This 50-minute conversation, recorded on November 9, 2021, covers how Allison and I “found” Palestine, what it has meant to us as “foreigners” and Jews, and how we wish to contribute to social justice through our fiction writing.
My people are from…
My people are from the front of the march, where signs are held high
cardboard in sweaty hands
slogans universal, historic
pockets bulging with snacks for the children in tow
My people are from the ache of knowing how it feels and the
contradictory science
of self-preservation
My people got lost when the protest turned left at the corner
when the police stepped out of their cruisers
when the reporter tapped a young guy wearing a kuffiyeh to speak about
liberation
and his words were “insufficiently nuanced”
My people stopped at a sidewalk cafe on the way
back to the car parked under a tree
and got a mocha latte in a to-go cup
with a plastic top
Can a body?
Can a body feel too much?
Can a body experience the panic and the desperation and the fear and the coldness and the gunshot and the anger and the guilt and more fear
and still breathe and beat?
Can a body be pulled simultaneously up toward the light of radical love
and down into throbbing memories — without ripping?
Can a body face hate and hate and more hate and still find compassion?
Can a body violated open again to embrace?
Can a body sense the totality of powerlessness and still rise in the morning to the sun?
Can a body feel clean after bathing in dirty water?
Can a body stay present in this reality and still imagine a better one?
Can a body ever rest?
Fiction, reality, the US police, the Red Cross & Palestinians
TV commercials showing beautiful people with windblown hair driving along the California coastline in a convertible have a disclaimer in small print at the bottom of the screen that says something like, “Professional driver on a closed course. Do not attempt.” Why do they say this?
Clearly, some people do not understand the difference between fiction and reality. In his brilliant commentary-comedy (8:06), Trevor Noah demonstrates how some people develop opinions about the police through cop shows. He acknowledges that police are often portrayed as breaking the law, but rather than come away with the impression that police misconduct should be addressed, viewers see police as good people who only break rules when necessary to promote the common good. In other words, police misconduct is justified and even glorified.
Apparently, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Israel and the Occupied Territories had similar concerns. In a series of recent tweets, they creatively showed how the Israeli TV drama series, Fauda, portrays violations of international humanitarian law in ways that the common viewer might not recognize as illegal.
But the twitterverse did not approve. There were literally hundreds of replies calling out the ICRC for reflecting on representations of Israeli behavior on a fictional show. The replies were defensive, as if the ICRC were accusing Israel of committing these crimes when they are, in fact, only fictional.
Unfortunately, Israeli violations of international humanitarian and human rights law is not fictional and police misconduct is real. The only question worth asking, then, is whether or not creators of fiction have an obligation to at least consider the social impact of their portrayals. We know, for example, that representations of women in children’s literature and television have a dramatic impact on how girls see themselves (not to mention how boys see girls).
The problem can go the other way too. Reality can be presented in ways that are problematic. Just last week, in fact, I tweeted about a fundraising commercial (ironically for the American Red Cross). In it, a woman plays “What the world needs now is love” on a piano in a demolished house. Her husband and daughter find a teddy bear in the rubble. The October 26 commercial is touching, and no doubt, many viewers pull out their check books to support the disaster relief work of the Red Cross.
But this commercial is no mere fictional scene pulled from the head of a creative advertiser. It is nearly identical to an August 5 home video taken just after the Beirut explosion and circulated by the Guardian. And this is not okay. The American Red Cross should not fictionalize reality for the sake of profit. This is exploitation and definitely (IMHO) crosses the line of acceptable humanitarian communications.
What, then, can we conclude? Viewers should consume all kinds of media with healthy skepticism. We should not assume that what we see in the media is “true.” We should definitely ask what interests benefit from a certain portrayal. In the case of police, viewers should believe what Black and other people of color share about their real experiences with police. Centering and amplifying BIPOC voices will put fictional portrayals into context and provide depth to our analysis of media coverage of the police. As for Fauda, we should respond to those like the ICRC who call on us to go beyond TV drama for information about international humanitarian law. But that’s not enough. We must center and amplify the voices of the people who experience the violations of international humanitarian law — in this case, Palestinians. Until Palestinians are heard, seen and believed, the rest of the world will be susceptible to Israel’s portrayals of them, whether in drama or the news.
نورا مراد: فلسطين بعين أجنبيةكلمات نشاط سياسي زياد منى السبت 28 تشرين الثاني 2020
This review originally appeared in Al-Akhbar.
