I’m familiar with this energy; with this deep compassion that becomes fuel to push us forward. I’m familiar with this unity; with this defiance; with this beautiful rage that brings people together. I’m familiar with this self-organization, with this absence of state, with this negligence of leadership. Was it May 2021? When the Sheikh Jarrah… Continue reading On being Palestinian in Valencia today
Tag: palestine
The day they killed our Shireen
I remember it vividly. I woke up to distraught voices in the next room: voices of disbelief and questions marks; voices that sound like my brother saying REALLY? It can’t be possible. I opened my eyes, still hazy and confused: what’s going on? My brother sweet in his attempts to delay reality and to restore… Continue reading The day they killed our Shireen
May 2024
May is mighty. May is sad. May is relentless. It’s a month of Nakabat (catastrophes); of Massacres; of Mayhem. May is for workers and workers for May. Yesterday, the Columbia Gaza Encampment was dissolved by the NYPD forces, arresting tens of students and throwing away their tents. They think that robbing us of the material… Continue reading May 2024
April 2024
T.S. Eliot wrote in his Wateland: April is the cruellest month, breeding Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing Memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain. Winter kept us warm, covering Earth in forgetful snow, feeding A little life with dried tubers.” Life seems unreal. 6 months of live-streamed genocide. What is sanity… Continue reading April 2024
November 2023
Pablo Neruda lived in Madrid during the Spanish Civil War, and upon being asked why aren’t you writing poetry about lilacs and philosophy? he responded: come look at the blood in the streets Venid a ver la sangre por las calles. How can I write a POETIC TIMES post when a genocide is taking place… Continue reading November 2023
The Creative Writing Space in Ramallah رام الله
The driver of the yellow mini van(service as we call it, which refers to yellow mini vans that are used as means of public transpotation in the west bank. There’s no schedule: once the service is full, it takes off) pointed towards a hole in the apartheid wall and told us that we should take… Continue reading The Creative Writing Space in Ramallah رام الله
The night after they unearthed a mass grave In Tantura
I couldn’t sleep. I’m visited by ghosts demanding justice. Unearthed too little Too late, Unrecognized by their own doers. How can I sleep when I have guests? Dates, nuts and tea What my grandmother taught me about hospitality when I lived in the village. But that is not enough: Makeshift beds and mattresses out of… Continue reading The night after they unearthed a mass grave In Tantura
Unintented, unprofessional Ethnographic Study in Haifa city
It is not professional because I am not an anthropologist- I only took two anthropology coursees during my English Literature degree, and it’s unintended because I was not planning for it- I was staying in Haifa after a long period of being away, and I ran into many people, with whom the conversation just naturally… Continue reading Unintented, unprofessional Ethnographic Study in Haifa city
AICHA BINT YUSIF 