Month October 2016
The Nakba Files spoke with Greg Thomas, Associate Professor of English at Tufts University (USA) and curator of the traveling exhibit “George Jackson in the Sun of Palestine,” which will run at Haifa’s Khashabi Theater from 28 October 2016 to 14 January 2017. Thomas is writing a book about George Jackson (1941-1971), a prominent member of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and a political prisoner who was assassinated by state authorities. The exhibit highlights connections between Palestinian and Black American experiences of captivity.
An interview with Professor Michael Karayanni of Hebrew University’s Law Faculty about his recent book, Conflicts in a Conflict: A Conflict of Laws Case Study of Israel and the Palestinian Territories.
The Nakba Files presents an original English translation of Military Order 58: Order on Abandoned Properties (Private Property), which was promulgated by the Israeli military command in the West Bank on 23 July 1967, at the dawn of the occupation of that territory.
Amahl Bishara: In many hours logged on the road, I’ve learned that driving is a site of embodied, everyday politics — a kind that is too often overlooked in favor of official or formal political statements and stances. The different experiences of ’48 Palestinians and ’67 Palestinians shows how the Nakba is at the root of Palestinian fragmentation, and the road network is a prime instrument of their separation from each other.
Amjad Alqasis: As Palestinian human rights activists and organizations, we must be more careful in the way we articulate reality through the terminology we use. We have to control our own discourse, to challenge the Israeli narrative’s local and international dominance.
أمجد القسّيس: علينا، باعتبارنا نشطاء حقوق إنسان ومنظّمين، أن نتوخى الحذر في كيفيّة صياغة تعبيرنا عن الواقع من خلال استخدامنا للمصطلحات. فإن كان المجتمع المدنيّ الفلسطينيّ يسعى للنضال ضدّ التهجير القسريّ، فعلينا ألا نقسّم شعبنا، وأن نستخدم لغةً تبني نضالًا مشتركًا ضد المشروع الاستعماريّ الذي يهدف إلى التخلّص من حضور المجتمع الفلسطينيّ الأصلانيّ، وألا ندعم، ولو بشكلٍ غير مباشر، أي محاولةٍ لتدمير الشعب الفلسطينيّ من خلال قبول التقسيم الذي تفرضه القوة الاستعماريّة. علينا أن نسيطر على خطابنا، وأن نتحدّى هيمنة الرواية الإسرائيليّة محليًا وعالميًا.