Last week, I went to a book launch titled “The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story” by Ramzy Baroud. The event was organized by Friends of Palestine WA.

As a Palestinian, I am always interested to hear more from Palestinians and about Palestinians. Also, since my Ph.D. research involves Palestine, I became more interested to hear more from Palestinian academics.

In this post, I want to document some of the main points that were raised by Baroud. I tend to think more clearly when I make lists but this is not meant to be a reductive process of the rich and complex talk that was given by Baroud. In fact, if you are interested you can find a live video of his talk on Facebook. I highly recommend you do watch it.

So here are some of the points that caught my attention:

• Zionist intellectuals penetrated the Western media early on, while the Palestinians arrived later. This has caused Palestinians to tell their story by negating the Zionist story.
• The imagery that related to the Palestinians in Western media started with images of nomadic people who did not belong to the land, then that image moved to the refugees and their crisis was viewed more like a humanitarian crisis and then the terrorists and hijackers which started in the 1960s. Now, images and ideas about Palestinians are still generally negative. Palestinians are often dehumanized in the media.
• Palestinians are not only fighting for their land, but they are fighting for their identity and culture.
• The Palestinian narrative is truthful. The Zionist narrative is fabricated.
• Truth and facts have nothing to do with how narratives are created.
• The Zionist narrative has coerced Palestinians to a position where they need to defend their position and at most come up with an alternative narrative.
• Palestinians now should start sharing their narrative. It should be separate from the Zionist narrative. People need to appreciate that narrative.
• The Zionist narrative and discourse are designed to discredit the Palestinians no matter what. Palestinians need to ignore them.
• Often, Palestinians are asked to talk about the other side of the story, yet in the Zionist narrative, there is no other side.
• In all anti-colonial struggles, there is only one side, that is, the side of the victim.

Baroud then introduced his book “The Last Earth: a Palestinian Story” which is a book filled with Palestinian stories told by Palestinians from all over the world. They share stories that mattered to them and in the way that mattered to them. Baroud read some powerful excerpts from his book. While I have not read his book yet, I still would recommend you getting your hands on a copy of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Following his talk, Baroud opened the floor for people to comment and ask questions. But before that, he asked if the person talking is Palestinian and they do not mind sharing their stories with us to do so. That was a beautiful gesture but it also brought faces to the stories that might be seen as abstract for some. I was moved by the stories I heard especially when you see a person tearing up as they share intimate stories that are not only part of history but are also their life stories. Stories that involved people they love, places they went to and hopes they had that never came to being.

I shared a bit of my family story and then I raised two points. The first point was the use of the term “counter-narrative” instead of the alternative narrative. Baroud said that in fact, our narrative is not the counter-narrative. On the opposite Palestinians are the narrative and the Zionist narrative is the counter one.

The other point I raised, was how in general it seems that Palestinian voices even those from the academia are still viewed as biased and less credible while Western academics who are pro-Palestine seems to get more media attention and more credibility. Baroud emphasized the importance of clarifying our positionality within research but at the same time we need to empower Palestinian voices and continue raising their voices.

The event left me feeling hopeful and more determinate to finish my Ph.D. which at the core of it aims at empowering the voices of the everyday Palestinian and bring that to the Western audience.**

But.

One thing that I am still thinking about is the fact that the audience who attended this event was either Palestinian or in solidarity with Palestine. This raises a question. Are we preaching to the already converted?

I think yes. So, how can we empower Palestinian voices? How can we attract a different kind of audience? And finally, how can events like this inspire people to take real actions that can help Palestinian achieve their self-determination?

 

 

** Read more about my project “Re:Visit Palestine“.