– Edward Said
The late Palestinian scholar, Edward Said, remarked that Palestinians had been denied permission to narrate their history and speak of the day-to-day experiences of life in the margins. Here, we reclaim that permission to narrate our own stories.
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Fayrouz Sharqawi, Advocacy Director at Grassroots International, discusses the recent movement for Al Aqsa and the necessity of organizations like Grassroots Jerusalem to build a cohesive political platform through which Jerusalemites can voice their demands and bring attention to the indigenous and independent Palestinian economy outside of the international aid and NGO system.
Virtually all of the assertions made in the article about Gaza’s population as a whole are speculative, based as they are on either no evidence or merely the interviewee’s impressions, anecdotes or case examples.
The bill would have to pass through the House and Senate to become law, an unlikely feat, its supporters say, with Congress being the mainstay of pro-Israel groups. But its backers believe it paves the way for more vocal criticism of Israel on the Hill.
But with the latest attempt foundering last year and despite changes in leadership over the years, the conclusion that now has to be drawn is that, when it comes to Israel, the WMA is not fit for the purpose for which it was created after World War II.
The statement was backed by the Presbyterian Church USA, United Church of Christ, Alliance of Baptists, American Friends Service Committee and dozens of other faith organisations.
“We are alarmed by legislation recently passed in a number of states penalising participation in the nonviolent, grassroots Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights,’ the groups said, ‘and by similar legislation that is proposed in the US Congress.”
“As faith leaders, we have long used the nonviolent instruments of boycott and divestment in our work for justice and peace.”
Palestinian-Israeli writer Odeh Bisharat is quoted: “If there is no shared narrative of the past, then let us at least write one of the future.” But as Enemies and Neighbours expertly describes, Israelis and Palestinians have spent the last century escaping each other’s narratives and are still doing nothing to write a new one.
Only a minority of refugees seek to return to urban areas densely populated by Jews. In most of these areas the original houses have been destroyed, and there is no obstacle to having refugees live anywhere in nearby areas — much in the same way that Jews and Arabs live together today in cities like Haifa. As for the small minority of cases in which the original houses remain intact, the Israeli organization Zochrot teamed up with Palestinian NGO Badil to formulate a joint legal framework document, which provides a guide for current residents and original owners to reach a joint agreement.
Katie Archibald-Woodward is a photojournalist and minister whose calling in both spheres serves to illuminate life lived amidst occupation in Palestine. Her images include SoundCloud commentary. There is also an interactive component to this exhibition.
The birthday may not impact Americans as much as the 50th anniversary of the occupation, which caused a lot of navel-gazing last June in the U.S., but the Balfour Declaration was endorsed by the Wilson administration and there are events planned here too.
Through educational events, humanitarian support, and cultural preservation, the Jerusalem Fund is helping build the movement for Palestinian liberation.
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