PL9fwy3NUQKwYGN66V9CL-c7DFnG0_Swb2/URT9gdB40LY_raw.srt

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Assalamu Alaikum and good morning from Gaza,

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Palestine, the Islamic University. We're almost

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done with our English poetry course and today as

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you can see here displayed Palestinian poetry. I

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know I sound to be unexcited but I am very excited

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about this session in particular. In my classes I

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try to introduce them to the students

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comparatively, so at least you have an idea. It

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would be really bad if you finish a degree in

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English literature with no knowledge about

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Palestinian literature being Palestinian. It's

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also, it's a chance for other people probably

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watching us to know something about Palestinian

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literature. We can't do everything in one class.

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I've been referring to Palestinian literature many

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times so far. But today we have two special poems,

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two poems that I love very, very much. One is by

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Lina Al Sharif, who's a Palestinian now residing

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in Qatar. She's a former student of the English

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department and a friend. She's really a wonderful

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poet, a promising poet. and also Susan Abulhawa,

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the Palestinian-American novelist and poet and

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intellectual. We're lucky also to be studying her

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poem. We'll see about that now. Okay, first we're

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going to begin with Lina Al Sherif. I'll do a

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reading very quickly and I want one of you, one or

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two of you to read this. So the title is Gluten

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-Free Manakish. I know that my grandma will never

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approve my gluten-free manakish. My zip bag thyme

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brought from Palestine. My extra virgin olive oil

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shipped from Palestine. My oven electric with a

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timer. My dough kneaded with a hand mixer.

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But she also didn't like it when I said stuff

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like, your pies are better made, are better

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because they were baked in the womb of the earth.

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She hated it when I said, your thyme grew on

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rainwater, wild and free, taken from the root of

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the land, its aroma and originality. She shut me

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up when I said, the olive oil came from the purest

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of lands watered by the tears of angels and

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prophets. The earliest witness of our existence, a

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symbol of peace long robbed from

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She took a bite and said, it's food, not a poem.

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Don't preach history and next time don't burn the

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dough.

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Okay, go on. So that's dough needed angels.

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I know that my grandma would never approve but

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gluten-free manakish, my zipped cake pie brought

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from Palestine, my extra virgin olive oil shipped

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from Palestine, my oven electric with a timer, my

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dough kneaded with a hand mixer. But she also

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didn't like it when I said stuff like, your pies

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are bitter because they were baked in the warmth

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of the earth. She hated it when I said your thyme

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grew in rain, on rain, on rainwater, wild and

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free, took from the root of the land its aroma and

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originality. She shook me up when I said, the

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olive oil came from the purest of lands watered by

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the tears of angels and prophets. The earliest

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witness of our existence, a symbol of peace, one

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grabbed from me. She took a bite and said, it's

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food, not a poem. Don't preach history. And next

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time, don't bend a dog. OK. One more, please.

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Gluten-free man'ouche. I know that my grandma will

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never approve my gluten-free manakish, my zip

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-packed dime, brought from Palestine, my extra

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virgin olive oil shipped from Palestine, my oven

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electric with a timer, my dough kneaded with a

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hand mixer. But she also didn't like it when I

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said a supply, your pies are better because they

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were bathed in the womb of the air. She hated it

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when I said your thyme grew on rainwater, wild and

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free, topped from the root of the land, its aroma

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and originality. She shot me up when I said, the

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olive oil came from the purest of plants watered

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by the tears of angels and prophets, the earliest

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witness of our existence, a symbol of peace, long

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robbed from. She took a bite and said, It's food,

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not a poem. Don't preach history, and next time,

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don't burn the dough. Okay, so don't burn the

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dough, yeah? That's your grandma, she knows, she

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always does. So, if you have something, anything

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that kind of attracted you to this poem, what is

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it? Like, what do you find peculiar, interesting,

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uncanny, intriguing? Attractive, different,

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because this is... I will talk about the features

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of Palestinian poetry. Please, Amal. Okay, so

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between... And, you know, there is the

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granddaughter and the grandmother, people

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belonging to two different eras, probably Abu Umar

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and a millennial. Please.

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What's that?

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Is food just included in a poem? Or is it a poem

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about food?

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I don't think it's abnormal, but it's not that

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common. But people talk about food all the time.

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But here this is not just food mentioned, food is

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the essence, it's the poem, it's even in the

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title.

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Okay, that's a very interesting thing. You know,

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we're here paying a heavy price for being

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Palestinians under Israeli occupation. We're

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suffering, right? But sometimes people outside,

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they dramatize this, they romanticize this. I just

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want to be there just for a moment, for a day,

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just to, you know, smell the air or taste

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something. Please. It's kind of funny to see how

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they actually try to modernize the Wow, that's a

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good, that's a good word, yeah. Because it's,

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because like there are many food that we in our

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day, like people, people call them names. They

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used to call them names, but now we're just giving

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it another modern name just to make it, you know,

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just look cool. Yeah, okay. But it's the same.

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Okay, so I like your idea, yes? Now, you know

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gluten-free Gluten-free in the past 10 years or so

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it's been you know the gluten is a substance in

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wheat in food and bread that some causes I think

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allergy or something to people and it's now a

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multi-million this is again I don't criticize

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people's choices whatever they do but now it's a

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trend and it's a now multi-billion if not dollar

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business around the world people want everything

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to be gluten-free and you know you do that for

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them And Manakish. So there is this kind of

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paradox here. This Manakish is deeply rooted in

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Palestinian history, or at least the history of

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the Middle East, Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria. And

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there is the gluten-free. This Manakish is without

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gluten. Gluten is extracted. It's modern. It's

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cool. It's the fashion. But also I find it very

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interesting how the word, you know, I know many

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people in Gaza, like many especially ladies, they

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wouldn't say managish, you know, the original

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word. They would rather go for managish, which is

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the cool again word. I think almost 20 years ago,

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not many people in Gaza were saying managish or

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alam or ali or telo. And this change is

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fascinating in many ways. In, I'm not sure if I

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mentioned this before, in Hebrew, the same thing

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happened. Sometimes, remember we said in English

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they had the kha sound in the past, like German

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nicht or something, and then they dropped the

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sound and the letters remained. That's one reason

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why we have so many silent letters in English,

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because English developed. Now in Hebrew, they had

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the ah sound, which is semantic, which is Middle

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Eastern. And because now so many Jews are coming

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from the West, and it's very difficult for them to

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say the A sound, getting it here from I don't know

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where.

