Falastin Volume 2 Issue 3

Volume 2 Issue 2 May 2018 1

Letter from the Editor 70 years ago, Israel launched an ethnic cleansing campaign with the goal of expelling Palestinians from Palestine. They massacred villages and turned an upwards of 700,000 Palestinians into refugees.

70 years later, this campaign, the Nakba, is still in effect. The effort to expel Palestinians from Palestine did not end in 1948, and neither did the struggle. We Palestinians carry with us generations of pain and suffering, but we also carry with us strength the knowledge that we will return.

This knowledge is kept alive and passed on from generation to generation through storytelling, through art, and through acts of continued resistance. Through Falastin, we strive to keep that knowledge and resistance alive. We invite each and every one of you to join in on our resistance through art and contribute to this magazine in any way you can., whether it be through sending in art, poetry, narratives and other written pieces, sponsoring this magazine, or sharing it and spreading the Palestinian narrative.

I’d like to thank PACC’s board and all of our sponsors for their support and assistance. I would like to thank the staff of Falastin for their dedication to each and every issue. Thank you Rania for all your help with the magazine! I’d like to extend a thank you to all of our contributors who share their art with us and join in on our resistance. Last, but not least, thank you to all of the readers who continue to support Falastin every issue.

We, at Falastin, would like to dedicate this issue to those at the front lines of the resistance, specifically to everyone who was killed during The Great March Return in Gaza. Since the start of the march, over 100 lives have been taken by Israeli Offensive Forces. We ask that all our readers keep them and their families in their prayers.

Reem Farhat Editor in Chief of Falastin

Staff of Falastin Reeham Farhat: Entertainment Editor Aya Mustafa: Poetry Editor Marah Siyam: Fiction Editor Aseel Zeinaty and Hiba Birat: Arabic Editors Aseel Washah: News Editor Razaan Halak: Layout Editor

We’d also like to thank Shuruq Alfawair for her assistance with editing. Thank you to Rawan Anani for sharing your artwork with us, which is on the back cover! I’d like to extend a huge thank you to Salma Zaitar, who designed the front cover in honor of those who passed away on May 14. The image shows a Palestinian woman passing a key, a symbol of the right of return, onto the next generation.

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Letter from the Executive Director On May 14, 2018, a day before the 70th commemoration of the Nakba, America took a very dangerous step by moving the American Embassy to Jerusalem. This showed that the American administration is not a fair mediator of peace. This move marks the end of an era where the United States led international efforts to supposedly achieve the Palestinian compromise of two-state solution and ending Israel’s occupation of parts of historic Palestine that began in 1967 including East Jerusalem. This act not only negates the history and existence of the Palestinian people and nation, but also dismisses the centrality of Jerusalem in the lives of millions of Palestinian Christians and Muslims.

One thing is clear, there will never be a just settlement to the Palestinian cause without Jerusalem being the capital of a free and independent Palestine and the right of return being granted to all Palestinian refugees.

We may not be able to join the Great Return Marches, but the least we can do is educate, advocate and raise awareness about the Palestinian struggle abroad. This is our version of resistance. So we ask you to partake in this call for action by getting more involved at PACC. Contribute to Falastin whether it be through an article, a story, a poem, a photo, etc. Give this magazine to someone who may not know about what’s going in Palestine. Through Falastin we relay stories, photographs, and articles so that you can see and learn about Palestine and the struggles Palestinians face through the eyes of those who have gone. Get more involved with PACC. I would like to thank the Editor in Chief, Reem Farhat, and staff members of Falastin for their dedication. I would also like to thank the sponsors of this magazine. It’s only with their support that we can continue printing the magazine and growing. Thank you to the board of Directors for their support. Last, but not least, thank you for picking up and supporting Falastin.

Rania Mustafa Falastin Advisor Executive Director of PACC

@PACCUSA

Palestinian American Community Center

@PACC_USA

@PACCUSA

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Dedicate to Azzam Awaed, a 14 year old boy, killed during the Great Return March.

Illustration by Marah Siyam 4

TABLE OF CONTENTS Pg. 6-7 “The Great Return” by Reem Farhat Pg. 8 “Broken Ben” by Yara Assadi Pg. 9 “The House” by Nadine Badwan Pg. 9 “An Ode to Palestine” by Aya Mustafa Pg. 10-11 ‫ يوسف قطب‬- ‫قرية ارطاس‬ Pg. 14-15 “Fighting for Palestine is Never Easy– Even with Privilege like Mine” by Rawan Eewshah Pg. 16 “Bulldozers Undoing God” by Mohammad El-Kurd ً Pg. 17 ‫ غزﻻن الحاج‬- ‫اهﻼ بك في فلسطين‬ Pg. 20-22 “#MyNakbaStory” from IMEU Pg. 23 “From Catastrophes to Sprouts” by Huda Abukwaik Pg. 26-27 “Where the Hanoon Get Their Rain” by Marah Siyam Pg. 28-29 “A Conversation on the Palestinian Cause with Haneen Zoabi”

by Aseel Washah and Reem Farhat Pg. 30 “Reunion with a Thread of Identity” by Eman Zidat Pg. 31 “Catastrophe” by Reeham Farhat Pg. 34-37 ‫ رجاء غزاونة‬- ‫الحرف اليدوية‬ Pg. 38-39 “An End To Diaspora” by Boutrose Saba-Norton Pg. 40 “Fountain of Youth” by Abir Safa Pg. 41 “Person of PACC: Saleh Rabee”

5

The Great Return Reem Farhat I’m not sure why the first question I always ask myself is how much is enough. As if there is some kind of metric to measure human tragedy. As if mercy was a quality of those calling the shots, or shooting the bullets.

Every drop of Palestinian blood is too much.

Every minute of suffering at the hands of the oppressors is a minute too long.

On May 15, 1948, Israel launched an ethnic cleansing campaign on Palestinian soil. An upwards of 700,000 Palestinians were expelled from their homes. They were exiled, bringing with them the clothes on their backs, clutching tightly the keys to their homes, and clinging onto a final promise: we will return.

Seventy years later, and we will still return. Seventy years later and our truths are still what we keep closest, our keys are still our own, and this land will reject the occupier with all that it can.

The Nakba is not a singular tragedy. The Nakba is ongoing. We are still facing the Nakba, the Catastrophe, the effort to expel us from our land and eradicate us from where we stand.

March 30th, 2018 marked the first day of The Great Return March, the title given to the 45 day long protest along the border between Gaza and Israel. It would begin on Palestinian Land Day and end on May 15th, the 70th anniversary of the Nakba.

The Great Return March is an unarmed protest with a singular goal: return. Return is our right, backed up by UN Resolution 237, and seventy years later with unwavering conviction, return is our will.

Since the start of the march, the nonviolent effort has been met with swift violent retaliation. Grenades, tear gas, and rifles have been shot into crowds of unarmed Palestinians. Nearly 100 Palestinians have been killed

by Israeli soldiers since March 30th, an estimate that is still rising.

However, in times of great need and distress, news outlets and audiences alike have failed to see that these casualties are more than just numbers. We are heroes, we are children, we are lovers, and brothers, and mothers, and fathers and human. Among numbers and statistics and percentages, that’s what gets lost the most.

And while it is impossible to document all lives, to capture in pages who a person was, we owe it to our people to at least try. So below are five out of the hundred stories of the lives taken this past month. May they all be remembered and honored.

Musa Abuhassanin was a Palestinian paramedic. He tended to a wound of his colleague's, Palestinian Canadian Doctor Tarek Loubani, before leaving again to the protest grounds. He was giving medical care to protestors by the northern part of the border. Abuhassanin was wearing a bright orange vest identifying him as a paramedic. He was shot in the chest.

Yaser Murtaja was a journalist and photographer who has dedicated himself to documenting life in Gaza. He is known for his work covering the blockade on Gaza and for documenting Israeli human rights violations.

He has never left Gaza. Murtaja was married with a two year old child. Murtaja was wearing a bright bulletproof vest with the word “PRESS” on it. He was shot under his arm, the only upper body area exposed.

Mohammad Abu Amr was a nineteen year old sand artist who was known for carving sculptures into the beaches on Gaza. On March 29, 2018, the day before the Great Return March began, he carved the words 6

“‫“ أنا راجع‬, “ I will return.” He was shot by the IDF the next day.

Bilal al-Ashram was in his last year of high school. He was the oldest of eight children. Hardly a man, Bilal held his family together while his father worked to support his family in Jordan. He was shot in the head.

Layla Ghandour was 10 months old. A baby with bright blue eyes brimming with hope and innocence and innocence and innocence. She was a baby. Her 12 year old uncle carried her through a camp when they were swarmed by heavy white smoke that made everything a haze. Tear gas. Gripping Layla tighter in his arms, her uncle ran through the crowd to find his sister. He was convinced that she had fallen asleep, and cradled her tightly in her blanket.

He didn’t notice the way her small fingers turned blue.

Photo taken by Ahmad Abusama’an 7

Broken Ben Yara Assadi But we’ve been given rocks.

As if in a movie, The same actors and scenes replaying and repeating At the will of the director.

Goliath’s shoulders have turned into missiles, His broad chest has morphed into political authority, His strong core a mosaic of internationally powerful allies, His armour is an iron dome, But David is unchanged, Left with a stone and sling in hand, Standing on the sandy rubble of his home.

No longer.

No longer was this battle, and the many preceding, About drive, will, and focus.

It was a won battle far before David stepped forth, Looking into the hollowed eyes of the enhanced behemoth.

David becomes Mahmoud, or Zaid, or Lila, And without warning, logic, or pause, This is not a story of an underdog.

Like the clock whose hand Seems to tick backwards and forwards in time As every moment of agony is relived, yet Never relinquished. ~~~~~~~~~~ In their world, A short memory is not only commonplace But demanded.

Silence is not only demanded But commonplace.

And to cripple the unjust roof that surrounds us, Suffocates us, Between us and the sky, Requires a hammer,

This is a story of a massacre.

Illustration by Aysha Mohdi 8

The House Nadine Badwan The house where my father was raised The house where he lived the first 5 years of his life The house where his brother was born The house that had so many memories The house that was once a sanctuary for a loving Palestinian family Is now a house under Israeli occupation Is now a house that was wrongfully taken A house with a beautiful yard filled with olive and fig

trees that belonged to my grandfather is now in some body else’s hands Where my father and his brother used to laugh and play was not just a piece of land But a home, where they learned to love and respect Just like they have taught me Because Palestine will stay Palestine in the hearts and minds of those with reason Palestine is home and a true garden of Eden

Photo taken by Ahmad AbuSaman

An Ode to Palestine Aya Mustafa brilliant I love to watch the skillful hands of the town's Potter Palestine's charm instills within me national pride

My mind cannot fathom the beauty of such a place My nose overwhelmed by the scent of freshly grown mint Endless syrupy kanafa making my heart race The sun shines as into the vast green fields my legs sprint The scattered olive trees stand tall and resilient Plump grapes dangle from their vines making my mouth water The scent of fresh taboon calls me to my grandma's side The games the children make up on the streets are

Standing at the rooftop glancing down at my village Racing in the alleys to decide who's the quickest Indulging in great gummies that are hard to resist Sitting in the park late at night eating Lupin seeds Devouring a bowl of incomparable ice cream Visiting the cozy house my mother grew up in Praying in Al-Aqsa fulfilling an honored deed Experiencing the land's grace is living a dream Can you see now why the occupation is a sin?

