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Sumud: Each Gen Has Its Gem

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  Sumud: Each Gen Has Its Gem (This essay was published on December 13th, 2024, in the Arrow: A Journal of wakeful Society, Culture & Politics. ) “We have another wisdom: it comes from those who have seen the nightmare of racism and oppression in the banal daylight of the everyday. They represent an idea of action and agency more complex than either the nihilism of despair or the Utopia of progress. They speak of the reality of survival and negotiation that constitutes the moment of resistance, its sorrow and salvation, but is rarely spoken in the heroisms or the horrors of history.” [1] As a Palestinian growing up in the West Bank during various phases of the struggle, I was introduced to the concept of Sumud, which embodies many forms and shapes of collective and individual resilience. The resilience of the Palestinian people in the face of adversity is a hidden asset that can be unearthed, molded, and utilized to sustain values a person or community holds dear. Sumud has tak...
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My Final Exam: A Personal Story

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My Mysore: A personal story

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  My Mysore [ 1] I couldn’t believe it at first when the name of the street was pronounced, Al-Anbia Street, the street where I grew up! “Yep, I know where it is.” I replied. Out of all the places in Ramallah, did it have to be in that same street?           My first few visits to Mysore were ok. I did my extremely basic Ashtanga Yoga routine and learned few new alignments but I was preoccupied; all I wanted to do was go out on the kitchen balcony and see my neighborhood again. My heart nudged me to go out and see the untamed backyards where I used to play with my friends. I longed to see the small archaic stone steps again and climb the stone fences or ‘sinsela’ [2] to reach the back yard of my childhood home. Stone fence 'sinsela' I craved to explore one more time all those naturally connected, almost chaotic gardens.            I wanted to see the old fig tree and its expansive shadowy branches, the embrac...
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The Stalker

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  The Stalker. The Lover [ 1]   He was  trembling  Playing inside her green eyes Smelling her beauty He stared at her He waited   A  young soldier he was A Jew! In the army A gun on his back   Yellow and smooth as honey   was   his hair. Burning inside he followed her Home, school, and in between   As frequent as the freckles on her face, he chased her, he loved her   Outside the school gates, he waited, in her neighborhood, in her living room   Love and hate Contempt and affection Powerful yet softened   What to do How to feel     The brigade left                           A gun stands between them and an ocean mystery of why?                  ...
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The Sacrifice: Two Fronts. The Trojan Horse of Gaza: A Red Heifer?

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  The Sacrifice: Two Fronts   The Trojan Horse of Gaza:  A Red Heifer? Even though the assault on Gaza is such an obvious and openly displayed horror, the level of silence and the seeming paralysis to act can be understood as terrifying and puzzling unless the role of religion is examined and understood along with the political and economic interests. The role of religion is rarely discussed openly because faith cannot be nudged in any direction. Its believers do not compromise; astonishingly, the leaders of the three religions in the region ask for hardship as a necessary ingredient for salvation. This religious component is present in the ongoing slaughter in Gaza.   Religion  is the unexplored terrain, the steep fall into a 2000-year-old conversation. It acts as the hidden ink with which the social contract is written between the political state and cultural identity. In my opinion, this part perpetuates the silence and exposes the unspoken supremacy that t...
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