Tag: palestine

by jad

Humans of the March for Palestine

I’m thinking about this today. “Seeking Visions for a Better World is a call for images and aspirational sentiments that invoke constructive visions of the future to counterbalance the preponderance of dystopic visions presented in pop-culture, literature, and media.” // at @su_hedreengallery, by @ryanfeddersen. The @marchforpalestine.seattle was one of the most thoughtful and intentionally organized political actions I’d ever had the pleasure of taking part in, however small my role ended up being; I’ve certainly never seen more beautiful spreadsheets in my life either. Something felt different from the moment I watched the coordination Zooms. I’d become familiar with the … Continue reading “Humans of the March for Palestine” →

by jad

Keffiyeh Day

Yesterday was Nakba Day, and these were taken on Keffiyeh Day, May 11, in Westlake Park, at a rally marking the 76th year of rallies just like this one. The same chants, the same keffiyehs, the same fury in the face of the same injustice. I took these on expired film because these images could have been taken decades ago. I pray that they won’t be taken decades from now. Free Palestine. The rallies are the same, but the passion this year feels different. We’re at a tipping point of some kind. One of the UW student protestors spoke of … Continue reading “Keffiyeh Day” →

by jad

Empire of Lies

The other morning was like any other one of my mornings these days until I came across a series of garish yellow stickers with two ghoulish words in black: H X M X S R X P E Now, if someone had felt the need to put these up in October, I would have left them alone. If someone had felt the need to put them up in November, I would have left them alone. In December. Probably left them alone. In January. Maybe. I don’t know. But definitely not now. Definitely not after six months of genocidal madness and … Continue reading “Empire of Lies” →

by jad

The Machine is Broken

“This machine is broken.” You can’t read it, but that’s what the piece of paper says in the third and fourth slides. I took these Polaroids earlier today because I’ve been searching for a means to articulate a melancholy that’s become neck deep; a feeling of fundamental disjunction between how I spend my days and my weeks and what this particular time in history is actively asking of you and me. There’s a break between my life’s work and our common purpose that’s become increasingly impossible to ignore. How are we to look back on our actions today?How am I … Continue reading “The Machine is Broken” →

by jad

Latergram

If you want some insight into what it was like to follow me on Instagram in 2013, when I first joined this app, here’s a little peek. Not much has changed, I guess. February ‎24, ‎2013: The windows overlooking Lena’s terrace, where I tasted oranges in a salad for the first time, thanks to Lena’s Sicilian cooking. I don’t remember what we talked about, but the conversation was probably peppered with names like Deleuze and Trotsky, because it often was. Hanging out with Lena was like stepping into a jittery scene on a 16mm reel. March 21 is Mothers’ Day … Continue reading “Latergram” →

by jad

The Dream of Palestine

I shared yesterday how I’m seeing more people talking about Palestine for the first time, and I thought about posting those thoughts in a way that might facilitate further sharing. But as I was thinking about doing that, I started reflecting on how I started talking about Palestine myself. About the people I met along the way, the voices I’ve centered, and the faces I’ve left outside the frame. I’m still going to share what I intended, but I want you to read the rest of this with that interior eye wide open: how did you come to think what … Continue reading “The Dream of Palestine” →

by jad

Nuclear Specters

It struck me as morbid irony to read about justifications in diplomatic circles of the current carnage in Gaza that apparently make reference to the atomic bomb. Apparently, these references have shocked the sensibilities of the American interlocuters who leaked those conversations. Apparently, they’d forgotten who unleashed this moral stain on the history of mankind in the first place. A shocking reference point and a mirror to blink back at. We are still living in the long shadow of WWII. These claims of self-preservation; this righteous indignation; these dying and dead — they are a legacy of that monstrous era. … Continue reading “Nuclear Specters” →

by jad

Gaza & Holga Week

I find it poignant that the shots that barely survived my Holga malfunction were taken just before the awful end to Holga Week, when many of us woke up to news of a new wave of violence in Palestine. I’d been jolted awake for some reason at 2:00 or 3:00 am that Saturday and spent the rest of the morning glued to my phone, scrolling through the news until it was time for morning prayers at the retreat I’d been begrudgingly signed up for — it was one of those work-related things I was technically allowed to say no to … Continue reading “Gaza & Holga Week” →

by jad

The Compass Still Points to Palestine

Have you heard of Handala? He’s a little cartoon boy with his back turned and his hands clasped behind his back, a posture I find myself instinctually taking at protests like these. Handala turned his back to the audience in 1973 and became a symbol of refusal and more – in the words of the man who drew him, Handala was “the arrow of the compass, pointing steadily towards Palestine. Not just Palestine in geographical terms, but Palestine in its humanitarian sense—the symbol of a just cause, whether it is located in Egypt, Vietnam or South Africa.” I say “was” … Continue reading “The Compass Still Points to Palestine” →