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February 10, 2023

Voices of Palestinian women

By Jim Miles

Two new books on Palestine present a strong feminist viewpoint on current events concerning Palestine. They construct a larger view, drawing on global events and intersecting with other interests such as feminism and indigenous cultures.

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Two new books on Palestine present a strong feminist viewpoint on current events concerning Palestine. They construct a larger view, drawing on global events and intersecting with other interests such as feminism and indigenous cultures.

Imagining Palestine
Imagining Palestine
(Image by Palestine Chronicle)
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Imagining Palestine - Cultures of Exile and National Identity. Tahrir Hamdi. I. B. Taurus, (Bloomsbury Publishing Plc), London, 2023. [1]

In her recent work, "Imagining Palestine", Tahrir Hamdi has made an intriguing, thought-provoking, and challenging discussion on the idea and reality of Palestine. Imagining Palestine is the ongoing process of remembering and living the ongoing tragedies of the nakba - and keeping alive the culture, geography, and ideals of the Palestinian people. There are two main themes that stand out throughout the 'imagining' process: the ideas of exile and the necessity of violent resistance.

Exile

Throughout the discussions of the various Palestinian writers and artists is the recurring theme of exile. Two other terms are used frequently - of dispossession and of dispersion. This refers to the physical/geographical displacement of the refugees, internal and external, in the many refugee camps in Israel, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan as well as the refugees living farther abroad in many countries around the world. Internal exile includes the many apartheid bantustans, the hundreds of checkpoints, the 'wall', and all other Israeli initiatives to limit travel of any kind - medical or agricultural or family - within occupied Palestine (being the whole).

Exile also includes the culture and ideas creating a Palestinian narrative - the attempt by the colonial settler Zionists to eliminate the elements of Palestinian life ranging from the destruction of libraries, the expropriation of agriculture, to the destruction of the olive trees. Many of the latter are over one thousand years old and represent family, the past, and the future; they highlight both ecological and cultural violence against the Palestinians - a bitter leaf with life-giving properties.

Behind the idea of exile is of course the right of return

The United Nations General Assembly adopts resolution 194 (III), resolving that "refugees wishing to return to their homes and live at peace with their neighbours should be permitted to do so at the earliest practicable date, and that compensation should be paid for the property of those choosing not to return and for loss of or damage to property which, under principles of international law or equity, should be made good by the Governments or authorities responsible."[2]

The symbols of Palestinians' right of return are characterized by the deeds to land and the keys to houses stolen or destroyed by the Israeli military during the 1948 nakba. Until all Palestinians are free to return home, those few that do, as discussed by Tahrir, are not truly returnees, but remain in exile within their homeland.

Violent resistance

As recognized by the writers reviewed in Imagining Palestine the idea of resistance is paramount, "the colonized must liberate themselves by 'use of all means, and that of force first and foremost.'" International law allows for an occupied people/territory to legally resist the occupying/colonizing power. For those imagining Palestine, culture comes first then the resistance struggle - signifying a unity of purpose, an inclusiveness and not a mixture of individualized ideals.

In other words, by dividing the Palestinian people into apartheid regions, into different 'terrorist' organizations, into different levels of control superseded by the Palestinian Authority acting as security police for Israel, the Israelis - and factions within Palestine itself - preclude an organizing, organic whole necessary for successful resistance against an occupying force. A "collective national identity" is necessary first before a resistance can be successfully implemented.

As expressed by Tahrir,

"The living heritage of Palestine has been focused and repurposed for the aim of creating a culture of resistance. To imagine Palestine does not mean to contrive something that was not there, but rather to make possible the very idea of resistance, victory, and liberation--an enabling idea."

Subthemes

Several other themes occur through Tahrir's analysis of those Imagining Palestine.

The complicity of Arab regimes is reiterated frequently and although not dwelt upon, it is recognition that the 'regime', the leaders of the Arab countries, are more concerned about their own survival than the problems faced by the Palestinians. Platitudes are made, peace treaties are made, official recognition of Israel is given, and still the Palestinians are ignored. Except--.

Except as shown by the recent Football World Cup in Qatar (after the publication of this book), the Arab street is still very much aligned with the Palestinians regardless of their separate government's attitudes and actions. [3] Farther abroad from Ireland and Scotland to Argentina and others, solidarity with Palestine is strong at the level of international football - not the organizers, but the fans and the players.

Another subtheme, related to all above, is the vast amount of US support for the Israeli government as well as the influence the US carries over many of the Arab states. Capitalism thrives in this environment: three companies "and others thrive on the 'always war' policy of the world capitalist system, which gave birth to slavery and the colonialist enterprise." A strong (im)moral component enters into this support as well with the combination of the evangelical right wishing for the end times and the antiterrorist rhetoric used mainly to reinforce US attempts at global hegemony (via military support for the US$).

Indigenous rights is another subtheme mentioned throughout the book. In particular the rights of Indigenous North Americans and South Africans are used in comparison in their similarities to the colonial settler regime in Israel. African Americans, while not 'colonized' in the strictest sense, are a product of the capitalist-colonial mindset where the 'other' is at best property to be bought and sold, and when not useful, to be eliminated in one fashion or another.

Resistance

The recreation and remembering of Palestinian culture in all its forms, and the bringing together a collective national identity, a living heritage, creates an imagined future Palestine as a unitary democratic and peaceful society. The will to resist is alive in many forms and an Imagined Palestine exists, anticipating its liberation as a free, independent country.

[1] see also: click here

[2] .unrwa.org/content/resolution-194

[3] A listing of articles on this topic: .palestinechronicle.com/?s=qatar+football

Greater than the sum of our parts
Greater than the sum of our parts
(Image by Palestine Chronicle)
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Greater Than the Sum of Our Parts - Feminism Inter/Nationalism & Palestine. Nada Elia. Pluto Press, 2023. London.