9

‫بالعتاد الكافي لحماية البرك وقنوات المياه‪ .‬وعندما اختل اﻷمن‪ ،‬في فترة ﻻحقة‪ ،‬نتيجة للظلم والفقر‪ ،‬انتشر اﻷشقياء وقطاع الطرق الذين خربوا‬ ‫الينابيع ومجاري المياه‪ ،‬فذاق أهل القدس اﻷمرين‪ ،‬مما حدا بالسلطان العثماني مراد الرابع‪ ،‬بناء قلعة عرفت باسمه لحماية البرك والقنوات‪ ،‬وأنشأ‬ ‫داخلها مسجدا وخمسين غرفة ليسكنها الجنود الذين سيروا الدوريات لمنع قطاع الطريق من اﻻعتداء على القنوات التي يسيل فيها الماء نحو‬ ‫المدينة المقدسة‪.‬‬ ‫وفي أثناء الحكم العثماني المتأخر‪ ،‬عام ‪ 1901‬م استبدلت قناة المياه الفخارية التي مدها العثمانيون من برك سليمان إلى القدس‪ ،‬بقناة معدنية‪،‬‬ ‫بإشراف مهندس يوناني يدعى أفرنقاه‪ ،‬والتي ظلت تزود القدس بالمياه حتى عام ‪ ،1948‬ووقوع النكبة الفلسطينية‪.‬‬ ‫فترة الحمﻼت الصليبية وعودة السيطرة اﻹسﻼمية‪:‬‬ ‫من الثابت أن الفرنجة استولوا على ارطاس فقد عُثر في وسط القرية على معالم لكنيسة صليبية تقع في الجهة المقابلة للمسجد‪ ،‬ويمكن هنا اﻹشارة‬ ‫إلى ما ورد في تقرير كتبه السيد بوذري‪ ،‬مدير مصلحة المياه في حكومة اﻻنتداب عام ‪"،1938‬إن مشروع الماء في عهد المسلمين كان متقنا إلى‬ ‫درجة أن الصليبيين عندما حاصروا القدس‪ ،‬قاسوا أشد العذاب من جراء العطش وقلة الماء‪ ،‬بينما كان سكان القدس أنفسهم في مأمن من هذه‬ ‫الناحية‪ ،‬وكانت لديهم في المدينة مقادير وافرة من المياه‪ ،‬وقد أعار المسلمون المسألة جل اهتمامهم‪ ،‬فعمروا القنوات وأولوها أهمية خاصة‪ ،‬حيث‬ ‫كان لمياه ارطاس وبرك سليمان أهمية كبيرة في تزويد مدينة القدس بالمياه‪ ،‬لذا كان ﻷهل ارطاس دور كبير في حماية المياه والقنوات التي‬ ‫توصلها إلى القدس"‪ .‬وتمكن الصليبيون من احتﻼل القرية بعد أن استداروا واستولوا على قنوات المياه‪ ،‬وبقوا فيها سنوات طويلة انتهت بنهاية‬ ‫العهد الصليبي في عام ‪ 1187‬م‪ ،‬عندما هزم القائد صﻼح الدين اﻷيوبي آخر ملك من ملوك الصليبيين‪ ،‬بعدها استطاع العرب المسلمون السيطرة‬ ‫ثانية على ارطاس من أجل حماية المصادر المائية التي كانت تزود القدس وقتها بالمياه‪.‬‬ ‫اﻻنتداب البريطاني‪:‬‬ ‫عندما احتل البريطانيون فلسطين‪ ،‬رابطت القوات البريطانية في قلعة مراد‪ ،‬وشرعت في بناء محطة فوق مجرى عين ارطاس‪ ،‬وانتهى العمل فيها‬ ‫عام ‪1922‬م‪ ،‬لتبدأ ضخ المياه إلى القدس‪ ،‬مما عصف بأرزاق السكان‬ ‫وزراعتهم وحياتهم‪.‬‬ ‫اﻻستيطان اﻹسرائيلي‪:‬‬ ‫قامت قوات اﻻحتﻼل اﻹسرائيلية بإقامة سلسلة مستوطنات غوش أو‬ ‫)كفار( عتسيون‪) ،‬سبع مستوطنات أقيمت في الثﻼثينات وآخذة‬ ‫بالتوسع(‪ ،‬فأقيمت مستوطنات على اﻷراضي التي احتلت عام ‪1967‬‬ ‫في ارطاس والخضر ونحالين والجبعة‪ ،‬حيث بلغت مساحة اﻷراضي‬ ‫المصادرة من منطقة بيت لحم ‪ 120‬ألف دونم حتى عام ‪1995‬م‪.‬‬ ‫بموجب أوامر عسكرية وبفرض الربط بين المستوطنات الصهيونية‬ ‫في منطقة بيت لحم والمستوطنات حول القدس‪ ،‬جرى توسيع‬ ‫مستوطنة تقواع شرق بيت لحم‪ ،‬وتوسيع حدود مستوطنة معاليه‬ ‫عاموس في أعقاب مصادر ‪ 200‬دونم من أراضي كيسان‪ ،‬ومصادرة‬ ‫‪ 1432‬دونما ً من أراضي ارطاس سنة ‪ 1991‬و‪ 2000‬دونم من‬ ‫أراضي بيت فجار‪ ،‬وهدم منازل المواطنين الفلسطينيين في المنطقة‬ ‫الفاصلة بين حدود بيت جاﻻ الشمالية ومستوطنة جيلو‪ ،‬وهي المنطقة‬ ‫المعروفة باسم بئر عونة‪ ،‬مما يحقق اتصاﻻً مع المستوطنة الواقعة في‬ ‫حدود القدس اﻹدارية‪.‬‬ ‫سكانها‪:‬‬ ‫ُ‬ ‫ً‬ ‫يشكل الفﻼحون المسلمون اﻷغلبية العظمى من السكان البالغ عددهم حاليا حوالي ‪ 6000‬نسمة‪ .‬والباقي من المسيحيين الذين يعيشون في دير‬ ‫راهبات ارطاس الذي تم بناؤه عام ‪ 1901‬ويسكنه حاليا ‪ 8‬راهبات باﻹضافة إلى ‪ 7‬من البنات اليتيمات من المحافظة‪ .‬وتنقسم القرية حسب الشكل‬ ‫اﻻجتماعي في اﻷساس إلى جزأين رئيسيين حسب موقعها من العين الرئيسية وسط وادي ارطاس وهما الجزء الغربي ويسمى " بالحارة الغربية "‬ ‫والجزء الشرقي ويسمى " بالحارة الشرقية " ومع مرور الزمن وتزايد عدد السكان فقد ظهرت تجمعات سكانية جديدة بعيدة عن نواة القرية مثل‬ ‫منطقة البرك‪ ،‬شعب عودة‪ ،‬الموارس في الجهة الغربية والجنوبية‪ ،‬والشعب الشرقي وقاع الواد‪ ،‬وشعب بابون في الجهة الشرقية والشمالية من‬ ‫القرية والتي أصبحت متداخلة بمباني مدينة بيت لحم من الشمال والجنوب وبمخيم الدهيشة من الجهة الشمالية الغربية وبالخضر من الجهة الغربية‬ ‫والجنوبية الغربية باﻹضافة إلى بنات ارطاس مثل خربة زكريا والحبيلة في أراضي عصيون التابعة ﻻرطاس والنحلة في اﻷراضي الجنوبية‬ ‫ﻻرطاس‪.‬‬ ‫السياحة‪:‬‬ ‫حسب وزارة الشؤون الخارجية ‪ -‬السلطة الوطنية الفلسطينية فقد وضعت إرطاس على الخارطة السياحية وصنفت على أساس أنها موقع سياحي‬ ‫ذا طابع أثري ‪ ،‬ديني ‪ ،‬ثقافي لما فيها من معالم أثرية‪:‬‬ ‫معبد أقيم على أنقاض المسجد القديم الذي بني كمقام لسيدنا عمر بن الخطاب عندما زار القدس ومر بمدينة بيت لحم‪• .‬‬ ‫دير إرطاس‪ ،‬أقيم عام ‪1895‬م‪• .‬‬ ‫برك سليمان وهي من أشهر المعالم التاريخية واﻷثرية في القرية وهي رومانية رممها السلطان العثماني سليم القانوني عام ‪1552‬م‪• .‬‬ ‫كما يوجد في القرية جمعية إرطاس الزراعية التعاونية والتي أسست عام ‪ 1962‬م ويوجد في القرية مدرستان أحدهما ثانوية للذكور واﻷخرى‬ ‫ابتدائية لﻺناث‪ ،‬ويوجد جمعية إرطاس الخيرية التي تأسست عام ‪1981‬م وتشرف على روضة أطفال ومركز لمحو اﻷمية‪.‬‬ ‫‪10‬‬

‫قرية ارطاس‬ ‫يوسف قطب‬ ‫أصل التسمية‪:‬‬ ‫أي "‪Hortus Conclusus‬وتعني البستان أو الجنة‪ ،‬وعرفت زمن الصليبيين باسم " "‪Artasium‬كلمة ارطاس كلمة من أصل ﻻتيني )يوناني( "‬ ‫الجنة المقفلة وما زالت تحتفظ منذ ذلك الحين بهذا اﻻسم‪.‬‬ ‫جغرافيا ً‪:‬‬ ‫ً‬ ‫تقع جنوب غرب مدينة بيت لحم‪ ،‬تتبع إداريا لبلدية بيت لحم وتقع على الطريق العام )القدس ‪ -‬بيت لحم ‪ -‬الخليل( بمجموع سفحين متقابلين بينهما‬ ‫وا ٍد خصيب غني ٍ بمختلف المزروعات واﻷشجار‪ ،‬يحيط بها قرية الخضر من الغرب‪ ،‬عرب التعامرة من الشرق‪ ،‬قرية الفواغرة من الجنوب‬ ‫ومخيم الدهيشة من الشمال‪.‬‬ ‫وادي إرطاس‪:‬‬ ‫قرية كنعانية قديمة‪ ،‬واشتهرت هذه القرية من خﻼل برك المياه الموجودة فيها والتي تعرف باسم برك سليمان وبعض المعالم اﻷثرية اﻷخرى‪ .‬لما‬ ‫عُرف عنها وفرة مصادر المياه والتي تعد من أكبر اﻷنظمة المائية القديمة في فلسطين والتي كانت تزود مدينة القدس بالمياه في الفترة الرومانية‪.‬‬ ‫الفترة الرومانية والبيزنطية‪:‬‬ ‫تم إنشاء نظام مائي بالفترة الرومانية المبكرة في وادي إرطاس‬ ‫وتحديدا ً في الجزء العلوي منه‪ ،‬حيث عمل على تزويد مدينة‬ ‫القدس بالمياه بدﻻً من النظام المائي القديم‪ .‬وتذكر المصادر‬ ‫التاريخية أن البركتين اﻷولى والثانية تم تشييدهما في تلك الفترة‬ ‫بهدف تجميع المياه من الينابيع المجاورة ومياه الشتاء المنحدرة‬ ‫من السفوح المحيطة‪ ،‬ونقلها إلى مدينة القدس ولتنفيذ ذلك تم إنشاء‬ ‫ما ﻻ يقل عن ست قنوات ناقلة للمياه كان من أشهرها قناة السبل‬ ‫"الدنيا" التي شيدها الحاكم الروماني بيﻼطس عام ‪ 35‬م والقناة‬ ‫العليا التي شيدها اﻹمبراطور البيزنطي سفيريوس ‪ 211 - 193‬م‬ ‫والتي تنقل المياه من وادي البيار جنوب ارطاس إلى برك سليمان‬ ‫ثم إلى القدس‪ ،‬أما هيرودس فقد بنى في وادي إرطاس حدائق‪،‬‬ ‫وحمامات‪ ،‬وقصوراً‪ ،‬وأقنية‪ ،‬وما زالت بقايا القناة التي تنقل المياه‬ ‫من عين ارطاس‪ ،‬إلى قلعة هيروديوم‪ ،‬تظهر في عدة أماكن‪،‬‬ ‫ويبلغ طولها أكثر من ‪ 8‬كلم‪.‬‬ ‫الفترات اﻹسﻼمية والفترة العثمانية‪:‬‬ ‫عرضت بعض المصادر أن القرية عرفت اﻹسﻼم بدخول‬ ‫الجيوش اﻹسﻼمية فلسطين عام ‪ 637‬م‪ ،‬تحت إمرة عمرو بن العاص‪ ،‬وتشير إلى أنه بنى أول مسجد في القرية‪ ،‬وهو المسجد الذي عرف باسم‬ ‫مسجد عمر‪ ،‬تيمنا ً باسم الخليفة عمر بن الخطاب الذي تسلم مفاتيح القدس في العام التالي‪ ،‬بينما عرضت مصادر أخرى أن أول مسجد في ارطاس‬ ‫تزامن بناؤه مع دخول الخليفة المسلم "عمر بن الخطاب" سنة ‪636‬م القدس‪ ،‬وسمي حينذاك بجامع عمر تيمنا باسمه‪.‬‬ ‫وقد عُرفت البرك في الفترات اﻹسﻼمية المتعاقبة باسم برك المرجيع وفي تفسير ذلك‪ ،‬ذكر مجير الدين الحنبلي صاحب )اﻷنس الجليل في تاريخ‬ ‫القدس والخليل( ‪ ،‬أنه عندما فقد إخوة النبي يوسف‪ ،‬أخاهم‪ ،‬وجدوه عند البرك وأرجعوه فسميت ببرك المرجيع‪ .‬وحرص المسلمون على تعمير‬ ‫البرك وقنوات المياه خاصة قناة السبيل التي كانت تغذي منطقة الحرم الشريف وفي أواخر عهد المماليك عام ‪ 1460‬تم إنشاء البركة الثالثة "‬ ‫التحتا " على يد الملك الظاهر خوشقدم‪ ،‬وقد وصلت القرية إلى أوج قوتها في عهد سﻼطين المماليك )‪ 1187‬ـ ‪1517‬م(‪ ،‬حيث أصبحت تشكل‬ ‫مركزاً تجاريا ً وقضائياً‪ ،‬وانتشرت فيها طواحين الغﻼل التي كانت تعمل بقوة مياه إرطاس حيث تدل إحدى اللوحات الحجرية الموجودة اﻵن على‬ ‫الواجهة الشرقية للطابق اﻷرضي للجامع على وجود طاحونة يعود تاريخ إنشائها إلى الخامس عشر من ذي القعدة سنة ‪ 705‬للهجرة‪ ،‬ويوجد من‬ ‫هذه الفترة كذلك بقايا لقاعة محكمة وسجن معروف اﻵن باسم الحبس وسط القرية شرقي الجامع‪ ،‬وشهدت القرية أعمال ترميم وبناء لقنوات مائية‬ ‫تزود القدس بالمياه على يد بعض السﻼطين مثل الظاهر بلباي والظاهر تمريغا‪.‬‬ ‫اضطلع زعماء ارطاس خﻼل هذه الفترة بدور من يقيمون العدل في القرى التابعة لهم حيث كانوا يتمتعون بنفوذ كبير‪ ،‬وفرضوا سيطرتهم على‬ ‫الطريق التجارية بين القدس والخليل والتي كانت تضم ‪ 24‬قرية تسمى حتى اليوم بقرى العرقوب‪ ،‬حيث كانت ارطاس تسمى وحتى عام ‪ 1750‬م‬ ‫"برأس العرقوب" وتشير التقاليد المتبعة في ارطاس أن فﻼحي ارطاس اعتادوا على حماية مصادر المياه والقنوات مقابل إعفائهم من الضرائب‬ ‫وأن هذه الحماية استمرت خﻼل عهد سﻼطين المماليك ويذكر أن هذه الفترة كذلك تزامنت مع تعرض القرية لمذبحة‪ ،‬من قبل أهالي القرى‬ ‫اﻷخرى‪.‬‬ ‫استطاع العثمانيون السيطرة على فلسطين‪ ،‬واهتموا كمن سبقهم بارطاس‪ ،‬وبذلوا جهودا كبيرة ﻷجل تعميرها وحمايتها من الخراب أو من‬ ‫اعتداءات البدو وقطاع الطرق‪ ،‬خاصة السلطان سليمان القانوني الذي حملت اسمه فيما بعد‪ ،‬فرمم بركها الثﻼث وعمر قنوات المياه وحافظ عليها‪.‬‬ ‫وكذلك السلطان عثمان الثاني بن أحمد اﻷول الذي تم على يده بناء قلعة البرك والتي كان يقوم على حراستها دزدارا وأربعين جنديا مزودين‬ ‫‪11‬‬