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And because people like in Israel, Jews in power

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are mostly Western Jews, Ashkenazi Jews. So by

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time, because those people couldn't say the ah

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sound, and in order to integrate, there is racism.

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There's racism everywhere in Israel. There is, you

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know, classes, if you are Western Jew, white,

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blonde, blue eyes, you know. And then there is

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Jews coming from other countries, and then Arab

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Jews, and then black Jews, and then Arab

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Christians, and Arab Muslims, and Druze. So

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there's this. So in order for those people to

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integrate, by time, they started to drop the ah.

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So if it's Arabic or Atsar, Okay? So nobody looks

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like, who is this backward person saying ah sound?

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In order to integrate with the mainstream current,

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by time even Arabs started to drop the ah sound.

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And this is happening here in, it's been happening

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in the past. It sounds more, you know, it sounds

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cooler nowadays for girls to say, it sounds

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cooler. It's like, what, who, he, how, what do you

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think of Khadra, for example. She's cool, she's

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cool. What she says, she says, right? And this is

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bad in a way. It's interesting linguistically

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speaking, but it's bad to judge people by their

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appearance or the way they speak or accent or et

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cetera. So the poet here, the young poet chooses,

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I know some people inherently say people from

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Jaffa originally or something, they're more into

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the A than the G. But the gluten-free is in itself

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something modern, something our parents don't

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know, most of us don't know, let alone, you know,

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our grandparents. And again, the Manakish itself

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is again, like you said, is an attempt from the

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young female to sound cool, to modernize

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Palestine, you know, to appeal to probably to

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foreigners, to appeal to the younger generation.

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So I know that my grandma will never approve my

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gluten-free manakish. And that's, you know, what

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grandmas do. My zipped-back thyme brought from

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Palestine. Thyme, you know, the food is brought

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from Palestine. Everything is Palestinian at home.

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My extra virgin olive oil.

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Now many times people meet like when I was in

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Malaysia in the UK somewhere else and people when

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they knew that I'm Palestinian they would always

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ask me about the oil and many people wanted me to

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bring them oil. Because they loved it. They, you

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know, they think it's magic. And I think our

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grandmas also think olive oil is magical, you

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know. There's this meme I complained about to my

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grandma about a heartache and she asked me to rub

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it with olive oil. So the

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people would usually ask me, what is virgin olive

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oil? And I would say, I honestly don't know. For

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us, it's all oil. You could say this is from this

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area, this is from that area, this is from the

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West Bank, this is from Gaza, this is from East

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Gaza, you know. But honestly, we don't know. And

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then, and this is very interesting because in many

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ways this is a marketing technique, a marketing

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gimmick. You sell oil, everybody's selling olive

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oil, you want to sound cool, you know, big

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businesses. It's like, okay, we have an idea.

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Virgin olive oil. Oh, and then everybody is doing

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virgin olive oil and then okay, okay, okay, okay.

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Extra virgin olive oil. The problem is that with

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time, what are we going to do? Are we going to

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witness super extra virgin olive oil, duper super

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duper extra? I don't know. But for us

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Palestinians, it's oil. It's part of our life,

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right? Shipped from Palestine, an oven. But look

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at again the paradox, how paradoxical we can be.

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The oven is electric and with a timer. So it's not

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that it's only electric, instead of the clay,

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olive oil that our grandmas used, it's electric

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and it also has a timer. So you could do your

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stuff and then go watch an episode of, I don't

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know, Grey's Anatomy that doesn't want to end or

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anything else. And electric, and the dough kneaded

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with a hand mixer also. You know, it's a paradox.

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I think there is some kind of a play on the word

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time, okay, thank God we don't have cats here, and

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also the word needed, because needed, N-E-E-D-E-D,

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also need, you know, to do the, okay, fun. But she

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also, my grandma, didn't like it when I said stuff

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like, your pies are better because they were baked

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in the womb. of the earth. Grandma, your pies. And

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look at beautiful personification of our land, the

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earth as a mother, a loving mother that has a womb

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that can give and give children and children.

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She hated it when I said, your thyme grew on

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rainwater, wild and free, taken from the root of

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the land, its aroma and originality. Wow. She shut

245
00:15:37,730 --> 00:15:44,530
me up, Timre, when I said, the olive oil came from

246
00:15:44,530 --> 00:15:47,730
the purest of lands, watered by the tears of

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00:15:47,730 --> 00:15:48,770
angels and prophets.

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00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:58,560
the earliest and this is grandma this is evidence

249
00:15:58,560 --> 00:16:01,240
we exist this is evidence that the land is ours

250
00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:03,860
that the land is for the Palestinians the earliest

251
00:16:03,860 --> 00:16:07,800
witness of our existence a symbol of peace long

252
00:16:07,800 --> 00:16:11,980
robbed from and

253
00:16:11,980 --> 00:16:14,440
there is interruption here So there's an

254
00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:16,740
interruption here. So she wants to go on and on

255
00:16:16,740 --> 00:16:19,300
and poeticize and romanticize and turn everything

256
00:16:19,300 --> 00:16:24,340
into politics, into typical

257
00:16:24,340 --> 00:16:28,980
grandma stuff. But she also didn't like it. She

258
00:16:28,980 --> 00:16:34,620
took a bite and said, it's food, not a poem. Don't

259
00:16:34,620 --> 00:16:37,800
preach history. And next time, don't burn the

260
00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:43,030
dough. Next time, don't burn your manakish. So

261
00:16:43,030 --> 00:16:45,850
even with the electric oven, with the timer,

262
00:16:46,090 --> 00:16:47,670
electric timer and everything,

263
00:16:50,650 --> 00:16:54,230
we're not sure you have to taste it, right? Yeah,