Interestingly this work by Nada Elia - Greater Than the Sum of Our Parts - takes off from what the last book I read on Palestine discussed as images of Palestine and the imagination arriving with that. The first image used here is that of a political cartoonist Naji al-Ali and his creation of Handala - named after the native bitter gourd fruit - forever ten years old, never exposing his face to the viewer - "To be a refugee is... a bitter experience." The second image is the most significant for Palestinians - the house keys they took with them when forced into exile, into refugee status.

From that introduction she quickly introduces the concept of her title, the intersection of feminism, settler-colonialism, state-sanctioned violence, resistance to imperialism and the need to go beyond the truth of apartheid and the BDS movement to say "Zionism itself must be abolished... it cannot be reformed."

The first chapter, "Settler Colonialism and Indigenous Resistance from Palestine to Turtle Island" reiterates the last idea, "the movement [Zionism] is... a European colonial project, which gradually evolved to become more generally 'Western' imperial project, sustained by the USA." From there Elia develops the inter/connections between the indigenous people of Turtle Island (North America), Black Lives Matter, and other groups protesting alongside Palestinians.

In a subsection "Colonialism" a short, accurate precis of the history of Zionist thought provides a strong background to her arguments regardless of any previous awareness of the Zionist narrative - or lack thereof. With references mostly to Ze'ev Jabotinsky and including Benny Morris and a few contemporary U.S. Israeli advocates, she concludes it is not just a question of decolonization, but "It is resistance to imperialism, colonialism, and oppression, not 'terrorism,' nor anti-Jewish hatred."

In "De'ja Vu" comparisons with South African apartheid are made, partly to show similarities and differences but also to show the intersection of other ideas. Discriminatory citizenship laws, voting and political representation, the "whataboutism" (where Israel/white South Africa complain about unfair treatment) of the Israeli narrative, and the patriarchal non-democratic reign of Mahmoud Abbas outlines her argument that "these discriminatory laws that impact families as one of the many reasons that abolishing the Zionist system is a feminist issue."

That idea is further developed in "Social and Political Liberation: No Free Homeland Without Free Women and Queers" which she opens with "Palestine is a feminist issue," an idea she summarizes with,

"... today progressive women of colour and Indigenous women, along with anti-imperialist, anti-racist white women, are firmly anti-Zionist, understanding that no ideology that hinges on supremacy and discrimination is reconcilable with feminism."

Discussing the "Demographic Threat" Elia shows the role of Palestinian women and the restrictive burdens they carry ranging from rape to lack of medical assistance with pregnancy and child birth. The patriarchy and oppression under capitalism is introduced as being "one of the interlocking systems of oppression." Honor killings - femicide - and Israel's superficial openness to gay culture - pinkwashing - are presented as other facets of the overall struggle for liberation.

One of the more important elements of colonialism and capitalism is land. In the early 1980s - as a side note - the Canadian Film Board had an excellent documentary on indigenous land claims called "The land is the culture". It very critically saw that the land and all that lived on it, all its resources, was the basis for the culture of B.C. natives, and indeed, all indigenous people - not surprisingly it has long disappeared from NFB listings on the internet.

Elia understands, as do most indigenous people, the truth of the land being the culture,

"The land acknowledgements that are now routine among liberals in the USA and Canada are worthless when they are not accompanied by land restitution."

Police as property protectors (and slave protectors), as protectors against labor protests, creates a system of violence over the people to protect land ownership by the settler-colonialists. Dead buffalo and "public property" are part of this, the latter indicating the land is no longer indigenous, but owned by the colonial government. Water, forestry, agriculture and food all become part of apartheid.

While discussing food apartheid and its critical role on women's lives, Elia chastises - correctly - white liberal women for their feminism, providing the definition that does not fit the normal western narrative,

"Feminism [is]... a broad political strategy of structural transformation because violence and inequality are structural problems.

"Food sovereignty--unlike food security, involves questions of culture, power, identity, ecology, and land.

"....where the settlers have tried to impose human and agricultural monocultures, the Indigenous have responded with their insistence on biodiversity as essential for survival."

"A global intifada" covers a wide range of topics: the arms industry, militarization of the police, security training, and global awareness of societal violence (partly via BLM and Red Nation Collective) is creating a global intifada of anticolonial sentiment and reaction.

In her final "Pledge - Feminism is a Palestinian Issue" she argues that "in contrast to liberal feminist traditions in the US that continue to weaponize feminist discourse against Palestinians--by failing to confront the structural forms of gendered and sexual violence inherent to colonial-settlerism, imperialist wars, racial capitalism and global white supremacy."

"Greater Than the Sum of Our Parts" is a clearly written, instructive, and critical examination of society in general as it affects the apartheid and Zionist structures in Palestine. It provides a unique view into the problems of Palestine and the resourcefulness of the indigenous people, feminists, and the LGBTQ community globally in the struggle against white racism, capitalism, and colonial-settlerism and their many effects on society.



Authors Website: http://www.jim.secretcove.ca

Authors Bio:


Jim Miles is a Canadian educator and analyst who examines the world through a syncretic lens. His analysis of international and domestic geopolitical ideas and actions incorporates a lifetime of interest in current events, a desire to preserve and conserve our natural environment and stop the commodification of the environment. He has been active as a critical writer in opposition to the US empire and its militarization of most aspects of domestic and international affairs. Miles' work has been published globally and has appeared on a variety of websites including Palestine Chronicle, Axis of Logic, Countercurrents, and Global Research. He has appeared on RT News and The Tyee concerning events in Palestine/Israel.



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