12

13

Fighting for Palestine Is Never Easy — Even With Privilege Like Mine Rawan Eewshah When I ask my parents to tell me about growing up in rejected the plan and fighting began within days. ImPalestine, their faces swell with pride and joy. mediately after the British Mandate for Palestine expired on May 14, 1948, Israel declared its own indeMy dad tells me about playing soccer in the streets of pendence; the next day, neigh al-Jib, a small city just north of Jerusalem. As the oldest of 10 children, my dad has always been a natural boring Arab states (Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, leader. He’d go outside, gather the neighborhood and Iraq) invaded Israel and began fighting on behalf kids, and they’d play for hours on end. The only thing of Palestinians. that would stop the never-ending games of football is if his mother called him in for dinner or if they saw a This is why stories like 17-year-old Ahed Tamimi’s soldier approaching. Growing up, he says, he witare nothing new. Like my father experienced in May nessed children his own age be jailed — and on two of 1968, one year after the Six Day War began, Israeli occasions, he saw his own relatives shot and killed by soldiers entered the property of Ahed’s home because who they believed to be Israeli forces disguised in they believed they had the right to. Unlike with my keffiyehs. The sight of a soldier was reason enough to father, cameras captured what happened next. Ahed abruptly end any carefree fun my father and his was shown slapping a soldier across the face, and neighborhood friends now she, her mother, were having. and her cousin sit in an Israeli prison for various During the Six Day charges from that day; War of 1967, the soccer games with the Ahed and her mother, neighborhood kids Nariman, each received became far and few an eight-month sentence, between. A year later, and her cousin Nour was when my father besentenced to two weeks, came a refugee, they according to The New ended altogether. AfYork Times. The story ter telling me these has gotten so much atstories, the joy that tention that even Hollyfirst spread across my wood has taken notice: father’s face starts to Everyone from actor dissipate, but the Rosario Dawson to copride never leaves. He’ll shake his head and say, median Sarah Silverman have called on Israel to re“Maybe one day we can move back,” but he doesn’t lease Ahed from prison. seem truly convinced that is an option.

As of February 2018, there are more than 300 minors It’s been more than 50 years since the day my father in Israeli captivity, either as prisoners or detainees. told me soldiers marched to his door in al-Jib with the According to Israeli Prison Service data handed over intention of seizing his family’s home and rendering to B’Tselem, the Israeli Information Center for Huhim homeless. And 50 years later, not much has man Rights in the Occupied Territories, at the end of changed in the West Bank. Israelis and Palestinians 2017, 2,200 Palestinians were being held in Israeli have been fighting for control of the same territories prisons without having been convicted of any crime. for nearly a century, but the heart of the conflict dates In The Washington Post, Ahed’s cousin Nour detailed back to the 1940s. In 1947, the U.N. voted to divide it what described as "systematic abuse" Palestinian miinto a Jewish state and a Palestinian state. Palestinians nors face in Israeli prisons after being there herself.

“Growing up, he says, he witnessed children his own age be jailed — and on two occasions, he saw his own relatives shot and killed by who they believed to be Israeli forces disguised in keffiyehs.”

14

with another Palestinian-American woman, a real comfort in the media landscape that doesn’t reveal itself too often. Every now and then, we’d spot what we felt were unintended inaccuracies in Palestinian/ Israeli coverage at our company. Concerned we’d be Multiple relatives have been arrested (for reasons un- considered “annoying” if we pointed out each one, known), and yet she and her family refuse to back we would discuss with one another the problems we down. Ahed embodies the biggest mantra of Palestin- witnessed and decided which battles were worth ian livelihood, which is, “to exist is to resist.” While fighting. many of us have been expelled from our homes, it hasn’t deterred the eternal hope that we will one day Trying to navigate a career while staying true to my ethnicity can mean knowing the “right time” to speak return. In existing every day as Palestinians, we are resisting the oppression that drove us from our coun- up about Palestine. It means knowing that my very existence could be politicized. It means knowing I try in the first place. could be seen as a “problem” by senior management Thinking of Ahed makes me realize a very real privi- simply for speaking up. It means pausing in an interlege I have as a Palestinian who was born and raised view before a hiring manager who nonchalantly asks in the United States. Working in the media the last you where your name is from, deciding if you should seven years, trying to stand up for Palestine wherever say “it’s Arabic” instead of “it’s Palestinian.” But I possible — though sometimes feeling ostracized for it guess I am privileged, because having a manager who by coworkers — made me feel anything but privimay dislike you for being Palestinian is a lot better leged. A few years ago, I was lucky enough to work than being imprisoned for it.

In many ways, Ahed has become a symbol for Palestinian resistance: Soldiers tried to stand ground on her family’s property, but she wouldn’t let them.

15

Bulldozers Undoing God Mohammed El-Kurd A chain is corseted around the tree’s waist and hers; flesh in flesh olive skin on olive skin fingers branching into intersections literal rootedness jars their storms wraps them in her unbreakable grandmother word we will not leave we will not leave, leave this here is spirit. this here is not to be bulldozed.

She clings onto the tree trunk -the feeling afore unwanted-abortionher face is of ours. she cries her child she cries her life-giver she cries her only knowledge of what god’s dancing looks like.

Land—stone and dirt, pillowed buried ones and ones lying, pillowed contaminated reality, pillowed numbed faith, pillowed and indulged upon embroidered destinies, pillowed constant Nakbas, pillowed tragedy, pillowed—pillowed and bedroomed and made normal: mornings of mourning on a breakfast table, olives za’atar tomatoes and cucumber labneh and hummus tragedy tear gas and tea onions and resilience yogurt rubbed on tear-gassed eyelids bread and rubber-coated bul lets tragedy martyrdom for breakfast and martyrdom till dusk… in Jerusalem, every footstep is a grave.

Never was love verbed this intensely: her skeleton is that of the tree’s, roots stitched into land stitched into identity separation is like unmaking love. ungluing names to places. undoing god.

A pulling pressure, soldiered: occupiers occupy her limbs forcefully untangling a grandmother a soldier as old as a leaf born yesterday pulls a trigger on a woman older than his heritage; two martyrs fall -noone martyr falls.

Here, every footstep is a grave, every grandmother is a Jerusalem.

Photo taken by Ahmad Abusama’an 16

‫ً‬ ‫اهﻼ بك في فلسطين‬ ‫غزﻻن الحاج‬ ‫" ً‬ ‫اهﻼ بك في فلسطين" اشتقت أن أرى هذه الكلمات على أرضك‪ ،‬و أن تفرح عيناي برؤيتك‪ ،‬ﻻ تحزني سنعود و سنعمرك من جديد‪ .‬إني اخترتك‬ ‫ً‬ ‫ً‬ ‫فلسطين وطني حبا و طواعية‪ ،‬و إني افتقدك سرا و عﻼنية ‪.‬‬ ‫جرت العادة أن يكون الخامس عشر من أيار يوم أجلس فيه مع نفسي‪ ،‬اقرأ أخبارا ً عن يافا و حيفا‪ ،‬أتنسم من هواء القدس‪ ،‬أرنو إلى حيث تئن‬ ‫غزة‪ ،‬اقرأ في قصص التهجير داخل الوطن وخارجه‪ ،‬أعيش شتات ﻻ اتذوق طعمه إﻻ عبر قصص أهله فيكون علقما ً‪.‬‬ ‫ففي هذا اليوم من كل عام يحيي أبناء شعبنا المرابط في أرضه و وطنه فعاليات تشمل المدارس و الجامعات و المساجد و النوادي و المراكز‬ ‫الثقافية و اﻹعﻼمية‪ ،‬تهدف الى توعية الطفل الفلسطيني و زرع حب الوطن و الدفاع عنه في قلبه؛ حيث يطلب من الطﻼب في المدارس ارتداء‬ ‫بنطال اسود مع بلوزة سوداء مع الكوفية لتكون رمزا ً لصمودنا وثباتنا في وطننا‪ ،‬ثم من بعدها يتم رفع العلم الفلسطيني على أنغام نشيد فدائي ثم‬ ‫يتبعها عدة كلمات و فقرات دبكة و إلقاء قصائد و مسرحيات هادفة و غيرها‪.‬‬ ‫أما على صعيد الشباب ففي ذكرى النكبة يحدث حراك شبابي واسع و حشد ضد قوات اﻻحتﻼل عند نقاط التماس؛ فيقومون بمسيرات سلمية و‬ ‫تتبعها مواجهات مع قوات اﻻحتﻼل التي تقوم بقمع هذه المسيرات و إطﻼق الرصاص الحي والمطاطي والغاز المسيل للدموع وغيرها من‬ ‫القنابل‪ ،‬فيسقط العشرات من الشهداء و الجرحى و المعتقلين في هذا اليوم و يتم منع سيارات اﻹسعاف من تقديم المساعدة ﻷي مصاب‪ .‬و كل عام‬ ‫يتكرر المشهد و يزداد الفلسطيني ارتباطا ً بأرضه ووطنه حيث تتوارث اﻷجيال جيﻼً بعد جيل هذه اﻷمانة و كل حكايا اللجوء و العذاب‪ .‬فالوحدة‬ ‫الوحدة أيها الشعب! و مزيداً من النضال و الصمود! و مزيداً من اليقظة و اﻻنتباه! و إننا حتما ً لمنتصرون! و إننا حتما ً لعائدون! سنعود حتما ً‬ ‫سنعود‪ ،‬و سيرفع شبل من أشبالنا أو زهرة من زهراتنا علم فلسطين عاليا ً يرفرف فوق مآذن القدس و كنائس القدس و عسى أن يكون هذا اليوم‪.‬‬

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HOPE 19

#MyNakbaStory Provided via The Institute for Middle East Understanding

Rana Nazzal Pictured is my grandma and her family, my dad the youngest, pre-1948: I‘ve been told since I was a child that death from sadness runs in my blood.

