Palestine
Just how far back does Palestinian history go?
Palestinian history and culture will not be erased. History warns us how media's dehumanizing rhetoric can pave the way for targeted aggression and allow society to permit atrocities as grave as genocide. It is resolutely within our mission to counteract this dehumanizing narrative. afikra has always stood in unwavering solidarity with our Palestinian sisters and brothers – and with individuals of all nationalities and faiths around the world – who bravely protest the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine and condemn the state violence of the Israeli colonial settler project. After the events of October 7, 2023 it felt impossible to go on with business as usual. So we dedicated an entire podcast series to understanding the historical context of what is happening in Palestine and to celebrating the richness of Palestinian culture. Guests from completely different disciplines have generously shared their insight in these dark times. This Daftar edition builds on the same mission and is only a sliver of what we’ve dedicated to Palestine, and we will persist so long as the fight for liberation and peace continues. In the face of cultural erasure and ethnic cleansing, we will speak of this land’s Palestinian heritage. We will share the stories weaved from generation to generation – from its farmers and builder to its writers and thinkers – for as long as its olive groves remember. These conversations cannot stop, and we need them now more than ever.
Finding Palestine in Michigan
Samia Halaby
When people think of Michigan, among many things that come to mind is the state’s history as a home to Arabs. Dearborn is colloquially referred to as the heart of Arab America, and its cultural institutions document the overlooked stories of Arab Americans. Yet, beyond her thesis, there is little archival information remaining about Samia Halaby’s experience. Is it easy to overlook the Michigan roots of one of the most important Palestinian painters of a generation and the significance of her broader artistic practice within our current art historical frameworks?
Beit Hammad:
The History of a Family Home in Nablus
By Mohammed Hammad
Prison Literature:
A Defining Genre of Palestinian Literary Production
By Aimée Lister
Ahmad Kaabour’s Songs of Resistance
By Aimée Lister
Book Review: No One Knows Their Blood Type
By Dana Al Shahbari
Tsawwar... George Azar
“It was the spring of 1988, during the first year of the Palestinian Intifada. I was in the West Bank village Beita with three other news photographers. The Israeli Army had recently dynamited 15 homes in the village, killed a sixteen-year-old boy and arrested all the village's men, who they bound by their wrists and gathered en masse in the village’s olive grove before taking them away to prison. We were there looking for pictures. It was close to sunset when my friends and I saw a group of eight village girls emerge from the rocks and on a hilltop above us. They carried a handmade Palestinian flag, outlawed by the occupation. They sang Palestinian songs, taunting the squad of Israel soldiers below them. With a telephoto lens I shot a few pictures from far away. The soldiers screamed and fired tear gas at the girls. When gas fell short, the girls taunted them more. As we scrambled up the hill, I changed to a wide angle lens and as we reached the top, one of the girls took the flag and waved it high over her head. I turned the camera vertically, framed the image and pressed the shutter. It was an event of no real significance. It didn’t make the news that day, or change life in the besieged village. But for me this picture was one of those rare moments when an image crystallized an issue. For me it summed up the spirit of Palestine in a single frame.”
Tsawwar is an ongoing visual series in Daftar which explores the stories behind a photograph, taken in the region or by an Arab photographer, written in their own words. George Azar is a photojournalist-in-residence at the American University of Beirut, an Independent Director at Al Jazeera English, and former independent photographer at the New York Times. Explore his work on @jirjiazar
Canvases & Tablets
Malak Mattar is a Palestinian artist from Gaza whose bold, expressive paintings tell stories of resilience, identity, and life under siege. She began painting at just 13 during the 2014 war, using art as both an escape and a means of survival. Her vibrant colors and striking, emotive faces reflect the strength and defiance of the Palestinian spirit. Entirely self-taught, Mattar has gone on to exhibiting across the world. In her own words, “This painting represents the awakening of those around the world, whilst in Quarantine, to a different level of consciousness and reflection. Whilst many are inside, bored, many are starting to look at the simple things/actions in life and realize the value in those things/actions.”
When the World Sleeps, 2020
Book Recommendations
On Palestinian Embroidery Heritage & Evolution
By Wafa Ghnaim
On Transnational Solidarity & Liberation
By Andy Clarno
On What’s Happening in Palestine Right Now
Inspired by Maktaba Bookshop’s reading list
On Palestine in 20th Century Literature
By Sonja Mejcher-Atassi
Advocating for Justice
Raja Shehadeh
Lawyer, writer, and human rights advocate Raja Shehadeh has spent decades documenting the Palestinian struggle through both legal work and literature. His books, like Palestinian Walks and Strangers in the House, offer personal and political insights into life under occupation.
Listen, Read, Watch: Resistance
Recommended by the afikra community
Songs For Palestine & Resistance
afikra Quartertones Mixtape
Review of Elyanna's Album Woledto
By Kiko Gomersall
Canvases & Walls
Khaled Hourani has led vital work to keep Palestine’s cultural life active. He co-founded the International Academy of Art Palestine and spearheaded the 2011 project “Picasso in Palestine” which brought an original Picasso painting to the West Bank for the first time, borrowing the Buste de Femme from the Van Abbenmuseum in Eindhoven – a bureaucratic process that took two years. Hourani was born in Hebron in 1965. His own artwork addresses the occupation head-on: exemplified in his Leaping over the Barrier series.
Wall Climbing 2, 2022
Tsawwar... Adam Rouhana
"I was walking around Bethlehem with my camera, as I tend to do, and met this group of boys who were playing in the land. They were very playful and just by talking to them, we kind of became friends. One boy went to pick up his watermelon from the ground. He split it open and started eating it. It was like a playful performance but natural all at the same time. It’s often argued that photography is a kind of fiction — if imagination is to fiction what belief is to the truth, then photography is the act of taking fiction closer to the side of sheer fact. Art is a reflection of the world, and the camera is ostensibly a recorder of time and space, and that’s probably why the images we see become the truth.”
Tsawwar is an ongoing visual series in Daftar which explores the stories behind a photograph, taken in the region or by an Arab photographer, written in their own words. Adam Rouhana is a Palestinian-American photographer based between Jerusalem and London. Explore his work on @adam.rouhanaaFilms About Palestine
The documentary filmmaker behind Aida Returns & Stitching Palestine
The afikra community gives timeless films on Palestine
El-Funoun: Palestinian Popular Dance Troupe
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Sabreen Band: The Pioneers of Palestine's Modern Sound
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Al-Balalin Troupe: An Experimental Theatre Group
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Gaza’s Cinemas & Theatres
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The Palestinian Graphic Designer That Gave the World Universal Signs
Rajie Cook
Also known as Roger Cook, he was a Palestinian American graphic designer, artist, peace activist, humanitarian and photographer. While he is internationally famous for creating the pictographs seen in public buildings and airports, Cook’s lifetime body of work is much wider.
Listen, Read, Watch: Palestine
Recommended by the afikra community
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