264
00:16:54,390 --> 00:16:58,730
first. But again, grandma knows if she says

265
00:16:58,730 --> 00:17:04,070
something, it must be it. I find this a beautiful

266
00:17:04,070 --> 00:17:07,570
poem. Really, really beautiful poem. Simple, but

267
00:17:07,570 --> 00:17:10,830
deep and profound. In many ways, there's this

268
00:17:10,830 --> 00:17:14,730
generational gap. There's a chasm, actually. The

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00:17:14,730 --> 00:17:18,310
conflict between the young and the old and how the

270
00:17:18,310 --> 00:17:22,290
young try to appeal to, you know, not saying this

271
00:17:22,290 --> 00:17:26,090
is wrong to appeal to people like, you know, out

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00:17:26,090 --> 00:17:29,030
there, Palestinians, non-Palestinians, people who

273
00:17:29,030 --> 00:17:32,210
speak in English to try to sound cool, to try to

274
00:17:32,210 --> 00:17:34,370
bring Palestine closer to them and bring them

275
00:17:34,370 --> 00:17:37,750
closer to Palestine. But preaching history here,

276
00:17:37,950 --> 00:17:40,770
turning everything into politics, every bite,

277
00:17:40,970 --> 00:17:43,850
every meal, every food, every topic, which is

278
00:17:43,850 --> 00:17:47,350
something we do, is something that does not appeal

279
00:17:47,350 --> 00:17:49,050
to the older generation, especially our

280
00:17:49,050 --> 00:17:54,730
grandparents. For them Palestine is Palestine. The

281
00:17:54,730 --> 00:17:56,690
land is ours. You don't have to bring

282
00:17:56,690 --> 00:18:00,730
archaeological evidence. You don't have to look at

283
00:18:00,730 --> 00:18:06,170
an olive tree as evidence. Grandmother knows.

284
00:18:06,970 --> 00:18:09,430
Probably I mentioned Darwish who again came to

285
00:18:09,430 --> 00:18:12,630
Palestine. There was a Jewish shepherd from Yemen

286
00:18:12,630 --> 00:18:16,130
who thought that the remains of Mahmoud Darwish's

287
00:18:16,130 --> 00:18:19,370
village were the remains of a Roman village.

288
00:18:19,590 --> 00:18:22,650
Because again, the Zionists erased 2,000 years of

289
00:18:22,650 --> 00:18:26,750
history, just altogether gone. And Darwish says

290
00:18:26,750 --> 00:18:29,950
that the land does not belong to those who inject

291
00:18:29,950 --> 00:18:33,690
it with artificial meanings. Those who want

292
00:18:33,690 --> 00:18:36,170
archaeological evidence to prove their connection

293
00:18:36,170 --> 00:18:39,150
to the land. The land belongs to those who know

294
00:18:39,150 --> 00:18:41,310
it's going to rain just from smelling the earth,

295
00:18:41,810 --> 00:18:45,710
the air. Just you feel it, you know. And I've

296
00:18:45,710 --> 00:18:47,470
experienced this. I'm sure some of you experienced

297
00:18:47,470 --> 00:18:50,430
this. Sometimes, like in the past, you would go

298
00:18:50,430 --> 00:18:53,590
out and then your grandma says, hey, aren't you

299
00:18:53,590 --> 00:18:57,690
going to wear anything heavy? Say, it's sunny or

300
00:18:57,690 --> 00:19:00,430
it's not cloudy, but it's going to rain. And then

301
00:19:00,430 --> 00:19:04,230
two hours later, it's like she owns the clouds.

302
00:19:05,790 --> 00:19:09,250
And it never, like almost never happens, like a

303
00:19:09,250 --> 00:19:11,190
grandma says it's going to rain and it doesn't.

304
00:19:11,250 --> 00:19:13,130
It's like, again, the cloud's like, oh, okay,

305
00:19:13,270 --> 00:19:16,670
grandma, just for you this time. Honestly, and

306
00:19:16,670 --> 00:19:19,670
this happens here. The connection is natural, is

307
00:19:19,670 --> 00:19:22,790
not artificial. The connection comes with every

308
00:19:22,790 --> 00:19:26,130
breath they take, with everything they do, just

309
00:19:26,130 --> 00:19:29,110
because they are, because they are Palestinian.

310
00:19:30,110 --> 00:19:32,450
And on the other hand, we've seen this, And you

311
00:19:32,450 --> 00:19:35,510
see it, how Israel tries to, as an occupation,

312
00:19:35,690 --> 00:19:38,500
tries to inject you know, artificial meanings.

313
00:19:39,460 --> 00:19:42,440
There has been a lot of research done, you know, a

314
00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:44,840
lot of digging done just to bring something. And

315
00:19:44,840 --> 00:19:49,980
three years ago, Netanyahu, there was this kid who

316
00:19:49,980 --> 00:19:52,840
went with his father somewhere and he bought a

317
00:19:52,840 --> 00:19:55,300
souvenir, a coin souvenir. And I think his dad

318
00:19:55,300 --> 00:19:57,800
posted something and somebody took it and said,

319
00:19:58,060 --> 00:20:01,460
yeah, little kid found this coin from 3000 years.

320
00:20:01,640 --> 00:20:05,140
Yes, Israel was here first. And then Netanyahu

321
00:20:05,140 --> 00:20:07,580
himself took this picture and he posted it and

322
00:20:07,580 --> 00:20:14,250
boasted about this is evidence. Oops. It's fake.