It’s the phenomenon of grief so unbearable that its victim stops speaking and eating, loses their senses, and one night, stops breathing altogether. This plagued my father's family but he wouldn't speak of it.

It was from my mother, I gathered stories.

My father is a refugee. My siblings and I received Palestinian citizenship through my mother and we travel back and forth while my father remains in Canada. He hasn’t seen Palestine since he was exiled in 1948. When I was young, I brought him a gift- a key with the engraving: “this is the key to our home in Tabaria”. My mother warned him: “your daughter bought you heartbreak”.

My dad’s mother lost her eyesight from grief. From her home in Tabaria, her first loss was her daughter, killed by Zionist militias. The gunfire meant they couldn’t collect her body.

They were forced from place to place. She supported her family by selling her gold bracelets until her wrists were bare. She walked barefooted with her

kids on horseback from Palestine to Jordan. From a camp there, to another in Syria. Her spirit stayed strong, but her body betrayed her. She became blind, her health worsening everyday she was away. She died without returning.

Few from her family ever saw Palestine again. My great uncle procured a visa years later and returned to find the home exactly as it had been. The handmade tiles, sofas, dishes, everything.. exactly as they left it.

The city too, shocked him.

Tabaria was cleansed of its entire Arab population.

His visa ended and he returned to Syria only to Photo Provided by Rana Nazzal fall into a deep grief and die weeks later. Soon after, another great uncle made the trip. He too found the empty home and colonized city, and he too died in his sleep weeks later.

I don’t think it’s grief that runs in my blood, I think it’s incredible Love. The body cannot always sustain the loss of what was once integral to it. For survivors, this blood connection ties us beyond ourselves into the fight to one day return.

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liberation fighter and leader within the PLO as well as many of his brothers, many of whom lived much of Today marks 70 years since nearly one million Pales- their lives in Israeli prisons before being displaced to tinians were ethnically cleansed and the state of Israel Jordan. With the blood of our ancestors in our veins, we will never forget and we will never stop fighting. was established, what Israelis call "Independence From New Orleans to Gaza, thawra hatta alnasr, Day." This created the largest long-standing refugee population in the world. My family was displaced in revolution until victory.

October 1948, six months after most Palestinians were displaced on May 15. We are from the village Bayt Jubreen meaning "house of the powerful" in Arabic.

Our village was bombed by the Israeli military, and many were killed when they tried to return. My family was displaced to three separate refugee camps, once to Azzeh camp and a second time to Dheisheh camp inside of Palestine, and the third and final time to al-Wihdat camp in Jordan where my family has remained since 1967.

My grandmother's brother went to Gaza where a third of our family still lives, some of my cousins there of whom were killed during the 2014 massacre in Shuja'iyya. My father, one of eighteen, was the only person in our family to leave the camp. He left behind my grandmother Sitti Fatima, and my grandfather Hussein, who are older than the state of Israel itself and survived countless massacres and displacement.

My family lives in deep poverty, facing serious untreated mental and physical illnesses. My grandparents died there ten years ago. My grandfather was a Photo Provided by Amira Fatima

Amira Fatima

key, his first ever business partner.

He'd take the donkey from one Palestinian village to In June 1947, my grandpa Abu Adel secured a build- another, traveling along unmarked roads in and around Haifa from sunrise to sunset. The people of ing permit from the Government of Palestine for a home in Balad al-Shaykh, a village on the outskirts of those villages came to know my grandfather as bayya' al-ful, the ful seller. Abu Adel sold ful and hummus Haifa. For years, he'd been selling ful medammes (favabean stew) and hummus from the back of a don- this way until he saved up enough money to open his own ful shop, pictured above in 1945, and to buy land upon which to make a home for his growing family.

His shop became so popular that he would later be referred to as Malek al-ful, the King of Ful.

Zahra Hankir

Less than a year after securing that building permit, in April 1948, Abu Adel was expelled from his home during the Battle of Haifa, and was forced to join the Palestinian Exodus, which saw him flee to Sidon, Lebanon along with my grandmother and my aunts and uncles. They were the lucky ones. This document is just one of 100s of thousands that remind us of lost homes and lost livelihoods. This is just one of millions of stories of forced exile. Those that remained and their children and grandchildren continue to suffer.

Photo Provided by Zahra Hankir 21

#MyNakbaStory (Continued) Yousef Munayyer

Executive Director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights The young man on the left is my Sido (grandfather).

This is from the late 1920s to early 1930s. My great grandmother is seated in the foreground with her three sons behind her. They are from al-Lyd. My great grandfather is not pictured because he died at a young age when my Sido was a toddler.

This meant my great grandmother had a be a hero and raise three boys on her own, uneducated and illiterate, she worked what jobs she could to raise them. It also meant that my Sido’s opportunities were limited as he needed to work at a very early age and left school after the 4th grade.

But then the Nakba happened and tragedy would strike again. From 1947-1949 the vast majority of the native inhabitants of Palestine were expelled and denied reentry by Zionist militias and then the new state of Israel. Al-Lyd and Ramle were in the crosshairs and in the summer of 1948, 70 years ago, the orders were given for the Israeli troops to “drive out” the inhabitants of both towns.

Al-Lyd was besieged for several days and massacres took place before it fell. Seeing what happened in neighboring al-Lyd, the residents of Ramle left under the threat of a similar fate. My Sido and Teta and their young children were among the tens of thousands forced from these towns.

For many, especially in al-Lyd, the coming days meant a death march in the striking summer heat with little more than what they could carry.

Many people, particularly children, died during the death march toward Jordanian lines. From Ramle many were evacuated Photo Provided by Yousef Munayyer from depots where cars or wagons would pick them up and take them to the Jordanian lines but something happened to my Sido and Teta when they got there. They were told they were no longer taking refugees!

They were stuck. Unable to go back to their home and unable to make it to the Jordanian line, they became IDPs (internally displaced persons). By the time the dust settled, my Sido’s home, that he spent his life struggling to buy, was taken over by Jewish settlers.

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From Catastrophes to Sprouts Huda Abukwaik

Nakba. Four letters in Arabic. Only two syllables. So light on the tongue, yet so, so heavy on the heart.

May 15, 1948 is known internationally as the independence day of Israel, the birthday for the nation of Israel. When people commemorate this day, the events leading up to this day (and especially the ones following it) are forgotten.

Nakba is the day to honor those who suffered from this declaration of independence. It is a day to remember the 750,000 Palestinians who were forced to flee their homes and leave behind everything they owned and loved. This day is an acknowledgement of the suffering of the Palestinians under the Zionist movement since 1948.

Millions, if not billions, of people were forced to undergo drastic life changes. Homes, lands, and lives were lost as the Zionists pushed forward with the creation of the Israeli state, doing whatever they could to rid the land of all traces of the Palestinians. The catastrophe of 1948 affected every single person living in Palestine at the time as well as those in the surrounding countries. The displaced Palestinians were forced to seek refuge in bordering countries like Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. Others dispersed to different parts of Palestine, escaping to the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

pathized with the Zionists, either because they did not know any better, or because they just chose not to.

The state of Israel continues to shed the blood of all Palestinians: the old, the young, the women, the men, the resistors, and those who simply just want to live.

As this catastrophe carries on, a stark difference between 1948 and 2018 is evident. Those people who were kept in the dark, people who did not understand the immensity of this problem, are learning.

Every day, more and more people are becoming educated on this issue, learning the truth the Zionists worked hard to conceal. The Palestinian issue is gaining momentum. From the words of poet Dinos Christianopoulos, “they tried to bury us, but what they did not know was that we were seeds.” This is the situation of the Palestinians. Try as they may, the Zionists can no longer keep the truth hidden because it has become too large to hide.

“They tried to bury us, but what they did not know was that we were seeds.”

This fact should be taken advantage of. The harder it becomes to hide this truth, this atrocity, the stronger we need to be. As a Muslim, I believe that it is our job to unite as one Ummah, to be like one body, as Prophet Muhammad SAW described his people in a hadith, and feel the pain of our brothers and sisters all over the world, including Palestine. We need to be these seeds that start small but grow quick. We need The goal behind the Zionists’ actions was clear: ethnic to renew our faith in God and put our full trust in his cleansing. Any resistance from the Palestinians was ability to free Palestine. met with demise, and any action to defend their Nakba. A four letter word. Get rid of the second lethomes and their beloved was a death sentence. All ter, the “kaf”, the “k”, and you get “nabata”, the Araexcuses were made in attempt to justify the apartheid bic verb for “sprout”. So if we allow it, this word of that started in 1948 and still leaves thousands, if not evil, this word of catastrophe, this word of death, can millions, of Palestinians scarred today. And for a simply be turned to a word of goodness, a word of while, people accepted the justifications. People symrenewal, a word of life.

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Where Hanoon Get Their Rain Marah Siyam I feel like I'm not ready to go back, the last time I went I gained emotions I never had before, ones that made me feel strong, feel powerful, feel important. I learned to use all of those to find a way to fix things within me and around me. Even though I was doing a good job at this I find myself waking up every hour at night to think about how cruel this earth is. My body is not I can't believe I'm going back, it’s only for three days, a temple, it's more like those toys that dangle at the but it's worth it. I have never seen the Balad in the bottom of big semi trucks. But still, I remember the springtime, I have never seen the clouds forming and mountains and sitting with friends I see once a year grazing the mountains just to move away to let the but are always in my heart, and I breathe. I breathe sun peak through on the Hanoon that need a little out the crippling stress I tell no one about, and I more sunlight than the rest. I have never seen the breathe in time, time to get myself back on a good snails sitting in groups as if you can hear them conpath and time to heal, to heal the wounds of my famversing when you tilt your head ily, the wounds I know nothing down, as if it's a family gatherabout in Gaza, the wounds I create ing. I know I only have three inside of myself. All these things I days to adjust my thought procbring in my carry on ready to uness from self centered American pack once I get there, but will I even to look up at the stars and think recognize the land. Does the rule, about when they will align, but I ‘don't drink rainwater’ still apply can do it. Three days it’s not there? long but I'm very grateful for anytime to be there.

“Why aren't they in position? I understand there's a lot of tire smoke in them, but still, I need “The last time she came I showed her a lot of the things that them in position. If they aren't how is she going to see the her parents tried to keep from her. They want her to know rain? How is she going to feel the rain if she can't even about them, but they don't want her to see them. They reach it? We are so underprepared, we have sent most of know how traumatic these things are, but the same way I the clouds to Gaza to help in shielding the young men and showed them I needed to show her. Last time, it was a hard women there from snipers, but do we not have enough here trip for her, I saw that and I comforted her when she came to show this girl just a little bit of rain. She's going to be so to my mountains, but I couldn't hold her for long because disappointed, I mean the mountains are still in order, but I she had to go back and do something. No one cares about wanted to show her rain during the spring time with a dash my details until I force them to. This trip I don’t want her of wind, a cold breeze she is unfamiliar with. A kind of good to heal from the experiences I gave her, -she has to keep cold.” those forever to stay alive. I need her to heal from the overall hurt of the rest of the earth. I know the earth where she The first thing I did when I woke up was go to the sleeps doesn't care about her, as many times as you try to mountains, I walked and walked trying to be cautious plant Hanoon anywhere but inside me it does not grow. of my steps until I stopped and looked up. My feet She can't be the person I want to mold her into anywhere were adjusting to walking on the mountains rather else but here, and it's these small trips that I use as an op- than walking on concrete. My thoughts were shifting portunity to remind her that rocks hurt more if they are from myself to the earth to the silence. I had been thrown at you than if you fall on them, and that rain is acid walking for the past 15 minutes, but I wasn't aware of because the people make it so. The clouds are always pure. I anything until right now, when I saw a train of small have nothing to worry about, I am a land that God has a fluffy clouds, so fluffy they were childlike. The clouds good view of, but still I want these days for her to be good. were moving quickly and I felt like I was in some Nothing works unless you do it yourself, I guess.” simulation of things coming together in perfect ways, “Are all the Hanoons in place? Did you get the clouds to take their positions? This is going to be a disaster! She's going to be here in, what, three days? Three days! And none of you are ready! Do you people not understand how important this is, she has never seen us in the spring it's our time to shine?!”

