News & opinions from a Palestinian-American
living & working in Ramallah/Al-Bireh, Palestine
Then, October 7, 2023, happened, and its aftermath continues with no end in sight through today. Maha, like every Palestinian around the globe, became numb, finding it difficult to focus on anything but our loved ones in Gaza.
As Saudi Arabia attempts to assume the unilateral leadership role in the Arab World, it has welcomed the Palestinian issue as a component in the negotiations because it is looking for a save-face measure in front of the Arab and Muslim worlds to normalize with Israel, which seems to be one of the conditions the Biden Administration has placed on Saudi Arabia to be able to reach a historic U.S.- Saudi Arabia deal.
I offer the following draft of what I suggest Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas adopt as his speech in the upcoming General Debate of the 78th Session of the General Assembly.
This week in 1982, 41 years ago, in full coordination with the Israeli military which had invaded South Lebanon a few months prior, a group of “Christian” Phalangist fundamentalists, entered two Palestinian refugee camps, Sabra and Shatila, and slaughtered around 3,000 Palestinian civilians.
![The Bible Is Not a Baton [Book Review]](https://epalestine.ps/sambahour/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/the-bible-is-not-a-baton-1790705007.png)
The opening line of Decolonizing Palestine: The Land, the People, the Bible says it all: “For Palestinians, including the Palestinian Christian community, Palestine is a real land with real people.” It seems self-evident, but in a time when more people are in love with some majestic idea of Israel/Palestine rather than the real Israel/Palestine, it needs to be reiterated. This short read debunks many falsehoods that have taken root in parts of the Christian community over time and have been kept alive by constant watering by the State of Israel and the Zionist movement.
Israel has instilled a culture of “Slay-for-Play” to enable its soldiers and private citizens to shoot first and ask questions — if ever needed to — later. As B’Tselem, Israel’s leading human rights organization, previously documented, “[Israel’s] open-fire policy — which allows the unjustified use of lethal force — conveys Israel’s deep disregard for the lives of Palestinians and facilitates Israel’s continued violent control over millions of Palestinians.”
![From Wisconsin to Gaza to Jenin: An American Writer’s Lived Experience in Palestine [Book Review]](https://epalestine.ps/sambahour/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/from-wisconsin-to-gaza-to-jenin-1926401834.jpeg)
The memoir of an American daughter of a German immigrant raised under Nazi Germany, and the mother of three Palestinian Americans, who meets Palestine from the ground level. An eloquent read with nuanced explanations of a multitude of key points about the conflict, explained in depth in extensive endnotes.
!["Stranger in My Own Land: Palestine, Israel and One Family’s Story of Home" by Fida Jiryis [Book Review]](https://epalestine.ps/sambahour/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/stranger-in-my-own-land-1183647562.jpeg)