Hi,

This is Palestine, in your Inbox, the only Palestine newsletter that puts a smile on your face while tormenting your soul 😁 Alas, Palestine is a lot of emotions all at once. This week, we are talking podcasts, photos & memes:

Palestine Podcast of the Week

One my favorite podcasts: al-Maydan: ‘Arab 48.

The focus of the Podcast is Palestine. Specifically, 48 Arabs. Or Palestinians in Israel.

Ok, Let’s not make this about names … not that I’m against writing about names or anything!!! [e.g. here]

This week’s episode was an interview with Diana Buttu, an outspoken Palestinian activist & former legal advisor to the PLO during the 2000-2007 negotiations.

Buttu shared a few interesting anecdotes about the 2000-2001 negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Sometimes, meetings between Palestinian Authority representatives & Israeli officials would take place in Tel Aviv, and so PA officials would have to drive from Ramallah to Tel Aviv, and thus pass through Israeli checkpoints.

Buttu recalls that, nearly every time they would pass, the Israeli military would hold up very senior members of the Palestinian delegation for hours at checkpoints: old men, left in the sun for hours, having their permits inspected by 19-year old Israeli kids. This was standard operating procedure. And all of this begs the question, how can you negotiate with people while they have your hands tied behind your back?

Buttu also mentioned in passing that Yasser Arafat used to call her “the Pakistani.” Now someone go update her Wikipedia Page! Also, she said she didn’t learn Arabic until a later age, but didn’t specify exactly when. Anyone know?!

As an aside, the host, Abed Abou Shhadeh, is a rock star. I highly recommend this podcast. What a delight! Now…

Palestine Photo of the Week

From Politics to History…

In 2020, a new 🇵🇸 Palestinian photo archive 🇵🇸 was made known to the public:

The collection of Kegham Djeghalian, the first Palestinian photographer based in Gaza. The collection amounts to some 1,000 photographs taken between the 1940s and the 1970s of Gaza and its people. As an interesting aside, the photographer earned the nickname, Al Musawer Al Fedai [The Guerrilla Photographer], as he was an activist and supporter of the Palestinian cause.

He also happened to be Armenian. I think this just goes to show, how, historically, a Palestinian identity was religiously & ethnically inclusive. You can be Druze Palestinian, Armenian Palestinian, Bedouin Palestinian, Orthodox Christian Palestinian, Catholic Palestinian, Quaker Palestinian, Sunni Muslim Palestinian and dare I say, Jewish Palestinian. Why not? Ahlan wa Sahlan.

now….

Best Palestine Meme of the Week

That’s all she wrote. Thanks for tuning in. Stay safe and take care of eachother.

Peace

z