“I can't believe I'm going back, it’s only for three days, but it's worth it.”

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like puzzle pieces finding their pairs. It was a moment that made me stand up straight. The clouds rolled even farther, but they began to rain. The raindrops hit the Hanoon first, then the grass, then my hands. I felt like the rain was purposely avoiding my face to keep my line of vision clear, only hitting the spots of my body that I was not aware of. I sat and thought about everything I effect. My presence in this world and if I liked it and if it was important. I didn't which made me stress but finally, a raindrop hit my forehead. It was a big enough raindrop to stream down my face almost like it was a hand brushing on someone's cheek. I didn't know whether the next stream of water on my face was a raindrop or a tear.

land using her hands and heart. She doesn't expect anything from me, and even though I expect things from her, I always forgive her in the end.�

I never come back expecting anything, but I always leave with a new part of myself. I feel like I was born an outline of Hanoon, and every time I come back the earth paints in a new red leaf teaching me something about myself with every brush stroke and pigment.

“Nothing was going right, the clouds were angry they wanted to go to Gaza. They didn't understand why they were there for this one girl who didn’t even live there.

But I know this girl, and she has potential, potential to make some change either in the world or a big enough one within herself to cause a ripple effect in other people.

I wanted this to be perfect, I worried she was not connecting, but when she looked up, I saw her eyes.

They weren't filled with curiosity, which is what people usually have when they look up like that to the sky, they were filled with contentment. Contentment is something not many people have, some think they have it, but it's just suppressing sadness. She was content, and that's all I could have asked for. I always work so hard when she comes back, but I always fail to remember that I need to prepare nothing for her. She navigates herself on this

Photo taken by Helda Eltemawi 27

A Conversation on the Palestinian Cause With Haneen Zoabi Aseel Washah and Reem Farhat Haneen Zoabi is a Palestinian politician, who cur-

rently serves as a member of the Knesset. The Knesset is the single bodies legislative branch of the Israeli government, and Zoabi is one of 120 members. She represents the Balad Party, which advocates for the equality and rights of Israel’s Arab citizens.

But Zoabi did not always set out to be a politician. Since she was a young child living within historical Palestine, Zoabi always questioned what is means to be Palestinian. She found herself wondering, “What is the meaning of Palestine? What is the connection between me and Palestine? Why don't I read about the word Palestine in the history books?

Where is it?” She tells us she “started to ask questions and from that [she] started to ask about the importance of influencing my society, of influencing public opinion.” From this line of reasoning, Zoabi set out to become a journalist to shape public opinion. She majored in journalism in the University of Haifa and later her received master’s from Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

During her time in University, Zoabi was politically active: joining various demonstrations, keeping up with the news, and reading about Palestine and Palestinian history. Zoabi joined the Balad Party in 2001, and three years later she was elected into political office within her party. In 2009, she ran for the internal election in the Knesset.

For Zoabi, being a politician was another ends to a means. She set out to be a journalist to influence public opinion, and through being a politician, she gained a platform to do that. Her political outlet began with journalism. This was a way for Zoabi to express her values and the struggle for justice for the Palestinians.

However, as one can imagine, being a Knesset member as an outspoken Palestinian woman is not easy. In 2016, the Knesset approved a law that would allow 90 MK’s, or Knesset members, to expel a fellow member. This law has been dubbed the Zoabi law,

and is one of many examples of the struggles Zoabi and her party members face as members of the Knesset. The law targets members of the Knesset who disagree or are disliked by fellow members, working as an attempt to silence them from speaking up. Of the law, Zoabi says “According to the election law from 1985, they cannot prevent us from running, so it took them until 2016 to create a new law which may restrict the results of the original election law in 1985, and through this law they may not accept us.”

Zoabi, like many self-identifying Palestinians living within historical Palestine, was aware that this was not normal politics. The situation is unique. She mentions how “it is not business as usual.” This is part of the struggle. You are part of the government that does not support you in any way.

Zoabi also spoke on the effect the election of Donald Trump has had on intra-Israeli politics. She said, “It affects the ease of which Israel continues with its policies of confiscation, of persecution, of putting children under detainment. So it is more easy for Israel to go on, for example, with its policy of the judification of Jerusalem, for example. With Obama, although the US never changed its position as a strategic ally with Israel, and adopting interests of Israel, at least with Obama and the Democrats before, they would not allow Israel to expand settlements. At least they would say, settlements are an obstacle for peace.

But now, settlements cease to be an obstacle for peace, so Trump gave Netanyahu the green light to do anything he wants.”

In discussing what can be done as PalestinianAmericans to counter this, Zoabi emphasized the importance of the language that we use to frame our narrative. She specifically states that Palestinian Americans should work to use the language of democracy against Israel. If Israel is to claim to be a democratic state, how is that being implemented. To question the foundations of Israel and its claim to democracy is to question its legitimacy.

According to Zoabi, “The strongest claim of

“This is part of the struggle. You are part of the government that does not support you in any way.”

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Israel is it’s democracy. They are sensitive about their image, they aren't afraid to shoot Palestinians in Gaza because their reasoning is that they are defending themselves. Israel cannot defend themselves when you mention their laws.

Their laws are very racist, they are apartheid, oppressive, humiliating, and embarrassing. The laws are recent, 95 laws since 1948. Fight them with the laws they have, because they cannot explain themselves.

You are targeting the center of legitimacy, the democracy. You cannot shake this claim of democracy by talking about their crimes but you can shake them by talking by their good side, the white side. It is so important to talk about how Israel has no constitution, all the laws toward the Palestinians are racist laws and then you will take the Israeli propaganda the most important claim that it is a democratic state.”

Among laws mentioned by Zoabi are the Anti-Nakba Law, which criminalizes mentions of the Nakba, a community outlook law, which allows Israeli towns to keep non-Jews out of their neighborhoods, and laws that forces Israeli citizens married to Palestinians to either forfeit their citizenship or live

apart from their spouse. These Israeli laws are clearly discriminatory, and are evidence of Israel being an apartheid state.

We later ask Zoabi for advice on uniting our people and ensuring that we are working together as effectively as possible.

Zoabi advises that the first step is to have candid and open discussions.

She mentions that these discussions are already taking place in Ramallah and abroad, and the important thing is “To sit together, to really open the discussion within the Palestinian people.”

Despite this, she emphasizes that in the ways that matter, we are united.

According to Zoabi, “In the most important meaning, we are not fragmented, in the sense that all the Palestinians are talking about Photo taken by Rania Mustafa the Palestinian cause. And this is a huge success. Do not underestimate the failure of the Zionist project to divide the Palestinian people and tame them within the Jewish state and delete the issue of the refugees and to minimize the Palestinian cause.”

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Reunion With a Thread of Identity Eman Zidat I cannot reveal my true self, for I myself do not own it.

I am abandoned in my diaspora of thoughts To reconcile with a sense of bliss A bliss that denied me, and a bliss which I myself had Own it, they say. Embrace your identify! denied Little do they know, The room in which I resided was modest, Almost too modest for my dreams That the room is in my dream Almost too modest for the bliss I had yet to encounter My mind is shattered, between what I thought I had, and what I know I do The room preserves unfinished portraits of memories: My emotions jungle, between an immigrant, and a Cuts of fabric concealed by half-done fallahi tatreez homeless patterns A homeless, as the home that was once mine is now A dress under a dead sewing activity his, hers, theirs Bundles of written and unwritten paper “Revolution, Liberation, A lost home” The home I read about is lost The presence of its absence is dreary Around the murky room, lay the owner’s keffiyeh It is tiring It smelled like the Iris of Faqoua It is tiring to wait for an unknown The Iris I was fortunate to meet in my night dreams It is tiring to see my homeland from the other side of the sea I grasp an object, a paper, something that is waiting for me A homeland I am denied of entering I pick up the fabric to stitch the lonely slots A homeland I had never lived in; yet, it resides in me But I stop, Yet, I am here to reconcile with a sense bliss That I thought would own me.

How do I pick them up, I ask?

How does bliss, and a lost homeland sit together in a How do I unravel threads of identity, without reveal- sentence? ing my own?

They ask, what’s stopping you, from revealing your But then, in my solitude I am left, to gather shattered own? pieces Pieces of a home that does not appear in a map But how can they comprehend But settles relentlessly in my heart.

That one cannot reveal what they do not own Dear Palestine.

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Catastrophe Reeham Farhat My eyes weep tears of sorrow as I watch every village that held so much life slowly fade away Into nothing but displaced memories This place called home was once lively Every branch of the delighted olive trees danced to the hymn of fair, innocent doves Every house filled the air with a pleasant smell of tea, slowly brewing Every night was a quiet, peaceful one filled with the mellow snores of civilians Every mother secured her child’s innocence through an endless amount of toy trucks and friends to spend their hours laughing outside with It was your average sanctuary, protecting every being on this beautiful piece of land.

Now, it is demolished, every bomb could be heard, miles away Every branch hangs low, holding rotten olives that were once ripe Every house lays empty with the smell of gas and fumes Every night was filled with an unpleasant silence, civilians kept awake at night with weary eyes, fighting the urge to close them in order to protect their homes Every mother’s heart was filled with rage and shame for the thought of not being able to protect their child’s innocence It is no longer your average sanctuary, it is a war zone

