Tag: palestine

Seeing the author Ibtisam Azem [trans. Sinan Antoon] (2026 {first published in Arabic 2011}) speak of ‘The Sleep Thief’ [Sheffield, etc., And Other Stories] at The People’s Bookshop, Durham: Part Two.

October 15, 2026

In an interview Ibtisam Azem says of The  Sleep Thief that the novel is’fragmented and experimental, with surreal elements, references to Greek mythology, inner voices, the grotesque, and satire. Some of these elements may not sit easily with some readers, … perhaps because they do not expect to encounter them in Palestinian literature, because there … More Seeing the author Ibtisam Azem [trans. Sinan Antoon] (2026 {first published in Arabic 2011}) speak of ‘The Sleep Thief’ [Sheffield, etc., And Other Stories] at The People’s Bookshop, Durham: Part Two.

‘We each have our space and our illusion’. So says Gharib when asked for his identification as an ‘Israeli Arab’. We expect  him to claim to be a Palestinian but instead he says he is ‘Nada’, his chosen name and, as the policeman says, a ‘woman’s name’ (it is conventionally so in Arabic) to which, it is implied, he has no right.

October 14, 2026

What’s a country that’s at the top of your bucket list? View all responses ‘We each have our space and our illusion’. So says Gharib when asked for his identification as an ‘Israeli Arab’. We expect him to claim to be a Palestinian but instead he says he is ‘Nada’, his chosen name and, as … More ‘We each have our space and our illusion’. So says Gharib when asked for his identification as an ‘Israeli Arab’. We expect  him to claim to be a Palestinian but instead he says he is ‘Nada’, his chosen name and, as the policeman says, a ‘woman’s name’ (it is conventionally so in Arabic) to which, it is implied, he has no right.

Only the ‘settled’ travel, the diasporist, according to R. B. Kitaj ‘pursues the phantom myths of nervous histories’ they claim for their own, ‘into the intractable swamps of ambiguous’ expression of their experience. What can we learn about the insufficiency of tourism from the migrant or exile. This blog reflects on the ‘First Diasporist Manifesto’ (1989) and ‘Second Diasporist Manifesto’ (2007) of R. B. Kitaj.

August 10, 2026

What are your top 10 travel destinations? Only the ‘settled’ travel, the diasporist, according to R. B. Kitaj ‘pursues the phantom myths of nervous histories’ they claim for their own, ‘into the intractable swamps of ambiguous’ expression of their experience. What can we learn about the insufficiency of tourism from the migrant or exile. This … More Only the ‘settled’ travel, the diasporist, according to R. B. Kitaj ‘pursues the phantom myths of nervous histories’ they claim for their own, ‘into the intractable swamps of ambiguous’ expression of their experience. What can we learn about the insufficiency of tourism from the migrant or exile. This blog reflects on the ‘First Diasporist Manifesto’ (1989) and ‘Second Diasporist Manifesto’ (2007) of R. B. Kitaj.

Ilan Pappé (2024) ‘Ten Myths About Israel’, London, Verso Press.

May 27, 2026

Some books just must be read and Ilan Pappé (2024 – with new preface on Gaza as well as the original of 2017 – Ten Myths About Israel, London, Verso Press is one of them. The edition of 2024 gives a necessary set of words about Gaza that now requires updating again, for as Pappé … More Ilan Pappé (2024) ‘Ten Myths About Israel’, London, Verso Press.

Most Britains do not understand the terrible responsibility of the UK for the setting up of Israel as an Apartheid state: Do films help us? A case study of the beautiful film ‘Palestine 36’, a dramatisation of the period of the Peel Commission Report published in 1937, by Annemarie Jacir.

March 27, 2026

Most Britons do not understand the terrible responsibility of the UK for the setting up of Israel as an Apartheid state: Do films help us? A case study of the beautiful film ‘Palestine 36‘, a dramatisation of the period of the Peel Commission Report published in 1937, by Annemarie Jacir. The British mandate for Palestine, a … More Most Britains do not understand the terrible responsibility of the UK for the setting up of Israel as an Apartheid state: Do films help us? A case study of the beautiful film ‘Palestine 36’, a dramatisation of the period of the Peel Commission Report published in 1937, by Annemarie Jacir.

How have your political views changed over time? Political views that change ‘over time’ are most often based on political interests. This blog is stimulated by Peter Oborne (2025) ‘Complicit: Britain’s Role in the Destruction of Gaza’.

December 23, 2025

Political views that change ‘over time’ are most often based on political interests. Free-standing, and relatively independent thought, feelings and action regarding politics – about how different kinds of power are distributed and used –  probably do change over time in reflection of learning, provided we allow ourselves to continue learning over our lives. However, … More How have your political views changed over time? Political views that change ‘over time’ are most often based on political interests. This blog is stimulated by Peter Oborne (2025) ‘Complicit: Britain’s Role in the Destruction of Gaza’.

‘Nothing so true as what you once let fall: / Keir Starmer has no Character at All’. A case study.

December 22, 2025

I ought to apologise to Alexander Pope for twisting his tritest lines – the opening of ‘Epistles to Several Persons: Epistle II: To a Lady on the Characters of Women. But the lines are indeed trite and bear nothing much beside the most rank misogyny – but pointed at political women. But it does have … More ‘Nothing so true as what you once let fall: / Keir Starmer has no Character at All’. A case study.

Violence: How should we respond, and how do we respond? The tragedies about to be born out of inappropriate and thoughtless response.

October 3, 2025

Violence: How should we respond, and how do we respond? The tragedy born out of inappropriate response Above are the bare facts of the violence that occurred at Heaton Park Synagogue m Manchester. People died as a result not only of the violence of one man (and others if others backed him up) but also … More Violence: How should we respond, and how do we respond? The tragedies about to be born out of inappropriate and thoughtless response.

The future sounds a neutral enough subject but in truth it is a concept owned and shaped by the powerful few. This blog reflects on the republished ‘Young Palestinians Speak’ (2017, 2023) by Anthony Robinson & Annemarie Young.

June 28, 2025

One librarian at the Tamer Library, Haneen, interviewed by Robinson and Young devises activities for 8 – 13 year-olds in the area of Gaza where the Institutuon stands. When asked about their future lives, Haneen considers that the older children think mainly of emigration from Gaza, whilst ‘younger ones, without older siblings, do not think … More The future sounds a neutral enough subject but in truth it is a concept owned and shaped by the powerful few. This blog reflects on the republished ‘Young Palestinians Speak’ (2017, 2023) by Anthony Robinson & Annemarie Young.

Marianne Hirsch, ‘a retired professor at Columbia University, whose field, traumatic memory, is interwoven with Holocaust and genocide studies’, says, “Genocide prevention is a responsibility,” but despite that, “Now, we’re watching on our iPhones, and still people are holding back.” Why study genocide at all, then?

December 24, 2024

Will there ever be a vocabulary that describes  adequately the vengeful annihilation of a whole people? This is the more poignant in that this is a people that is already displaced and sequestered  by international agreement and deprived of the definition and identity held by other  recognised nation-states. Palestine 🇵🇸 is a nation whose very … More Marianne Hirsch, ‘a retired professor at Columbia University, whose field, traumatic memory, is interwoven with Holocaust and genocide studies’, says, “Genocide prevention is a responsibility,” but despite that, “Now, we’re watching on our iPhones, and still people are holding back.” Why study genocide at all, then?