323
00:20:14,890 --> 00:20:17,350
It's just a souvenir. And even, you know, the half

324
00:20:17,350 --> 00:20:19,490
shekel, you know, there's a half shekel, the lyre

325
00:20:19,490 --> 00:20:22,850
there, the musical instrument, it's fake. Somebody

326
00:20:22,850 --> 00:20:25,370
came in the 70s and he's like, OK, what should I

327
00:20:25,370 --> 00:20:28,190
do just to connect people more here? He said, oh,

328
00:20:28,290 --> 00:20:30,970
I found this. This is from three years ago. It

329
00:20:30,970 --> 00:20:33,290
turned out to be fake. Google why is there a fake

330
00:20:33,290 --> 00:20:37,130
symbol on Israeli half shekel or coin, you'd be

331
00:20:37,130 --> 00:20:40,670
stunned. Recently, in the past five years, Haaretz

332
00:20:40,670 --> 00:20:42,610
Post posted so many articles about this

333
00:20:42,610 --> 00:20:49,110
interesting revising history. The Zionists tried

334
00:20:49,110 --> 00:20:51,610
to prove that when there was always enmity

335
00:20:51,610 --> 00:20:53,490
between, for example, the Jews and the original,

336
00:20:53,670 --> 00:20:55,890
the Canaanites and the natives of Palestine. Now,

337
00:20:56,310 --> 00:21:00,190
new research says, no, they coexisted. They lived

338
00:21:00,190 --> 00:21:04,710
together. They traded stuff. So while Israel tries

339
00:21:04,710 --> 00:21:08,410
to do this, to modernize in its way, to inject

340
00:21:08,410 --> 00:21:12,090
Palestine with technology, with archaeological

341
00:21:12,090 --> 00:21:15,910
finds, and also Israel, and this is a fact, Israel

342
00:21:15,910 --> 00:21:18,570
is also destroying every possible Palestinian

343
00:21:18,570 --> 00:21:21,290
connection to the land. Israel has destroyed so

344
00:21:21,290 --> 00:21:25,210
many historical places to sever this relationship.

345
00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,140
Now the young generation is doing something

346
00:21:28,140 --> 00:21:31,100
interesting to try to bring this back, to try to

347
00:21:31,100 --> 00:21:34,860
bring... don't we feel happy, you know, when we

348
00:21:34,860 --> 00:21:38,910
come across Palestine in Othello? Go to your

349
00:21:38,910 --> 00:21:42,510
grandma and say, Ma, Grandma, I have a piece of

350
00:21:42,510 --> 00:21:45,930
evidence that Palestine existed. Even Shakespeare

351
00:21:45,930 --> 00:21:48,370
said Palestine. Here, look, Othello. She's like,

352
00:21:48,470 --> 00:21:51,090
what? She doesn't need Othello. She doesn't need

353
00:21:51,090 --> 00:21:53,890
Shakespeare. She doesn't need gluten-free

354
00:21:53,890 --> 00:21:56,350
manakish. Even the oil, which is, again, the most

355
00:21:56,350 --> 00:21:58,670
significant. And we talk about the oil here in

356
00:21:58,670 --> 00:22:01,650
Palestine. We talk about, again, man and land

357
00:22:01,650 --> 00:22:06,740
coming together because the result is The result

358
00:22:06,740 --> 00:22:10,280
is trees, you know, the olive trees, the symbol of

359
00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:13,820
Palestine and Palestinians. So I find it very

360
00:22:13,820 --> 00:22:21,740
interesting how the grandma is trying to prevent

361
00:22:21,740 --> 00:22:24,180
the girl, the lady, the young lady, from turning

362
00:22:24,180 --> 00:22:27,900
everything into politics. And this is actually one

363
00:22:27,900 --> 00:22:31,440
thing that people say that is not cool, good about

364
00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:33,540
Palestinian poetry or literature. It's too

365
00:22:33,540 --> 00:22:38,890
political. They say Palestinian portraits is too

366
00:22:38,890 --> 00:22:41,270
political. Of course it's too political. Don't be

367
00:22:41,270 --> 00:22:43,890
defensive here. We are under occupation. Everybody

368
00:22:43,890 --> 00:22:47,050
has been influenced in so many ways, in ways you

369
00:22:47,050 --> 00:22:50,470
can't imagine by the Israeli occupation. And for

370
00:22:50,470 --> 00:22:53,030
us, personal is political and political is

371
00:22:53,030 --> 00:22:55,770
personal. Think, we'll talk about this when it

372
00:22:55,770 --> 00:23:01,090
comes to Susan Abulhawa just now. I'll just come

373
00:23:01,090 --> 00:23:04,800
to this point later on. Okay, so what other

374
00:23:04,800 --> 00:23:07,360
features of Palestinian poetry or literature can

375
00:23:07,360 --> 00:23:09,460
you find here? You said you mentioned dialogue

376
00:23:09,460 --> 00:23:12,960
here, you mentioned food, and you know, the

377
00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:18,360
cultural heritage, the grandma, the existence of

378
00:23:18,360 --> 00:23:21,280
grandma being there like, you know, all

379
00:23:21,280 --> 00:23:24,520
protective, all guiding us, giving us advice. What

380
00:23:24,520 --> 00:23:25,660
else? What other features?

381
00:23:35,400 --> 00:23:38,840
These are cultural references, always there,

382
00:23:39,760 --> 00:23:42,840
always there, they're part of our life. The word

383
00:23:42,840 --> 00:23:46,420
mana'ish itself not using like pastries or

384
00:23:46,420 --> 00:23:50,560
something equivalent. Okay, not foreignizing this

385
00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:53,180
term. And it's not translated by the way. You can

386
00:23:53,180 --> 00:23:56,300
guess by if you google it you'll find it the term.

387
00:23:56,440 --> 00:23:59,440
But not many non-Arab speakers can know that this

388
00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:01,880
is this is what the context can tell. So you use

389
00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:04,220
the word Arab word. I'll come back to this with

390
00:24:04,220 --> 00:24:09,960
Susan's poem. The word is not foreignized or even

391
00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:13,260
transliterated or translated. I actually find it

392
00:24:13,260 --> 00:24:16,020
interesting the contrast image between Lina's poem

393
00:24:16,020 --> 00:24:22,000
and Terence's poem. We have two

394
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,320
generations, the older one and the younger one,

395
00:24:24,820 --> 00:24:26,120
but they have contrast images.