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‫اﻹنسان‪ ،‬وهي وليدة حاجته إلى وقاية نفسه من العوامل‬ ‫الجوية‪ ،‬وقد حرص على أن تكون‪ ،‬إلى جانب نفعها‪ ،‬أثراً‬ ‫فنيا ً يشعر بالجمال‪.‬‬ ‫عرف النسيج في فلسطين منذ أيام الكنعانيين‪ ،‬وأخذ‬ ‫الفينيقيون عنهم سر صباغة اﻷقمشة‪.‬‬ ‫والمرحلة اﻷولى في صناعة النسيج هي تحضير المادة‬ ‫اﻷولية‪ ،‬وتكون إما من وبر الجمال أو صوف الخراف أو‬ ‫شعر المعزى‪ .‬فبعد جز هذه المواد تتولى النساء وكهول‬ ‫القرية غزلها بالمغازل البدائية‪ ،‬ثم تنسج النساء منها‬ ‫باﻷنوال أشياء كثيرة‪ ،‬منها سروج الخيل‪ ،‬وبيوت الشعر‪،‬‬ ‫والبسط‪ ،‬والعباءات‪ ،‬والسجاجيد‪ ،‬وأراجيح اﻷطفال‪،‬‬ ‫وغيرها‪.‬‬ ‫وهناك أنوال لنسج اﻷقمشة القطنية والحريرية‪،‬‬ ‫كالكرمسوت‪ ،‬وهو خليط من القطن والحرير المموج‪ .‬ثم‬ ‫القطن المعروف بالحضاري المبرسم‪ ،‬وهو مقلم فيه زهور حريرية حمراء‪ .‬وهناك الهرمز‪ ،‬وهو حرير ناعم مهفوف يأتي بعرض ضيق‪ ،‬والتوبيت‪ ،‬وهو من‬ ‫القطن اﻷسود يلمع على أحد جانبيه‪ ،‬والروزا‪ ،‬وهي حرير بيج ﻻمع متقن الصنع وغالي الثمن‪.‬‬ ‫أما اﻷغباني المطرز باﻷحمر واﻷسود فقد اشتهرت بصنعه المجدل‪ .‬وتعد المجدل من أهم مراكز هذه الصناعة‪ ،‬وكان فيها أواخر القرن الماضي خمسمائة آلة‬ ‫نسيج أصبحت في عام ‪ 1948‬ثمانمائة آلة‪ .‬كذلك اشتهرت الناصرة بصناعة النسيج‪ ،‬وكان لديها في أواخر القرن الماضي ‪ 300‬آلة‪.‬‬ ‫ويظهر أن عدة مدن فلسطينية اهتمت بهذه الصناعة‪ ،‬منها صفد‪ ،‬وبيت جاﻻ‪ ،‬ومجدل الكروم‪ ،‬ونابلس‪ ،‬وأبو ديس‪ ،‬والخليل وخان يونس‪ .‬ولعل أقدم بلد عرف‬ ‫النسيج كان غزة‪ .‬وقد جاء في كتاب ”تاريخ غزة“ لعارف العارف أنه ﻻ يعرف أحد بالضبط متى وكيف انتقلت هذه الصناعة إلى غزة‪ .‬وأما اﻻعتقاد فسائد‬ ‫بأنها أتت إليها عن طريق الهند ومصر‪ ،‬ﻻ عن طريق الشام‪ .‬ويبدو أن صناعة النسيج كانت منتعشة في غزة كثيراً‪ ،‬فقد عثر في أحد المصادر اﻷجنبية على‬ ‫كلمة‬ ‫‪Gauze‬‬ ‫الدالة على نوع من الخمار أو الشاش الشفاف يوضع على الوجه‪ ،‬ويعتقد أن اﻻسم مأخوذ من غزة خﻼل القرن السادس عشر‪ .‬وهناك ذكر لنوع من القماش‬ ‫مصنوع من الحرير أو الكتان عرفه اﻷوروبيون باسم‬ ‫‪Gazzaune‬‬ ‫ومقره مدينة غزة‪.‬‬ ‫وتأسست في غزة عدة مصانع للنسيج‪ ،‬إﻻ أنها اعتمدت على اﻷنوال التي تدار باليد‪ .‬وأعظم هذه المصانع ”شركة النسيج العربية“ التي تأسست عام ‪.1942‬‬ ‫وتقوم صناعتا الزركشة وشغل ”التنتنة والدنتﻼ “ في رام ﷲ وبيت لحم‪ .‬أما صباغ النسيج فكان يتم إما بصبغ الخيط قبل حياكته‪ ،‬وإما بصبغ النسيج كله بعد‬ ‫اﻻنتهاء من الحياكة‪ .‬ويستخرج الصبغ غالبا ً من النبات‪ ،‬وبالتحديد من شجرة النيلة‪.‬‬ ‫ويظهر أن إنتاج صناعة النسيج لم يكن يكفي أهل فلسطين‪ ،‬فكانوا يستوردون القطن من مصر‪ ،‬والحرير من سورية وغيرها من بﻼد الشرق‪ ،‬أو من المدن‬ ‫اﻷوروبية‪.‬‬ ‫‪ (9‬هناك حرف أخرى ذات رموز دينية‪ ،‬تحمل في الوقت ذاته معالم من الطبيعة في فلسطين‪ ،‬كبطاقات التهنئة باﻷعياد التي تلصق حول النصوص المكتوبة‬ ‫عليها أشكال جميلة من اﻷزهار المجففة كالشقيق المعروف ”يقدسان“ ‪ ،‬ولسان العصفور‪ ،‬والسمكة‪ ،‬وفرن الغزل‪ ،‬والبصطراف‪ ،‬واللعلع‪ ،‬وعرف الديك‪،‬‬ ‫والبنفسج‪ ،‬والبنسيه‪ ،‬والقرنفل‪ ،‬والختمية )عين البقرة(‪ ،‬وكلها ذات ألوان ثابتة‪.‬‬ ‫‪ (10‬تطريز البيض‪ :‬وهي من الصناعات القديمة التي اشتهرت في القدس‪ ،‬فتراهم يثقبون البيضة بإبرة دقيقة ﻻستخراج بياضها وصفارها‪ .‬وبعد اﻻنتهاء من‬ ‫تنظيفها يطرزون عليها باﻹبرة العادية رسوما ً وتعاريج وزهورا ً تبهج النظر‪ ،‬وتوضع المطرزات عادة في أقفاص جميلة مصنوعة من النحل المجدول‪.‬‬ ‫ومن النساء من يطعمن البيض المصنوع من الشمع بالخرز اﻷزرق بعد أن يلصقن عليه صورة دينية غالبا ً ما تمثل ”صعود المسيح“‪ .‬كما أن كثيرا ً من‬ ‫اﻷيقونات القديمة تزخرف بالخرز‪ .‬وتبرع المرأة الفلسطينية المدنية بشغل اﻹبرة والمكوك والصنارة والنول‬

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‫ثم ينظم في أسﻼك من فضة أو معدن أو ذهب ويعرض للبيع‪.‬‬ ‫تتم أغلب صناعة الصدف باليد‪ ،‬فالحب يثقب ويسرد وينظم باليد‪ .‬وفي حال اﻻضطرار إلى استعمال آلة للبرد‪ ،‬مثﻼً‪ ،‬فإنها تكون بسيطة الشكل بدائية التركيب‪.‬‬ ‫ولتعلق الصناع بتلك اﻷدوات البسيطة ورفضهم اللجوء إلى آﻻت حديثة ما يبرره فاﻵﻻت الحديثة تعجز عن إنجاز الزخرفة التي يبرعون بإتقانها بأيديهم‪.‬‬ ‫يحرص أهل بيت لحم أﻻ تقع صناعتهم في أيدي غيرهم‪ ،‬ولكن الهجرة التلحمية إلى بﻼد المهجر قللت من عدد المشتغلين بهذه الحرفة‪ ،‬ولذا التجأ أهل البلدة إلى‬ ‫إخوانهم أهل بيت جاﻻ وبيت ساحور‪ ،‬ودربوا بعضهم في صناعاتهم لسد حاجة البﻼد اﻷجنبية الكبيرة إلى هذا النوع من اﻹنتاج‪.‬‬ ‫وﻻ تقتصر صناعة الصدف على صنع المسابح والصلبان وما شاكلها‪ ،‬بل تشمل النقش والحفر والنحت والترصيع ﻷنواع الحلي المختلفة‪ .‬ويعنى محترفو هذه‬ ‫الصناعة بترصيع غﻼفات الكتب وغيرها بالصدف‪.‬‬ ‫كان معظم منتجات هذه الصناعة يباع في اﻷديرة الفلسطينية أوﻻً‪ ،‬ثم في أوروبا وأمريكا‪ .‬وقد تمت صناعة الصدف وأصبحت هامة‪ ،‬وتجاوزت قيمة اﻷصناف‬ ‫الصدفية المصدرة من بيت لحم إلى الخارج مبلغ مئة ألف جنيه استرليني سنويا ً في أواخر القرن المنصرم‪.‬‬ ‫شجع تقدم هذه الصناعة ورواج منتجاتها الكثير من التلحميين على السفر لعرض منتوجاتهم في المعارض الدولية التي كانت تقام في ذلك الزمان في مختلف‬ ‫أنحاء العالم فنالوا من منظميها اﻷوسمة والشهادات‪ ،‬إعجابا ً بدقة الصناعة‪ ،‬وإكباراً للفن التلحمي‪.‬‬ ‫‪ (5‬الخزف‪ :‬يصنع بطريقة بسيطة باﻵلة التي تدار باﻷرجل‪ ،‬ثم تنقش الزخرفة باليد وتخبز القوالب في فرن الحطب‪ .‬وقد ساعد العثمانيون على ازدهار هذه‬ ‫الحرفة ببنائهم مصنعا ً للخزف كان الغرض منه المساعدة في ترميم المسجد اﻷقصى حينذاك‪ .‬وقد واصل العمال الفلسطينيون العمل في هذا المصنع بعد انقضاء‬ ‫الحكم العثماني‪ ،‬وكان إنتاجهم متأثرا ً بالطابع التركي إلى جانب طابع الصناعة العربية اﻷموية التي تتمثل بوضوح في خزف قصر هشام في أريحا )خربة‬ ‫المفجر(‪.‬‬ ‫‪ (6‬الفخار‪ :‬صناعة الفخار قديمة العهد جداً‪ .‬وقد عثر المنقبون على آثار الفخار في غزة وما حولها من البﻼد والمدن‪ .‬وذكر نابليون بونابرت فخار غزة في‬ ‫مذكراته‪ .‬ويقال عنه إنه ظن المزاريب المصنوعة من الفخار مدافع صغيرة نصبت على السطوح لمكافحة جيشه الذي احتل غزة يومئذ‪ .‬وﻻ يزال الفخار‬ ‫يستعمل في صنع كثير من اﻷواني المنزلية بغزة‪.‬‬ ‫يصنع الفخار بدوﻻب الخزاف‪ ،‬ثم يشوى في أتون قليل الغور تحته موقد نار وكثيرا ً ما يقوم بهذا العمل اﻷخير النساء واﻷوﻻد‪.‬‬ ‫إن طين غزة صالح لصنع الفخار ﻷن فيه قليﻼً من الحديد وهو متين ويستعمل لمدة طويلة بالرغم من خشونته‪ .‬وكانت غزة تصدر كميات كبيرة من فخارها إلى‬ ‫جميع مدن فلسطين واﻷردن وحوران‪.‬‬ ‫ويصنع الفخار في كثير من القرى بطريقة بدائية‪ ،‬حتى بدون دوﻻب الخزاف‪ .‬وتبرع المرأة الفلسطينية في صنعه‪ ،‬فهي تحضر العجينة التي يستحسن أن تكون‬ ‫لزجة‪ ،‬فتعمل حفرة باليد في وسطها ثم توسع هذه الحفرة بإضافة قطع متعددة بدون استعمال الدوﻻب‪ ،‬حتى تصل إلى الشكل المطلوب‪ .‬فإذا أرادت أن تصنع‬ ‫زيرا ً كبيرا ً لجمع الماء صنعته خارج المنزل‪ .‬وعند اﻻنتهاء من صنعه يحاط بالقش وروث البقر و تضرم فيه النار‪ ،‬وعند إنطفائها يكون الزير قد تم شيه‪.‬‬ ‫ويتوقف لون الفخار على مدة الشي‪ ،‬فهناك اﻷحمر والبيج‪ .‬أما فخار غزة ومنطقة النبي موسى فيمتاز باللون اﻷسود‪.‬‬ ‫وأما الجرار المخصصة لحفظ الزيت فتطلى من الداخل بمادة لماعة تساعد على عدم رشح الزيت من الجرار‪.‬‬ ‫ويبرز دور القروي كفنان خﻼق عند زخرفته مصنوعاته‬ ‫الفخارية قبل أن تخبز‪ ،‬فيحفر عليها باصبعه أو بظفره أو‬ ‫بعود قصب رفيع خطوطا ً وأشكاﻻً هندسية بسيطة قد ﻻ‬ ‫توحي بشيء معين‪ ،‬ولكنها صورة ﻻنطباعاته‬ ‫وأحاسيسه‪ ،‬وأحيانا ً تظهر وحدات نباتية يختار لها اﻷلوان‬ ‫التي تعجبه‪.‬‬ ‫‪ (7‬الحرف المعدنية‪ :‬ومنها الفضية والنحاسية والذهبية‪.‬‬ ‫اﻻدوات واﻵنية النحاسية بأشكالها المختلفة ساهم في‬ ‫صنعها وزخرفتها مهاجرو اﻷرمن والمحترفون من يافا‪،‬‬ ‫والقدس‪ ،‬ونابلس‪ ،‬والناصرة وعكا‪ .‬كذلك صنع‬ ‫المحترفون جميع أدوات الزراعة والحراثة‪ .‬وكانوا يبدون‬ ‫اهتماما ً كبيراً بالخنجر )الشبرية( فيطعمونه بالحجارة‬ ‫الكريمة والعاج‪ .‬وكانوا يصنعونه من الفضة أو من‬ ‫الذهب أحيانا ً‪.‬‬ ‫‪ (8‬صناعة النسيج‪ :‬من أقدم الصناعات التي نشأت مع‬ ‫‪35‬‬

