Susan Abulhawa Palestinian-American human rights activist
The human rights activist is a passionate critic of Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and its campaign to influence international opinion. "Israel is literally spending hundreds of millions of dollars to put out fake content," she says. "On social media, we are all either being suspended or being shadow-banned." She lives in 'Pennsylvania and spoke to THE WEEK over Zoom. Edited excerpts from the interview:
Q/ You have talked about being destined to go home. When Gaza is being razed and Palestinians are being forced to flee, how difficult is it to keep that idea alive?
A/When Indians were massacred in Jallianwala Bagh, did you say, 'We are just going to leave this area, we will never mourn it, will never have hope'? Was that the reaction you had? Human reaction to things like that is not just to give up and go away. It is honouring those people and remembering them. We are not going to forget this. Everything that we are comes from this land. The idea that we will just go live somewhere else and just forget is impossible. This is our struggle. It is for liberation. This is the point of writing. This is the point of celebrating our culture. We refuse erasure.
Q/ Mornings in Jenin was written after you witnessed a massacre.
A/I was there in the immediate aftermath. We dug bodies out of the rubble. It was horrific. It was completely unlike the sanitised version that was carried by the western media.
Q/You have always talked about being part of your land. Your stories come from the land.
Denne historien er fra November 05, 2023-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
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Denne historien er fra November 05, 2023-utgaven av THE WEEK India.
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Themes Of Choice
As Savvy Investors Seek New Avenues, Thematic Mutual Funds Are Gaining Popularity
A golden girl
One of India's most formidable beauties passed away earlier this month. The odd thing is she would absolutely hate this obituary; she hated being written about and avoided publicity for all of her nine decades. Indira Aswani was 93 when she died. But anyone who encountered her, even briefly, was in such awe of her grace and poise, and one could not but remember her forever.
The interest in wine is growing delightfully in India
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India is not a controlling big brother
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Comrade with no foes
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Pinning down saffron
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