396
00:24:34,420 --> 00:24:38,720
She's trying to get evidence. But there, the

397
00:24:38,720 --> 00:24:43,960
father was trying to... To do that. The kids were

398
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:48,860
oblivious. They were reluctant. The grandma is the

399
00:24:48,860 --> 00:24:56,270
one who takes the bite. They want to eat. That's

400
00:24:56,270 --> 00:24:57,810
very fair. Thank you very much. That's a very good

401
00:24:57,810 --> 00:25:00,710
point here. Don't forget that probably this person

402
00:25:00,710 --> 00:25:03,230
is outside Palestine now. He's an outsider, a

403
00:25:03,230 --> 00:25:06,230
native, indigenous, but outsider. Can't be in

404
00:25:06,230 --> 00:25:09,750
Palestine for a reason. Israel. But that man, a

405
00:25:09,750 --> 00:25:13,810
Zionist, who was born in Europe, is in Palestine.

406
00:25:14,390 --> 00:25:15,610
Thank you very much. That's a really, really

407
00:25:15,610 --> 00:25:19,270
interesting point. One more thing, please.

408
00:25:23,150 --> 00:25:28,430
The sense of seriousness? So the old are serious?

409
00:25:29,990 --> 00:25:32,710
Okay, so how's that helping the poem? Okay,

410
00:25:32,890 --> 00:25:33,190
interesting.

411
00:25:44,890 --> 00:25:48,330
Okay, so she doesn't want her granddaughter to

412
00:25:48,330 --> 00:25:52,490
romanticize this, to turn food into politics.

413
00:25:56,290 --> 00:26:00,510
Yeah, it's not food. Food is not evidence for her.

414
00:26:00,750 --> 00:26:02,610
Although for us, you know, there's a huge fight

415
00:26:02,610 --> 00:26:08,070
over hummus, okay? And even now falafel and

416
00:26:08,070 --> 00:26:14,590
shakshuka and all these kinds of foods. Please.

417
00:26:21,670 --> 00:26:22,110
Okay,

418
00:26:25,730 --> 00:26:27,390
but I don't think this is a feature of Palestinian

419
00:26:27,390 --> 00:26:30,110
poetry that we try to foreshadow in a way, but

420
00:26:30,110 --> 00:26:31,870
yeah, possible. Although foreshadowing is

421
00:26:31,870 --> 00:26:36,070
something more into fiction rather than poetry to

422
00:26:36,070 --> 00:26:37,530
guess what's coming.

423
00:26:42,230 --> 00:26:43,890
Nostalgia as a theme, yeah.

424
00:26:55,190 --> 00:26:57,530
Promoting the concept of Samud. Again, especially

425
00:26:57,530 --> 00:26:59,690
people who say this, especially people who are in

426
00:26:59,690 --> 00:27:02,030
the diaspora, people who can't be here. They're

427
00:27:02,030 --> 00:27:04,350
doing an amazing job, activism and BDS and

428
00:27:04,350 --> 00:27:08,770
everything, you know, boycotting Israel. But

429
00:27:08,770 --> 00:27:11,190
again, the thing is that reality is different.

430
00:27:11,410 --> 00:27:13,990
Reality is a lot harsher than you can ever

431
00:27:13,990 --> 00:27:16,870
imagine. Finally, somebody here.

432
00:27:27,220 --> 00:27:30,940
Okay, so and free here, what does it mean when you

433
00:27:30,940 --> 00:27:35,760
say gluten-free? So without, but again freedom is

434
00:27:35,760 --> 00:27:38,780
something we seek. So is it probably connected?

435
00:27:38,940 --> 00:27:42,720
Possible, possible. So I raised two questions here

436
00:27:42,720 --> 00:27:46,040
I want you to think of. This poem is about

437
00:27:46,040 --> 00:27:48,640
rootedness to Palestine, but it's also about

438
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:52,480
generational chasm, the gap between the

439
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:56,760
generation, the young, the old. And then there is

440
00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:02,580
how is the young lady in the poem trying to

441
00:28:02,580 --> 00:28:05,860
modernize Palestine? We already mentioned this in

442
00:28:05,860 --> 00:28:13,060
passing. Anything? Shall we move? Yes, shall I

443
00:28:13,060 --> 00:28:16,220
move? Or yes, you want to say something? Okay,

444
00:28:16,420 --> 00:28:21,720
I'll move if you say so. Okay, there's this poem

445
00:28:21,720 --> 00:28:26,400
by Susan Abulhawa, the Palestinian writer,

446
00:28:26,980 --> 00:28:28,240
novelist, intellectual.

447
00:28:31,620 --> 00:28:36,540
She's the author of Mornings in Jenin. Please read

448
00:28:36,540 --> 00:28:38,700
this novel, read it in English. It's one of the

449
00:28:38,700 --> 00:28:43,260
best. There's a video here I want you to watch

450
00:28:43,260 --> 00:28:46,460
already posted it on our Facebook group. Okay so

451
00:28:46,460 --> 00:28:50,020
like I said our second poem is by Susan Abulhawa

452
00:28:50,020 --> 00:28:54,260
it's called Wala. Let's watch and listen and then

453
00:28:54,260 --> 00:28:55,180
do some discussion.

454
00:29:10,430 --> 00:29:15,210
It's 3 a.m. in the cattle cage. The line is long

455
00:29:15,210 --> 00:29:20,130
and thick with lights. I wait. I ship me a

456
00:29:20,130 --> 00:29:21,570
sandwich with cucumber in it.