‫وكانت هذه الصناعة في الخليل واسعة الرواج تصدر مصنوعاتها إلى‬ ‫أسواق سورية ومصر وتركيا والحجاز ورومانيا‪ .‬وﻻ تزال في رومانيا‬ ‫تسير صناعة الزجاج على منوال الصناعة في الخليل‪ .‬وفي مصر تصنع‬ ‫القناديل الﻼزمة للجوامع والكنائس واﻷديرة على شاكلة الزجاج الخليلي‪.‬‬ ‫وتباهت مدينة الخليل حينا ً من الزمن بسبعة مصانع للزجاج درت عليها‬ ‫أرباحا ً طائلة ورفعت إسمها في ميدان هذه الصناعة‪ .‬ولكن مما يؤسف له‬ ‫أنه لم يبق من هذه المصانع سوى واحد‪.‬‬ ‫يستعمل في صناعة الزجاج مواد خام متوفرة بكثرة في الخليل وضواحيها‪،‬‬ ‫فيؤتى بالرمل من مكان ﻻ يبتعد كثيرا ً عن الخليل‪ ،‬ويستخرج القلي من‬ ‫نبات يكثر في تلك الجهات )نبات الحمض(‪.‬‬ ‫يحرق هذا النبات فيتصاعد منه لهب أزرق يدل على وفرة الهيدروجين‬ ‫فيه‪ ،‬ويتحول إلى كتل كثيفة جامدة تشبه أكسيد الحديد أو النحاس وتدعى‬ ‫”القلي“‪ .‬تكسر هذه الكتل إلى قطع صغيرة وتغلى في الماء في قدر كبير‬ ‫فيعلو المركب رغوة كثيفة تؤخذ بمغارف نحاسية وتبسط على البﻼط لتبرد‬ ‫وتجف‪ .‬ومتى جفت تبلورت وتحولت إلى أمﻼح تشبه نترات الصودا‪.‬‬ ‫وفي المرحلة الثانية تخلط اﻷمﻼح اﻵنفة الذكر بالرمل بنسبة ‪ 3‬إلى ‪،2‬‬ ‫ويحمص المزيج في مقلى كبير من النحاس تبلغ مساحة قاعدته ستة أمتار‬ ‫مربعة فتتحد ذرات القلي والرمل بالحرارة‪ ،‬ثم ينقل المركب الناتج عنهما‬ ‫إلى أتون كبير لصهره‪ ،‬وبعد مرور مدة ﻻ تقل عن عشرين يوما ً تكون‬ ‫الحرارة خﻼلها على أشدها بصورة دائمة يتحول المزيج إلى مادة لزجة‬ ‫تعرف بالزجاج المصهور‪ .‬يترك اﻷتون بعد ذلك ليبرد‪ ،‬وعندها يتشقق‬ ‫المركب من تأثير الرطوبة التي يمتصها الهواء‪ .‬وزنة الزجاج المصهور‬ ‫من أربعة إلى سبعة أطنان في المرة الواحدة‪.‬‬ ‫ولما لم يكن لدى صانعي الزجاج آﻻت حديثة أو قوالب خاصة‪ ،‬فقد كانت‬ ‫عملية صنع الزجاج تحتاج إلى مهارة وجلد‪ ،‬إذ تؤخذ كتل صغيرة من‬ ‫قطعة الزجاج الكبيرة وتصهر في فرن خاص مصنوع من الطين وتحول إلى خرز أو صحون أو غيرها‪.‬‬ ‫ويلون الزجاج بمزجه بكميات من أكسيد النحاس والرصاص وحجر المغنيسيوم الموجود بكثرة في تلك اﻷنحاء تضاف إليه نسب أصبحت معروفة باﻻختبار‬ ‫عند صانعيه‪.‬‬ ‫وقد عزف أهل الخليل عن هذه الطريقة في صنع الزجاج منذ قرابة أربعين سنة لطول المدة التي تتطلبها‪ ،‬ولقلة الحطب الموجود في تلك الجهات‪ ،‬و استعيض‬ ‫عنها وعن المواد اﻷولية بزجاج مكسر يجمع من المدن الكبيرة‪.‬‬ ‫إن أقدم حي في الخليل يعرف بحي القزازين نسبة إلى هذه الصناعة‪ .‬ومما يجدر ذكره أن هذه الصناعة ازدهرت في القرن التاسع عشر وعرضت مصنوعات‬ ‫الخليل في معارض أوروبية أهمها معرض بودابست وفيينا وباريس‪ ،‬ونال العارضون ميداليات وشهادات وجوائز ﻻ تزال محفوظة اﻵن لدى أرباب الصناعة‪.‬‬ ‫‪ (4‬صناعة الصدف‪ :‬تشتهر كل مدينة بشخصياتها الشعبية البارزة في الميادين اﻻجتماعية واﻷدبية والصناعية‪ ،‬وفي بيت لحم تقدمت حرفة صناعة الصدف‬ ‫حتى شملت الكبير والصغير والرجال والنساء‪ ،‬وبلغت من الشهرة درجة رغبت الملوك والقواد في امتﻼك شيء من نتاجها‪ .‬فعندما جاء إبراهيم باشا إلى‬ ‫سورية أخذ من أهل هذه البلدة ومن بيت جاﻻ أيضا ً عددا ً من أصحاب الحرف والمهن الحاذقين بقصد إنشاء تلك الحرف في القطر المصري‪ .‬وكذلك دعا منليك‪،‬‬ ‫نجاشي الحبشة السابق‪ ،‬أبرع الحفارين والنحاتين والبنائين من أهل بيت لحم لتشييد قصر جديد له في بﻼده وقد بلغت الدقة والمهارة في صناعة الصدف عند‬ ‫أبناء بيت لحم أنهم صنعوا صورة لجامع عمر المشهور من الصدف‪ ،‬ومثلوه في كل أجزائه من أعمدة ونوافذ ونقوش وغير ذلك‪ ،‬وقدموه للسلطان عبد الحميد‬ ‫فاستحسنه كثيرا ً‪ .‬ويقول يعقوب حنضل في كتاب ”فلسطين وتجديد حياتها“ عن هذه الحرفة انها قيدت أثناء الحكم التركي‪ ،‬وهناك شواهد كثيرة على ذلك مثﻼً‪:‬‬ ‫كان بعض سكان بيت لحم يصنعون البنادق المزخرفة الدقيقة التركيب‪ ،‬فلما أحست بهم الحكومة التركية حاولت القبض عليهم فهربوا من البﻼد‪ ،‬فتأخرت بعدهم‬ ‫هذه الصناعة“‪.‬‬ ‫وكان من ازدحام الزوار وتوافدهم على مدينة بيت لحم حيث ولد السيد المسيح أن نشطت فيها حركة البيع والشراء‪ ،‬فازدهرت بصورة خاصة المصنوعات‬ ‫الصدفية الشعبية التي تميز الكثير منها بخصائص فنية غنية بمواضيع من التقاليد الفلسطينية‪.‬‬ ‫يستورد الصدف واللؤلؤ من بومباي في الهند وجدة على البحر اﻷحمر‪ ،‬وينقع في ماء اﻷوكسجين‪ ،‬ثم يوضع في قدر من الفخار على النار‪ .‬وعند الغليان‬ ‫يغطس الصدف في القدر لدقائق‪ ،‬ثم ينشل ويوضع في وعاء من النحاس مملوء بالماء البارد ‪ ،‬ثم ينقل الى وعاء نحاس آخر فيه ماء وصابون‪ .‬وتكرر هذه‬ ‫العملية ثﻼث مرات‪ ،‬ثم يشطف وينشر على حبال في الظل خوفا ً على لونه من الشمس‪ .‬ثم يلف في قماش رومي وتبدأ النساء بفركه وتنشيفه حتى يجف ويلمع‪،‬‬ ‫‪36‬‬

‫الحرف اليدوية‬ ‫رجاء غزاونة‬ ‫الحرف اليدوية هي نتاج يبدعه الفنان الشعبي بطرق عفوية بسيطة و يفصح من خﻼله عن أهداف مختلفة‪ .‬فقد يكون هذا اﻹنتاج للتعبير عن أحاسيسه ومشاعره‬ ‫وما يجيش في نفسه من آمال وتطلعات‪ ،‬أو لغرض استعماله الذاتي‪ ،‬أو ﻷغراض الترفيه عن نفسه‪ ،‬أو للتكسب منه ماديا ً مكافحا ً في سبيل حياة أفضل‪.‬‬ ‫وﻻ شك أن البيئة التي يعيش فيها الفنان الشعبي‪ ،‬وما تحويه من موارد طبيعية وموارد أولية‪ ،‬وما تتأثر به من طبيعة ومناخ‪ ،‬تجعل لكل تجمع بشري‪ ،‬مهما‬ ‫صغر‪ ،‬صفة خاصة يتسم بها‪.‬‬ ‫الحرف اليدوية الشعبية متحررة تحررا ً شبه تام من تحكم اﻵله وسيطرتها‪ ،‬وغير مقيدة باﻷساليب والنظم اﻻقتصادية والتجارية‪.‬‬ ‫ومن أهم الحرف المتداولة في فلسطين‪ :‬الشمع‪ ،‬وخشب الزيتون‪ ،‬والصدف‪ ،‬والزجاج الخليلي‪ ،‬والنسيج‪ ،‬والحرف المعدنية‪ ،‬والسيراميك الفخار‪ ،‬والصاق‬ ‫اﻷزهار على بطاقات التهنئة‪ ،‬وشغل الخرز‪ ،‬والنقش على البيض‪ ،‬وصناعة الصابون* ودبغ الجلود‪ ،‬والتقشيش‪.‬‬ ‫‪ (1‬صناعة الشمع‪ :‬وهي صناعة رائجة لها سوق تجارية رابحة‪ ،‬ويتكاثر الطلب عليها في شتى اﻻحتفاﻻت الدينية‪ ،‬واﻷعراس‪ ،‬والمآتم‪ ،‬وزيارات المقامات‬ ‫الدينية‪ ،‬وإيفاء النذور‪ .‬وهي بأشكالها المتعددة وزخرفتها الجميلة تغري السياح الكثر الذين يؤمون الديار المقدسة فيشترونها في أثناء زياراتهم الدينية‪.‬‬ ‫وقد اشتهرت القدس بهذه الصناعة‪ .‬ومن أشهر اﻷسر المحترفة صناعة الشمع‪ :‬أسرة فراج‪ ،‬واﻷردمجي‪ ،‬وكتن‪ ،‬والجوزي‪ ،‬والشماع‪.‬‬ ‫يصنع الشمع من شحم حيواني )غنم أو بقر( يذاب على نار هادئة ليكون عجينة تصب بشكل ألواح‪ .‬وقد يضاف إلى الشمع الحيواني شمع العسل أو شمع النحل‪.‬‬ ‫توضع العجينة في وعاء كبير فيه ماء على نار حتى يسخن‪ ،‬ويحضر إطار كبير مدور ذو مسامير يحمل فتائل من اقطن على مسافات معينة‪ .‬وقبل وصول‬ ‫السائل إلى درجة الغليان تغطس الفتائل في الوعاء‪ ،‬أو يسكب عليها بمغرفة من سائل الشمع وينتظر حتى يبرد‪ .‬تكرر هذه العملية عدة مرات حتى تصل‬ ‫الشموع إلى السماكة المطلوبة‪ .‬ويأتي هنا دور الفنان فينقش عليها بظفره‪ ،‬أو بإصبعه‪ ،‬أو بعود خشبي رفيع رسوما ً مختلفة‪ ،‬وتعاريج جميلة‪ ،‬ونقوشا ً بديعة‪ .‬كما‬ ‫يصب على الطويل منها ماء الذهب‪ ،‬أو يلصق عليه ورودا ً صناعية أو زهورا ً ذات لون مختلف عن لون الشمعة‪.‬‬ ‫ويحضر الشمع في أشكال وأعداد مختلفة‪ .‬فالفند مثﻼً مكون من ‪ 23‬شمعة ملصق بعضها ببعض‪ .‬وهناك كفان من الشمع يحتوي كل منهما على ‪ 13‬شمعة‪،‬‬ ‫ويرمز ذلك إلى المسيح وتﻼميذه اﻻثني عشر‪.‬‬ ‫‪ (2‬صناعة الخشب‪ :‬صناعة خشب الزيتون من الحرف الشعبية العريقة لما لها من دﻻلة شعبية أصلية وتقاليد اجتماعية أثيرة‪ .‬والمعروف أن القدس أشهر مدينة‬ ‫فلسطينية اختصت بصنع خشب الزيتون‪ .‬ويظهر تقصي تاريخ هذه الصناعة أن عين كارم‪ ،‬القرية القريبة من القدس‪ ،‬هي أول من أتقن هذه الحرفة‪ .‬وكان ﻷسر‬ ‫الديني وجعانيني وزكريا الفضل في نشرها‪ .‬أما في القدس فقد عرف من محترفي هذه الصناعة أسرتا قرط والجمال‪ .‬وقد اهتمت كثيرا ً بهذه الحرفة أيضا ً بيت‬ ‫لحم‪.‬‬ ‫ويمتاز خشب زيتون فلسطين بصﻼبته ومتانته وجمال العروق التي تتخلله‪.‬وقد استفاد حرفيو هذا الخشب من هذه الميزة‪ ،‬أي من تموجات ألوانه‪ ،‬فاتكلوا عليها‬ ‫في زخرفة إنتاجهم‪ ،‬ولم يلجأوا إلى تطعيم الخشب بمواد غير خشبية كاﻷصداف والعاج والمعادن بل ركزوا على الحفر فيه والتحريم فقط مع إبراز تموجات‬ ‫الخشب الطبيعية‪.‬‬ ‫كما تنبهوا إلى جمال مادة هذا الخشب فلم يشوهوها بطﻼء خارجي‪ ،‬بل اكتفوا بمسحها بزيت الزيتون أو بقليل من مادة ملمعة‪.‬‬ ‫من مصنوعات الخشب القديمة اﻷولى المصابيح الخشبية والمسابح المصنوعة من نوى الزيتون‪ .‬وقد شجع رواج هذه الصناعة وتهافت السياح عليها المحترفين‬ ‫على صناعة أنواع مختلفة والتفنن بحفرها وزخرفتها‪ ،‬ومن هذه المصنوعات رسوم لمعالم دينية فلسطينية وصلبان وشمعدانات وقﻼئد وجمال خشبية وأوان‬ ‫للزهور وغيرها‪.‬‬ ‫وﻻ بد في معرض الكﻼم عن صناعة الخشب من اﻹشارة إلى حرفة قد تصنع من غير خشب الزيتون وإن كانت ﻻ تنقص عنها في أصالتها الشعبية أﻻ وهي‬ ‫صناعة اﻷمشاط‪ .‬وقد آلت هذه الصناعة إلى اﻻنقراض والزوال بعد انتشار أمشاط ”البﻼستيك والنايلون“ المستحدثة‪ ،‬شأنها شأن أغلب المورثات الصناعية‬ ‫الشعبية اﻷخرى‪.‬‬ ‫كان المشط يصنع من قطعة من الخشب رقيقة مربعة بحجم الكف وتصنع اﻷمشاط أيضا ً من العظام‪ .‬وتستعمل القطعة الصغيرة منها مشطا ً للرجال‪ .‬والكبيرة‬ ‫مشطا للنساء‪ .‬وتقص أسنان المشط على الجنبين بسكين صغيرة‪ ،‬ثم يخفف من سماكتها بمبرد صغير وتنعم‪ ،‬وتنقش بعد ذلك قاعدته‪ .‬وتطلق كلمة ”ماشطة“‬ ‫على المرأة التي تحترف تزيين النساء‪ ،‬من تصفيف الشعر إلى تزيين الوجه وتجميل الجسم‪.‬‬ ‫‪ (3‬صناعة الزجاج الخليلي‪ :‬من أقدم الصناعات التي عرفت في فلسطين‪.‬‬

