Dismissing resistance to colonialism as terrorism deprives Palestinians of the basic right of political organization, and portrays Palestinian action as violent nihilism.
What role does literature play in the Palestinian liberation movement? Though the question itself isn’t subversive, it feels that way. There are many considerations, but it’s hard to imagine what a poem can do in the barrel of a gun.
Adrian Kreutz reflects on his visit to Palestine to join in Al-Haq’s International Law Summer Program.
The martyrs of Palestine speak to one another in their final acts, emulating the examples of those that came before them, and turning into icons for those that will come after them.
Sheren Khalel reports on the memorial ceremony that marked Basil al-Araj’s status as a “martyr” in his West Bank hometown of al-Walaja, “Less than two months after his death, the image of Basil al-Araj, clad in a red checkered keffiyeh loosely wrapped around his neck and thick black-rimmed glasses settled over a thoughtful expression has become iconic. Palestinian youth have swapped their profile-photo-selfies for the slain leader’s image across social media circles. The image appears on local artwork, graffiti murals, t-shirts and posters from Haifa to Hebron.”
Basel al-Araj, the Palestinian writer killed in March by Israel, believed that words can be the fortress to the nation, and achieve victories. He is sure to become a revolutionary icon for Palestinian youth.
Around 2,000 mourners marched on Friday in the Bethlehem-area village of al-Walaja for the funeral of slain Basil al-Araj, 36, who was slain by Israeli forces March 6. Al-Araj’s ideology against normalization and security coordination is popular among leftist Palestinian youth. His success in eluding Israeli forces for six months, and then refusal to surrender when he was found, only made his ideas more popular.
Mahmoud al-Araj, the father of slain Basil al-Araj, left his home on Sunday expecting to take part in a peaceful demonstration outside a courthouse in Ramallah where a judge officially dropped an investigation into his son. He ended up in the hospital after getting caught in the middle of a chaotic crackdown by Palestinian Authority (PA) forces wielding heavy batons, and shooting pepper spray and tear gas at Palestinians protesting the death of Basil, the imprisonment of his five friends and the court’s decision to pursue charges against them for allegedly storing illegal weapons.