The Nakba
Not history. A life still unfolding.
What is the Nakba? Why do Palestinians continue to speak about it after all these years? Is it only a historical event, or is it an ongoing tragedy that continues to shape Palestinian life today? And is there one Nakba, or does every Palestinian carry their own version of it?
These are the questions I explored in my latest articles. My main goal was to shed light on the reality we are living through today. Our Nakba may be displacement and life in tents in Gaza. It may be exile and separation from your homeland and family while living abroad. Or perhaps our Nakba is living in the West Bank under the daily restrictions of the Israeli occupation. Each of us carries a different Nakba, but the cause remains the same.
I also wrote about what the Nakba means to me personally.
If you are interested, these are the pieces I wrote, published yesterday. Here And Here
Dear reader, despite everything surrounding me, I have not given up. From the middle of this chaos, I continue trying to document at least a small part of what is happening here. To continue doing this work and keep our voices alive, I need support. Here is my PayPal link if you would like to support me. Here
Your reflections in "My Nakba . . . " are beautifully written so that all people may understand why speaking/writing about a place in past tense does not acknowledge the ways this place is still alive in so many. You writing reminds me of the way genocide requires an agenda to make people and their places and customs seem as if they only exist in the past. This has been done in America with indigenous people's places, stories, customs, and language. Delegating people and places to the past is a shrewd and cruel way to deny them a present.
You are a wonderful writer and I wish you all my best!
Just read both articles. 'Authubillahi min ash-shaytan ar-rajeem! It seems so insane to me that the world allows these unspeakable cruelties every day. It leaves me speechless, though I usually have plenty of words. In a sane world--though in a sane world, this would not be happening at all--the U.S. would have sent to money to Israel NEVER, let alone billions, to support apartheid, ethnic cleansing, and now genocide. And if such a thing *had* happened, the U.N. and the World Court would have instantly stopped it, a U.S. veto would have been nonexistent or laughed at, and U.N troops would have flooded in to right this horrendous wrong. Thank you for sharing how the Nakba is 'current events', as well as 'history', and how it affects each person differently. I really have no words. Just "thank you".