457
00:29:31,130 --> 00:29:33,690
Together, you prayed and prayed, danced and

458
00:29:33,690 --> 00:29:37,670
laughed. She kissed your face and said, Allah maak

459
00:29:37,670 --> 00:29:42,970
ya habibi. Allah be with you, my love. You kissed

460
00:29:42,970 --> 00:29:45,690
the faces of your sleeping babies. You haven't

461
00:29:45,690 --> 00:29:49,910
seen them awake in months, and you wondered. Has

462
00:29:49,910 --> 00:29:53,830
Walid's voice begun to crack yet? Have Wajdad's

463
00:29:53,830 --> 00:29:58,410
hips begun to flare? How big was Suriya's smile

464
00:29:58,410 --> 00:30:03,970
when she came home with her report card? in the

465
00:30:03,970 --> 00:30:10,490
cattle cage. Still, you wait. The line before you

466
00:30:10,490 --> 00:30:15,930
is so long, and behind you now it is longer. Few

467
00:30:15,930 --> 00:30:19,830
will you speak. You're packed so damn tight that

468
00:30:19,830 --> 00:30:22,890
you hold one another upright. You see your own

469
00:30:22,890 --> 00:30:25,830
fatigue reflected in the weariness etched on the

470
00:30:25,830 --> 00:30:30,750
faces all around you. You look away, pine for

471
00:30:30,750 --> 00:30:36,330
smoke. But who the hell can afford that? You stare

472
00:30:36,330 --> 00:30:39,490
at the graffiti beyond the iron bars holding you

473
00:30:39,490 --> 00:30:43,470
in, written just for you, written by Zionist

474
00:30:43,470 --> 00:30:46,130
settlers sucking the breath from your lungs. You

475
00:30:46,130 --> 00:30:49,550
understand the meaning of their English words.

476
00:30:49,730 --> 00:30:54,410
Die, sand niggers. Sometimes you pine for that,

477
00:30:54,550 --> 00:31:02,730
too. cattle cage. The soldiers arrive. The line

478
00:31:02,730 --> 00:31:06,550
loosens. You take one step forward propelled by

479
00:31:06,550 --> 00:31:09,650
the weight of the bodies behind you. Your chip in

480
00:31:09,650 --> 00:31:12,670
a sandwich with cucumber in a plastic bag is

481
00:31:12,670 --> 00:31:18,230
crushed. It never survives. It's 7 a.m. in the

482
00:31:18,230 --> 00:31:23,790
cattle cage. Now it's your turn. You produce your

483
00:31:23,790 --> 00:31:28,770
papers, unfold, refold, eyes down, heart down,

484
00:31:28,910 --> 00:31:32,770
your shoes are down on their luck, but you're out

485
00:31:32,770 --> 00:31:36,050
of the line now. Fifteen men before you were

486
00:31:36,050 --> 00:31:40,130
pulled aside and you tried not to look, tried not

487
00:31:40,130 --> 00:31:44,350
to hear the one yelling, don't hit me. It's seven

488
00:31:44,350 --> 00:31:50,840
thirty a.m. on the cattle bus and you ride. The

489
00:31:50,840 --> 00:31:53,880
country they stole from you speeds outside your

490
00:31:53,880 --> 00:31:57,020
window and you imagine the man you would have

491
00:31:57,020 --> 00:32:00,700
been. The man you should have been out there

492
00:32:00,700 --> 00:32:04,180
riding the family's tea. The thoroughbred mares

493
00:32:04,180 --> 00:32:07,300
your grandfather raised and nurtured and loved and

494
00:32:09,230 --> 00:32:14,470
Great. Unstolen. It's eight AM. You get off the

495
00:32:14,470 --> 00:32:18,090
cow bus. Your crushed chicken sandwiched with

496
00:32:18,090 --> 00:32:21,930
cucumber in a plastic bag in one hand. Your eyes

497
00:32:21,930 --> 00:32:25,510
down. Your heart down. You put your toolbox down

498
00:32:25,510 --> 00:32:28,370
to knock on the Zionist settler's back door where

499
00:32:28,370 --> 00:32:32,010
the help goes. But the Zionist settler bossman

500
00:32:32,010 --> 00:32:37,270
yells, Wala! Mish hon el yon. Not there today.

501
00:32:37,670 --> 00:32:43,110
Why? that all you can do is thank Allah that your

502
00:32:43,110 --> 00:32:46,310
wife and your babies are not there to hear them

503
00:32:46,310 --> 00:32:46,630
call.

504
00:33:04,700 --> 00:33:09,740
this is a poem from my voice sought the wind susan

505
00:33:09,740 --> 00:33:13,880
abulhawa published by just world box what do you

506
00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:20,360
think so susan abulhawa's poem it's

507
00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:22,560
not of course it's you have to read it to know

508
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:23,180
that this is not

509
00:33:26,260 --> 00:33:28,840
I'm sure some of you experienced this with their

510
00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:31,240
parents. Personally, I had this experience many

511
00:33:31,240 --> 00:33:33,980
times, many years. My dad would be waking up

512
00:33:33,980 --> 00:33:36,100
early, very early in the morning and go work

513
00:33:36,100 --> 00:33:40,730
inside in the occupied territories by Israel. And

514
00:33:40,730 --> 00:33:42,510
we wouldn't see him sometimes for weeks. I know

515
00:33:42,510 --> 00:33:46,310
people whose father would just go and spend weeks

516
00:33:46,310 --> 00:33:48,190
and weeks and months and months and some even

517
00:33:48,190 --> 00:33:52,030
years just again. It's like an odyssey. But this

518
00:33:52,030 --> 00:33:54,730
is an odyssey to, you know, not to seek

519
00:33:54,730 --> 00:33:58,830
immortality or just to bring food, to put food on

520
00:33:58,830 --> 00:34:01,730
the table, to feed your kids, to seek a

521
00:34:01,730 --> 00:34:06,490
livelihood. And because of Israel, this has turned

522
00:34:06,490 --> 00:34:10,430
into an Odyssey. I'll do some commentary very

523
00:34:10,430 --> 00:34:14,850
quickly, and I'll see what things you can, you

524
00:34:14,850 --> 00:34:17,350
have, you want to talk about, and probably we can

525
00:34:17,350 --> 00:34:21,770
discuss Palestinian features. Of course, two poems

526
00:34:21,770 --> 00:34:23,810
can never summarize everything about Palestinian

527
00:34:23,810 --> 00:34:25,470
features. But this is interesting because we're

528
00:34:25,470 --> 00:34:30,700
studying two poems by two female poets. I'm also

529
00:34:30,700 --> 00:34:34,720
going to comment on the use of Arabic. This is

530
00:34:34,720 --> 00:34:36,780
originally written in English. Why include some

531
00:34:36,780 --> 00:34:38,420
Arabic words? Some of them are not even

532
00:34:38,420 --> 00:34:41,340
transliterated or translated. Transliterated but

533
00:34:41,340 --> 00:34:44,820
not translated. So the opening here, when we talk

534
00:34:44,820 --> 00:34:50,820
about 3 a.m. and you are waiting, queuing in a

535
00:34:50,820 --> 00:34:53,680
long line at the Israeli military checkpoint so

536
00:34:53,680 --> 00:34:56,280
you can go to work inside in a settlement or

537
00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:58,880
somewhere. You have no choice but to do this or

538
00:34:58,880 --> 00:35:02,600
else you would starve. If you're there at 3am then

539
00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:06,780
probably you woke up at 2, 2.30 and your wife woke

540
00:35:06,780 --> 00:35:08,900
up probably half an hour or an hour earlier.