‫‪37‬‬

An End To Diaspora Boutrose Saba-Norton It was so long ago when we left the Earth, I was a young man then and full of thoughts about the future.

Blind hope had left me well before then and I had become what you might call a Pessoptimist, a term that had been made popular at the time. I had been working for a better tomorrow, but not holding much stock that it would come within my lifetime. We had no idea that we had all the reason to be pessimistic.

Thermonuclear War was an old catchphrase from Cold War era of the fifties to the early nineties. It was supposed to have been left behind forever, but all it took was one ridiculous man more concerned with his own power than with the people he was responsible for in order for it to become a topic of the 21st century. So many rose to his call, his boisterous and inflammatory language, but so many more remained silent in the face of it, allowing his audacity to bring humanity to the brink of ruin.

The Hot War didn’t start off with much fanfare. Rather, it crept up on us slowly without our noticing like we were the frog who slowly boiled alive as the temperature rose in the pot of water around it gradually. In those days, I still dreamt of returning to the land of my forefathers, thinking that my children might grow up amongst the orange groves and olive trees, unaware of any other way of life. We didn’t know that the earth had an expiration date that was fast approaching, and would soon be hurried along its way.

My grandchildren begin to gather around, asking me for stories of earth.

They have no idea that I only tell them of the home of my grandfather, or that I was never permitted to live there myself. They just want something to believe in, something to look forward to other than these metal walls and the vastness of space just beyond their protection. How can I tell them that home doesn’t exist anymore, that it is so much hot ash, or that the reason we weren’t allowed into Mars Colony was because the descendants of the Earth blamed us for its loss?

“In those days, I still dreamt of returning to the land of my forefathers, thinking that my children might grow up amongst the orange groves and olive trees, unaware of any other way of life.”

Eighty years of colonization by Israelis and persecution by the rest of the world wasn’t enough. We were still used to ease their woes, scape goated yet again and charged with the crime of not dying when they decided we should’ve in the first part of the 19th century. And what did deciding that we should die do for them exactly? The Evangelicals certainly got their apocalypse like they wanted, but no one else got what they had been seeking. Fifty years have passed since our second exile, traveling on the ship they stuck us on, heading out of our own solar system and away from their thoughts forever. Fifty years of traveling and we weren’t any closer to reaching our new home.

Today I am tired, I can’t muster the energy to tell the children another story, so I take them down to cold storage and show them the seedlings kept safe for our arrival, only to find to my surprise that my friend Elijah is already there with his grandchildren. We greet each other as the old friends we are, and then I show the children the seedlings. “These are the plants we will sow when we get to our new home, and you’ll live amongst the orange and the olive trees like we used to.”

Elijah turns to me and smiles, “Do you think that back before the End, anyone could have foreseen this outcome?”

38

“I always knew our people would live as one someday Eli, I had just hoped it would have been under better circumstances, when we still had a home to live in.”

We both turn to watch our children as they scrambled over each other to see the seedlings though the small viewing window in the cold storage door. His were the inheritors of a millennia of persecution and revilement by the rest of the human race that no amount of isolationism or reactive violence could have ever protected them from in the end, and mine were the inheritors of constant occupation, colonization, and eventual displacement at the hands of those seeking to escape persecution. I look at them and I see what could have been had decolonization happened, if our persecutors had realized sooner that they could not escape their own fate by foisting it onto us, and we had been able to work together. I don’t bother sharing my thoughts with Eli, I already know he is thinking the same.

“We will never see this new homeland that they shipped us off to, have you ever thought about telling them that they will have to live there without us?” Eli asks, breaking the silence, and I shake my head.

“I won’t tell them, they talk about what we will do there together not realizing that they will be our age by the time we arrive. Hope is the province of the young, and we shouldn’t take it away from them.”

39

Fountain of Youth Abir Safa Sometimes it feels like I've only lived to die But the reality is, that I've hardly ever lived They tell me to take care of my youth and explore its wonders, but all I wonder is how growing old would feel How reality begins to strike a feeling so surreal the missiles start striking, asking myself is real if the state beneath my feet is Israel You see everything that I see yet turn around and forget all about me you walk on two feet and speak in human but you don't even know what it means sure I've hardly lived and you did but at least when I die I still walk from Adam's rib maybe the fountain of youth is the only taste I'll ever

know but what is youth When you've stripped us on borders When you've stamped on us numbers, When you've painted over apartheid while your tongue is tied with white lies Yet you still walk on our insides saying you want peace as if peace comes from war, Drink my child drink until you are full because the roundness of the moon will only stand so still glistening over your corpse as it rots in the new sun’s flames but all you ever wished for was a shroud for your own remains What remains is our Jerusalem, our Aqsa, our Hope, our Palestine

Photo taken by Ahmad AbuSama’an 40

‫‪Person of PACC: Saleh Rabee‬‬ ‫‪Every issue, we choose a different member of the PACC community to commemorate‬‬ ‫‪as our Person of PACC. This issue's Person of PACC is Saleh Rabee. Saleh is a dedi‬‬‫‪cated PACC board member and father.‬‬ ‫‪We asked him the following question: What in your life has inspired the work you‬‬ ‫?‪do at PACC‬‬ ‫محدثكم اخوكم صالح ربيع‬ ‫لقد كانت الحاجة لوجود كيان جاليوي منظم ومبني على أسس ادارية ومؤسساتية صحيحة لحمل عبء وهموم الجالية الفلسطينية في المهجر‬ ‫واﻻرتقاء بها عبر التركيز على العمل الجماعي المنظم والمدروس واﻹيجابي‬ ‫وسلة اﻷهداف المشتركة والتي تصبوا لها جاليتنا وتتأمل تحقيقها حلما ً أود ان‬ ‫أكون احد صانعيه وقد تحقق ذلك بعد فضل ﷲ بوجود ثلة من اﻻخوة واﻻخوات‬ ‫الذين يحملون وبصدق نفس الهم ونفس الحلم‬ ‫ّ‬ ‫حيث بداء الجميع مرحلة التشاور واستمزاج اﻻراء لتكوين هذا الصرح الجاليوي‬ ‫المبارك ومن ثم التشبيك بين كل من تم التواصل بينهم ﻹيجاد إلية بناء وترابط‬ ‫وانجاز لهذا الحلم وهذا ما قدر لنا ﷲ فعله كمجموعه مخلصة وذات عزيمة‬ ‫واصرار كبير ﻻ تلينه الظروف المحبطة التي كانت سائدة منها فتور اﻻهتمام‬ ‫بالمصلحة العامة وتفرغ الناس للقمة العيش وهموم الحياة والترهل السياسي‬ ‫واﻻجتماعي الذي ضرب قضيتنا العادلة بسبب عدم اﻻهتمام الدولي والعربي‬ ‫ومحاولة قتل هذه القضية الحية لتقديم فلسطين أرضا ً وشعبا ً لقمة سائغة للمحتل‬ ‫لذلك كما اسلفت كان ﻻ بد من بناء جالية قوية متماسكة فكان لزام علينا ان نبداء‬ ‫البنيان من اﻷساس وهو إيجاد البيئة الحاضنة لتنشئة جيل جديد من ابنائنا ممن‬ ‫ولدوا على بر اﻻغتراب وتثقيفهم وتدريبهم على أدوات التقدم والبناء والعطاء‬ ‫اﻻيجابي ليكونوا لبنة صالحة في تقدمهم وتقدم جاليتهم والمجتمع الذي يعيشون فيه‬ ‫ومركزين في ذلك على تعريفهم بهويتهم وثقافة بلدهم اﻻم وقضيتها العادلة وحق‬ ‫شعبهم الذي كفلته كل القوانين الدولية والشرائع السماوية والمبادئ اﻻنسانية وانه‬ ‫من واجبهم الدفاع عن تلك الحقوق الشرعية وصوﻻً لتحرير فلسطين أرضا ً وشعبا ً‬ ‫فان كتب ﷲ لنا ولهن ذلك فليكن وان كتب ذلك لﻼجيال القادمة كانت علينا وعليهم‬ ‫الحفاظ على هذه اﻷمانة وحملها وحمل مشاعل الحرية لتبقى وقادة‬ ‫وتوريثها لﻼجيال القادمة ليمشوا على هديها ويحققوا حلم شعبنا العظيم باﻻنعتاق‬ ‫من قبضة المحتل ليرى ويعيش فجر الحرية آﻻت باْذن ﷲ‬ ‫يرونها بعيدة ونراها قريبة ان موعدهم الصبح أليس الصبح بقريب‬ ‫فمن كل ما سلف وجب علينا التشبيك بين هذه العزائم الصادقة والنوايا الطيبة‬ ‫ﻹيجاد حلقة الترابط بينهم تخت سقف ومظله جامعه يستظل بظلها كل ساعِ‬ ‫ومحب ﻻن تتحق امال شعبه وعزة ابنائه‬ ‫فكان مركز الجالية الفلسطينية في نيويورك ونيوجيرسي‬ ‫نامل في السنين القادمة وبعون ﷲ وتوفيقه ان نعمل على استنهاض همم الصادقين والمخلصين واستنساخ هذه الفكرة لتعمم على بر‬ ‫اﻻغتراب وﷲ ولي التوفيق‬ ‫اخوكم صالح ربيع ابو ﷴ‬ ‫‪41‬‬

TO ADVERTISE If Interested, you have 3 options: 1. Email sponsorship@paccusa.org 2. Visits www.paccusa.org/ad-pages/ 3. Call PACC at (973)253-6145

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Thank you to Rawan Anani for giving us the opportunity feature your paintings in our magazine!

For more of her work and to purchase paintings, follow her on Facebook and Instagram and email her at rawananani78@gmail.com

A series of original short stories, poems, opinion pieces, interviews, artwork, photographs and so much more! We’re providing our PACC community with the chance to contribute in any of the following categories, you just might get published.

To contribute email: litmagazine@paccusa.org 44

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