نورا لستر مراد محرّرة كتاب «وإذ بي في فلسطين» (منشورات أوليف برانش ــ 2020) الفريد كتبت: «لقد تبلورت فكرة هذا المؤلف أثناء تناول فنجان من القهوة في رام الله، وعملية إتمامه لم تكن علمية أو صارمة. لقد تواصلت مع أشخاص من مختلف أنحاء العالم متزوجين من فلسطينيين، أو عاشوا في فلسطين لفترة طويلة، أو لديهم خبرة طويلة وعميقة في ما يتعلق بفلسطين، فوجدت نفسي أبحث عن نوع معين من «الأجانب»، النوع الذي يدرك أنه في ظن العديد من الفلسطينيين يعني «الذين يستفيدون من معاناتهم». أشير إلى هؤلاء المتخصصين في المساعدة الدولية والدبلوماسيين الذين تحركهم الاهتمامات المهنية أكثر من التضامن. إنهم يثيرون غضب الفلسطينيين. لكني أردت في المقابل تسليط الضوء على قصص الأجانب الذين عملوا بجدّ وبتواضع وصدق لأجل الفلسطينيين ومعهم. هم نوع مختلف من الأجانب الذين يمكن أن يصبحوا جزءاً من المجتمع الفلسطيني ويتغيرون بواسطته. بعض من دعوته اعتذر عن عدم المشاركة وقال: على الفلسطينيين التحدث عن أنفسهم، لكنهم ساعدوا باعتذارهم هذا في تشكيل رؤية المشروع واتجاهه. «وإذ بي في فلسطين» ليس مؤلفاً عن فلسطين، وإنما مجموعة من تأملات غير فلسطينيين تعتبر قصصهم أيضاً هدية من هذا المكان».
وجهات النظر الـ 22 الممثلة في هذا المؤلف تعكس آراء كُتَّابها، وهي مجموعة معبرة وغنية بالمعلومات ومأساوية ومناصرة ومدهشة وعالمية، لكنها لا تستطيع أبداً رسم صورة كاملة. تجارب الأجانب تتغير باستمرار، والمحررة نورا مراد تقول: «لا أستطيع أن أتخيل فلسطينياً يقول اليوم: إن الإغلاق أو حظر التجول هو خطئي لأنني أميركية، مع أنه بالتأكيد أكثر صحة اليوم مما كان عليه في أي وقت مضى. لقد عانى الفلسطينيون عقوداً من الاستهداف على أيدي الأجانب، لكنهم شهدوا أيضاً عقوداً من التضامن». «وإذ بي في فلسطين» مجموعة من الروايات من مختلف القارات التي تستكشف مفهوم كونك أجنبياً في ما يتعلق بفلسطين، جنباً إلى جنب مع الشعب الفلسطيني الذي يتم تصويره على أنه أجنبي في أرضه. بالنسبة إلى الفلسطينيين، للغربة معانٍ مختلفة. المستوطنون هم الأجانب الذين يشاركون في سرقة فلسطين ويجعلون الفلسطينيين أجانب من خلال التهجير. هناك أيضاً الأجانب الذين يتعاملون مع الشعب الفلسطيني، وكذلك «الأجانب المحترفون الذين يأتون إلى هنا ويبنون وظائف على حساب نضالنا».
يجمع المؤلف مجموعة من القصص من أشخاص تتشابك حياتهم مع حياة الشعب الفلسطيني بطرق مختلفة. ومحررته، نورا لستر مراد، وهي أميركية متزوجة من فلسطيني، كتبت في مقدمتها «الفلسطينيون مجتمع منفي، لكن الكُتَّاب الذين ظهروا في هذه المجموعة ليسوا كذلك»، وتشرح كيف بيّنت مجموعة الروايات المباشرة عن الأجانب للفلسطينيين «ليصبحوا جزءاً من المجتمع الفلسطيني ويتغيروا بواسطته».
قصص الأجانب الذين عملوا بجدّ وبتواضع وصدق لأجل الفلسطينيين ومعهم
تم سرد تجارب مختلفة في هذا المؤلف. يعتزّ البعض بالتقاليد والالتزامات الاجتماعية للانضمام إلى عائلة فلسطينية. بالنسبة إلى الأجانب الآخرين الذين يتزوجون من عائلات فلسطينية، يُنظر إلى التقاليد على أنها خانقة ومتناقضة مع ثقافة وطن الآخر. على سبيل المثال، تقول البوليفية كورينا ماماني، التي تعيش في فلسطين منذ 25 عاماً: ترتبط التقاليد والثقافة بالضغط الاجتماعي. لكن سميرة الصفدي، وهي ألمانية من أصل فلسطيني، تتماهى مع فلسطين وكونها فلسطينية على مدى فترة طويلة من الزمن. «لا أستطيع أن أقول إنني فلسطينية عندما لا أشعر أنني كذلك». بالنسبة لها، لم تكن الثقافة الموروثة هي التي روّجت للهوية، بل بالأحرى تجربتها في العيش في فلسطين والاجترار حول هذه الفترة بعيداً عن فلسطين في بلغاريا. «العيش في فلسطين له معنى الآن. إنه يعني صموداً ومقاومة».
