile

A Palestinian lawyer returns to Ramallah only to become an 'internal exile'

Jewish-Muslim Relations: A Journey Through Legends, Time and Faith

Before the 20th century, Jewish history books were replete with accounts of the generosity of Muslim rulers who had granted them religious and social freedoms and saved them from the savageries of the West

Visually Speaking

A clutch of Palestinian films masterfully use the visual motifs of the West Bank barriers and Israeli checkpoints to capture the cruelties of war

"We Want Bread Back into Our Lives"

Hind Khoudary, who is associated with the World Food Programme in Gaza, recounts hard days in the Gaza Strip during and after the brief humanitarian pause

'The Olive Tree Does Not Cry or Laugh'

Palestinian national poet Mahmoud Darwish’s works are seeped in the sights and sounds and sorrows of his beloved homeland. Placed under house arrest in his youth for his political activism and poetry, Mahmoud spent 26 years of his life in exile, between Paris and Beirut. Palestinian cities and villages, lakes and rivers, orange trees and olive groves, garlic and wheat and bread—pivotal symbols of Palestinian culture and history found a place in the poet in exile’s writing. He explored the themes of belonging and displacement, identity and alienation, giving a powerful and passionate voice to the Palestinian struggle. “My homeland is not a suitcase,” he declared. Calling all Palestinians to resist occupation and colonisation, he wrote, “This land promises wheat and stars…We are its wound, but a wound that fights.”

"Who Will be Killed Next?"

Palestinian doctor Izzeldin Abuelaish lost three of his daughters when Israel bombed his house in Gaza. He is now a voice for peace and freedom

"No Help Was In Sight"

Zak used to work in a mall close to Al Shati refugee camp before he and his family fled to escape Israeli attacks

"My Daughters are Frightened"

Nour Harazeen, a journalist, left Gaza along with her family a few weeks ago. Her five-year-old twin daughters are bewildered by the devastation they see all around

"Why Do They Bomb Us?"

Four-year-old Salma often wakes up late at night crying violently. She stares at the smoke of the bombing until it fades away and asks. \"People died?\"

"The Sky Seems to be Weeping"

Haya Abu Nasser, a human rights activist and writer from Gaza, was slated to depart for Malaysia on October 17 to study international relations. These days, she is yearning for a cup of coffee and the routine melody of life

CAPTURING War-torn Gaza

Representing and reporting the truth about the atrocities in Gaza could have been a redemptive moment for photojournalism

The Dream of Peace

Iranian-French photographer Manoocher Deghati arrives in Palestine in 1994 to capture key moments such as the return of PLO Chairman Yasser Arafat. In Eyewitnessed, Ursula Janssen chronicles Deghati's perilious journey

The 'Inner Monastery'

Author, scholar and thinker Hussein Barghouthi, diagnosed with lymphoma, returns to his childhood countryside near Ramallah in Palestine after thirty years in 'exile'. Among the Almond Trees is a poignant, lyrical, philosophical reflection on life and death, art and politics, love and hope. This excerpt is about a monastery atop a mountain he used to visit as a child.

"We are the Living Dead of Gaza"

Every day since October 7, Zainab AI Ghonaimy has woken up in her home in the besieged Gaza City and the first thing she has done is check her Internet connection. It has become an essential means of survival for Zainab, who has been using it to broadcast her daily journal to the world.

A Rose Shoulders Up

Don't ever be surprised to see a rose shoulder up among the ruins of the house: This is how we survived.

Challenge Of The Virtual

Colour brought us closer to lived physical 'meatspace' reality, but virtual production can very easily take us away from it

RECOVERY Diary

Of Sickness and Health|A Foreign Country|The Possibility of Healing

Poetic Faith

The realness of the house on screen