541
00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:13,480
That's really crazy. Nobody should be forced to do

542
00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:19,090
this all their life. And the cattle cage, you know

543
00:35:19,090 --> 00:35:21,850
cattle, cows, and sheep, and that's how Israel is

544
00:35:21,850 --> 00:35:24,150
dealing with Palestine. We've seen the pictures in

545
00:35:24,150 --> 00:35:28,890
the video. These are like inhumane practices

546
00:35:28,890 --> 00:35:32,650
against native Palestinians. The line, remember in

547
00:35:32,650 --> 00:35:36,490
the Holoman, we said the long vowels sometimes add

548
00:35:36,490 --> 00:35:40,270
more pain and suffering. It's not like you know it

549
00:35:40,270 --> 00:35:45,670
just ends a line is long and thick with bodies and

550
00:35:45,670 --> 00:35:47,890
you wait if you notice this kind of three verse

551
00:35:47,890 --> 00:35:51,510
poetry you know you don't have to stick to any of

552
00:35:51,510 --> 00:35:53,530
the rules but it's still poetic still probably

553
00:35:53,530 --> 00:35:56,330
more poetic than the classical poetry so you wait

554
00:35:56,330 --> 00:36:00,720
is just one whole stanza here Because, again, most

555
00:36:00,720 --> 00:36:02,860
of what we do, Palestinians, is just waiting,

556
00:36:02,960 --> 00:36:04,860
waiting for the Israeli occupation to end, waiting

557
00:36:04,860 --> 00:36:06,840
for the Israeli bombing to end, waiting for Israel

558
00:36:06,840 --> 00:36:09,220
to open the checkpoint, to open the borders, to

559
00:36:09,220 --> 00:36:13,800
allow us to travel, to grant us permits, to let us

560
00:36:13,800 --> 00:36:20,050
be. Okay? A Gibnez sandwich with cucumber in a

561
00:36:20,050 --> 00:36:23,350
plastic bag, clutched in your calloused laborer's

562
00:36:23,350 --> 00:36:26,630
hand. And I find this to be very interesting. The

563
00:36:26,630 --> 00:36:29,150
Gibnez sandwich is a simple thing, but you're,

564
00:36:29,210 --> 00:36:31,330
what are you doing to it? You're clutching, you're

565
00:36:31,330 --> 00:36:35,210
holding tightly. It's like a dear friend of yours.

566
00:36:35,250 --> 00:36:37,310
It's a friend. It's your company. It's your

567
00:36:37,310 --> 00:36:41,240
companion here. And the jibneh sandwich is Arabic.

568
00:36:41,400 --> 00:36:43,920
It's not translated. You would, if you're not, if

569
00:36:43,920 --> 00:36:46,000
you don't know Arabic, you can guess that this is

570
00:36:46,000 --> 00:36:50,100
some kind of food. But why is it not, why is it

571
00:36:50,100 --> 00:36:53,020
not cheese sandwich? Why is it jibneh? And jibneh

572
00:36:53,020 --> 00:36:55,380
is West Bank pronunciation. In Gaza, we say

573
00:36:55,380 --> 00:36:58,220
jibneh. You say albira. It's albire.

574
00:37:01,180 --> 00:37:05,810
Again, the wife. plays the traditional Palestinian

575
00:37:05,810 --> 00:37:08,710
woman role. She's probably stay at home. It's not

576
00:37:08,710 --> 00:37:10,950
mentioned here, but she wakes up early to prepare

577
00:37:10,950 --> 00:37:14,990
the food. But her role in comforting the husband

578
00:37:14,990 --> 00:37:16,870
and being there and supporting him and being there

579
00:37:16,870 --> 00:37:20,130
for the kids is interesting. Many people would say

580
00:37:20,130 --> 00:37:24,650
this is a typical situation. Traditionally, this

581
00:37:24,650 --> 00:37:26,710
is the typical situation, but the situation itself

582
00:37:26,710 --> 00:37:30,150
is changing, especially with the fact that the

583
00:37:30,150 --> 00:37:35,130
poet is female, is a woman, okay? And together,

584
00:37:35,450 --> 00:37:39,070
you prayed a pre-dawn Salah. And again, how

585
00:37:39,070 --> 00:37:41,850
religion and spirituality is significant here. And

586
00:37:41,850 --> 00:37:44,070
the word Salat instead of prayer, because prayer

587
00:37:44,070 --> 00:37:46,190
is not like the prayer we do. Prayer is like, you

588
00:37:46,190 --> 00:37:49,590
know, you say a prayer. So another word that is

589
00:37:49,590 --> 00:37:53,490
not used in English. Salat is the Arabic word for

590
00:37:53,490 --> 00:37:57,720
worshipping, together. She kissed you. And again,

591
00:37:57,920 --> 00:38:02,140
more of Arabic language transliterated and also

592
00:38:02,140 --> 00:38:06,500
translated here. Allah be with you, my love. The

593
00:38:06,500 --> 00:38:09,120
word Allah, it's there in the dictionary. Many

594
00:38:09,120 --> 00:38:11,800
people in America and Europe would know that Allah

595
00:38:11,800 --> 00:38:14,260
means God, but she's not using the English word at

596
00:38:14,260 --> 00:38:19,220
the same time. And probably this is a very sad

597
00:38:19,220 --> 00:38:22,280
scene here. You kiss the faces of your sleeping

598
00:38:22,280 --> 00:38:28,040
babies. You haven't seen them awake in months. And

599
00:38:28,040 --> 00:38:30,340
probably this is the toughest thing ever. You have

600
00:38:30,340 --> 00:38:33,000
kids because you love kids, because you want to

601
00:38:33,000 --> 00:38:36,720
bring up new generation. Because kids are life,

602
00:38:36,820 --> 00:38:41,120
they give us everything we want, almost

603
00:38:41,120 --> 00:38:45,040
everything. Beautiful, they make us laugh, they

604
00:38:45,040 --> 00:38:47,020
make us happy, they make us reconnect, you know,

605
00:38:47,080 --> 00:38:48,340
the child is the father of man.