تجربة معاكسة تماماً لتجربة فلسطين من المنفى قدمتها الفلسطينية التشيلية نادية حسن، التي شكل سعيها للعودة إلى وطنها بعد تجربة في الجامعة معنى لمفهوم «العودة». بعد العديد من المحن، تمكنت من جعل
فلسطين منزلها.
في أوقات أخرى، تؤكّد العادات والتوقعات المجتمعية الفلسطينية الغربة، كما في حالة زينة، وهي امرأة سودانية متزوجة من أرمل من الولايات المتحدة. تقول عن دورها المهني في عيادة السرطان: «إنهم يرون في
مقدمة رعاية، وامرأة، وأم أخرى تشعر بألمهم».
بالنسبة للأشخاص الذين لم تطأ أقدامهم فلسطين أبداً، والذين تعتمد معرفتهم أساساً على الأخبار والتحليلات، فمن السهل بناء مفهوم محدود عن الفلسطينيين وماهية فلسطين. من خلال روايات مثل هذه، أصبحت إنسانية السكان المستعمَرين ملموسة، ولم يعد يُنظر إلى الفلسطينيين على أنهم بند في الأخبار أو جدول الأعمال الدبلوماسي فقط.
Interview on Boston Media Theory with Marcus Breen
Recorded on October 24, 2020. Available at: https://vimeo.com/469881556
An Interview With Author and Activist Nora Lester Murad: Palestinian Narratives, Shared Trauma, and Moving Forward as a Community by Ramona Wadi
This interview first appeared in The Muslim Vibe.
What we know of Palestine can be traced directly to media reports, but how much of that knowledge is traced back to the Palestinian people themselves?
In recent years there has been a renewed emphasis on the importance of communicating Palestinian narratives, many of which have been silenced. The international community has long forced its own constructions of what Palestine is and who Palestinians are, eliminating the voices of Palestinians in the process unless these serve to substantiate a diplomacy that has enabled Israeli colonisation. Gradually, the world normalised the international community’s version of Palestine and paid less heed to the Palestinians themselves.
The recent drive to push Palestinian narratives to the helm has shifted perceptions. Palestinian refugees, for example, are no longer only perceived as part of the humanitarian paradigm but as individuals, and also a collective, who were active participants in their own history.
To heighten awareness about Palestinian narratives, the fine line between speaking for Palestinians and creating the space for Palestinian voices to be heard needed to be drawn. Equally important, what is the role of non-Palestinians with regard to Palestine?
Nora Lester Murad’s books, “Rest in My Shade” and “I Found Myself in Palestine”, both published by Interlink Books, are examples of a non-Palestinian imparting Palestine to an international audience. Speaking to The Muslim Vibe, she discusses her positioning, understanding, empathy, and affinity with Palestine, and how these have impacted her writing about the land and the people.
Ramona Wadi: Can you speak about your experience in Palestine and how much of a role did affinity play in the publication of your two books, ‘Rest In My Shade’ and ‘I Found Myself In Palestine’?
Nora Lester Murad: My relationship with Palestine goes back almost 40 years. Finding myself in the Middle East in 1982 was a fluke. I didn’t know anything about a conflict, but people kept pushing me to take sides. As a Jew, I felt complicit, but I was too ignorant to contribute to a solution. I committed to learning about Palestinian history and culture assuming that it would be difficult for me to relate to. But it was not difficult at all.
My first Palestinian friendships formed while I was studying abroad in Cairo and Jerusalem. I married my Muslim Palestinian husband in 1989. I worked as an organiser for Palestinian rights and incorporated Palestine liberation into my antiracism work in the US. Since I developed my political and social consciousness in relation to Palestine (among other issues), if you took Palestine away from me, there would be a massive hole.
Being a mother to three Palestinian-American girls who we raised in the West Bank entrenches me in an even deeper way. I think that co-writing “Rest in My Shade” and editing “I Found Myself in Palestine” (and two novels that are yet unpublished) helped me to bridge the gaps between who I was born and who I have become. Writing also helps me fulfill an obligation I feel to bring Westerners/English readers closer to understanding Palestine on its own terms and not through the lens of a distorted Zionist narrative.
