From Wallwritings
I have it on good authority that almost the only Thanksgiving celebrations in Palestine this week are those enjoyed by U.S. expats, that is, those who "leave one's native country to live elsewhere."
That does not deter this American blogger from sharing one good news story at Thanksgiving which involves the Palestinian people.
Yes, in spite of having to live under an Israeli military occupation run by an authoritarian politician named Netanyahu, there is positive news for the civilized world to include when joining our American rite of giving thanks this season.
Those who do not gather about an American-style Thanksgiving table may still utter words of gratitude for the results emanating from the sumud practiced by the Palestinian people.
And since I have already seen fit to define "expats" above, pause with me for a moment to define the Arabic word, sumud, as it appears in the very-American Wikipedia.:
Sumud (Arabic: Ø µ...ÙˆØ ¯") meaning "steadfastness" or "steadfast perseverance" is an ideological theme and political strategy that first emerged among the Palestinian people through the experience of the dialectic of oppression and resistance in the wake of the 1967 Six-Day War.
For the good news about which we should be thankful, journey with me to a Gaza news report about "coding" from Al Jazeera's Fedaa al-Qedra, which explains the good news found in the life experience of one young Palestinian woman's summd when she discovered coding.
Fedaa al-Qedra's Aj Jazeera report begins:
"When Yasmin Helles (picture above) was an English literature student at a Gaza college, she would spend most of her time online looking for information that could help her in academic life.
"She always wondered who designed these websites, making all this information available.
"She wanted to become that person.
"Six months ago, the 24-year-old saw an advertisement by Gaza Sky Geeks (GSG), a rapidly growing business and tech incubator, calling for young graduates to enroll in the first coding school in the beleaguered Palestinian territory, which only recently saw yet another round of deadly Israeli air raids.
"Helles took the unexpected step of quitting her job as an English teacher to spend more time pursuing her dream. Now, she has joined the coding academy.
"'I said to myself 'Yes, that was what I wanted,' Helles told Al Jazeera in GSG's main room, a computer lab, taking a respite from typing lines of code.
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