“Rest In My Shade” evokes the ongoing Palestinian trauma. Can you elaborate upon this expression and experience from your observations?
I’m not sure I’ve ever met a Palestinian who didn’t have loss and displacement central in their sense of self. Many carry trauma from the past and ongoing oppression and fragmentation of their people into their daily lives. Innumerable times I have been advised by Palestinian friends not to hope too much, not to try too hard, not to care so deeply — because I would inevitably be disappointed.
They grew up with a lived understanding of the injustices of the world that I only learned as I grew older. But at the same time, the feeling of not belonging is one that many people can relate to. The theme of “Rest in My Shade” — the yearning for belonging and community — is central to the Palestinian people, but it is not exclusive to them. The process of co-authoring “Rest in My Shade” showed me that while Palestinian experience is particular, there are aspects that can be universally understood.
‘I Found Myself In Palestine’ invokes a more tangible account of life in Palestine from different non-Palestinian perspectives – a human, ordinary, everyday account that is overlooked due to the political implications. How does this contribute for people to understand the political and social context?
“I Found Myself in Palestine” is unique because it is comprised of stories by non-Palestinians who are, nonetheless, members of the Palestinian community. We have an insider-outsider perspective that sheds light beyond what non-Palestinians experience when they connect with Palestine grounded solely in their own national/cultural/historic reference points. We also have perspectives that are distinct from the Palestinians we live among.
The group of 23 writers featured in “I Found Myself in Palestine” didn’t set out to explain Palestine to others. We wrote to understand our own experiences through our writing. For many of us, the process was one of healing from the pain of living between different worlds, not fully a part of any one group. I do hope, though, that reading the pieces helps readers see Palestinians as human beings like any others and to broaden their impression of Palestinians beyond that of characters on a political stage. Humanising Palestinians can’t help but improve people’s support for Palestinian human rights.
As a non-Palestinian writing about Palestine, how is the boundary between narrating Palestine and speaking for Palestinians maintained, to avoid the latter?
There is a huge body of harmful literature by non-Palestinians claiming to speak for Palestinians. I certainly don’t want any of my work to fall into that category. Palestinians can and should speak for themselves — this is at the forefront of my mind whenever I write.
First of all, I make every effort to not misrepresent myself as a Palestinian. I use both my maiden and married names. I try to be explicit that I am writing from my own social location as a white, US, anti-Zionist Jew who is part of a Palestinian family and is a long-time activist for Palestinian rights.
Second, I try to write about my own experiences and opinions. I remind myself that my own experiences and opinions are not more “correct” or valuable than a Palestinian’s, but they are just as legitimate. In other words, I don’t think we need to avoid writing or talking about Palestine. We just need to be careful that we don’t claim to represent Palestinians or imply that our interpretations are more credible than their own self-representation.
At the same time, since Palestinian voices are so often marginalised, we need to be intentional about amplifying Palestinian voices and protecting space for them to speak their own truths without qualification. Mariam Barghouti writes about this eloquently in the foreword to the book.
Nora Lester Murad’s books, “Rest in My Shade” and “I Found Myself in Palestine”, are both published by Interlink Books.
Build Palestine’s Social Innovation Summit: Overcoming Donor Dependency
Overcoming donor-dependency: How can philanthropy tackle the root cause? (47 minutes) Note: If you can’t access this video, try using the code “RADICALIMAGINATION” or email me at nora@noralestermurad.com.
Black Lives Matter: Race & Power in Philanthropy and Development
Segal Family Foundation sponsored #FutureSummit2020, “…a space where we invite our diverse global community of change leaders to deconstruct and reshape trends in Africa from all angles.” It was a great honor for me to join this panel with Degan Ali, African Development Solutions; Lori Adelman, Global Fund for Women; and Marie-Rose Romain Murphy, Economic Stimulus Projects for Work and Action in Haiti. It was recorded on October 1st. (It’s all good, but FYI I start around 34 minutes.)
“The Dissonance”
What an honor! Jennifer Lentfer and Joan Okitoi “perform” my chapter, “The Dissonance,” a (mis)communication between an international donor and a “local” grantee, from the book, Smart Risks: How Small Grants are Helping to Solve Some of the World’s Biggest Problems. It is their kick off to #GlobalDev Communicators Connect, a monthly meeting hosted by to support people responsible for external communications in international aid and philanthropy to connect to each other, and to reconnect to our sense of “play” and creativity within our work in the sector. Info here: https://collective.healingsolidarity.org/.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- …
- 24
- Next Page »