606
00:38:51,470 --> 00:38:56,270
But imagine having kids and not being able to see

607
00:38:56,270 --> 00:38:58,990
every achievement, the first step, the first

608
00:38:58,990 --> 00:39:02,710
stutter, the first word, the first insult, the

609
00:39:02,710 --> 00:39:07,270
first fall, the first achievement. Sometimes this

610
00:39:07,270 --> 00:39:09,550
is heartbreaking even when you imagine criminals

611
00:39:09,550 --> 00:39:14,420
in prison not seeing their kids grow up. You

612
00:39:14,420 --> 00:39:18,560
wonder, has Walid's voice begun to crack yet? Have

613
00:39:18,560 --> 00:39:22,640
Wajdan's hips begun to flare? How big was Soraya's

614
00:39:22,640 --> 00:39:25,720
smile when she came home with her report card,

615
00:39:25,840 --> 00:39:28,720
with her certificate? Full mark, distinction,

616
00:39:29,000 --> 00:39:29,740
coming home.

617
00:39:32,340 --> 00:39:35,820
But the father is not here. He's not dead, not in

618
00:39:35,820 --> 00:39:38,500
prison. He's at work, he can't be here. He goes

619
00:39:38,500 --> 00:39:40,680
out early in the morning, he comes back late at

620
00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:40,920
night.

621
00:39:44,390 --> 00:39:47,630
That's heartbreaking. The questions here are

622
00:39:47,630 --> 00:39:51,890
significant. And again, the clock moves. In the

623
00:39:51,890 --> 00:39:56,290
poem, it's quickly, but it moves. Again, still,

624
00:39:56,970 --> 00:39:59,750
you wait. The line gets even longer and longer.

625
00:39:59,870 --> 00:40:03,880
And look again, the long vowels making this. Of

626
00:40:03,880 --> 00:40:05,420
course if you wake up early in the morning, you're

627
00:40:05,420 --> 00:40:07,500
here at eight o'clock and you don't feel like

628
00:40:07,500 --> 00:40:10,400
talking. Imagine waking up early in the morning at

629
00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:14,920
around two and you wouldn't be, you know, you

630
00:40:14,920 --> 00:40:17,400
don't want to talk. But this is a situation where

631
00:40:17,400 --> 00:40:20,920
talk is also could be something dangerous. You

632
00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:23,140
could be spotted by any of the soldiers, you could

633
00:40:23,140 --> 00:40:25,460
be... And what are you going to talk about? How

634
00:40:25,460 --> 00:40:29,020
this humiliation, this utter agony and suffering

635
00:40:29,020 --> 00:40:31,980
and pain is okay, is fine, is good for you or

636
00:40:31,980 --> 00:40:35,780
somebody? What are you going to talk about? So few

637
00:40:35,780 --> 00:40:38,180
speak because you're not in the mood to speak, but

638
00:40:38,180 --> 00:40:41,980
also because speaking could be taken against you.

639
00:40:42,180 --> 00:40:44,160
Why are you speaking? What are you speaking about?

640
00:40:44,760 --> 00:40:47,140
You could be punished for this just for speaking.

641
00:40:48,880 --> 00:40:52,400
Okay? You see and all around you is pain and

642
00:40:52,400 --> 00:40:54,560
suffering. You don't have a mirror to check

643
00:40:54,560 --> 00:40:57,700
whatever, but you see the pain, the fatigue, the

644
00:40:57,700 --> 00:41:02,500
suffering, the agony in the faces of other people

645
00:41:02,500 --> 00:41:04,980
around you. And you don't want to see that, so you

646
00:41:04,980 --> 00:41:07,240
look away. But wherever you go, there's suffering,

647
00:41:07,380 --> 00:41:11,060
there's pain. It's not like just only here in the

648
00:41:11,060 --> 00:41:15,120
faces of people. And pine forest smoke. I find

649
00:41:15,120 --> 00:41:18,380
this very interesting. It's just You want to

650
00:41:18,380 --> 00:41:21,720
smoke. All you want to do is smoke. But this is a

651
00:41:21,720 --> 00:41:24,000
luxury. It's not because it's money. But who the

652
00:41:24,000 --> 00:41:26,580
hell, swear word here, who the hell can afford

653
00:41:26,580 --> 00:41:29,240
that? It's not about smoking being expensive.

654
00:41:29,780 --> 00:41:32,460
You're not in the mood and also it's too crowded.

655
00:41:32,760 --> 00:41:35,820
Everybody is pushing and pulling and you don't

656
00:41:35,820 --> 00:41:39,100
want to hurt others. You can't even afford a

657
00:41:39,100 --> 00:41:39,440
smoke.

658
00:41:42,380 --> 00:41:45,320
You look away again, you stare at the graffiti

659
00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:47,880
beyond the bars because you saw the pictures,

660
00:41:48,280 --> 00:41:50,720
you're just here like in a path and there are

661
00:41:50,720 --> 00:41:56,500
what? Bars from the left, bars from the right. You

662
00:41:56,500 --> 00:41:59,380
look through this because there will always be

663
00:41:59,380 --> 00:42:02,220
Jewish only settlers and blocks, military

664
00:42:02,220 --> 00:42:07,370
outposts, military checkpoints. And because the

665
00:42:07,370 --> 00:42:09,650
settlers know you would be passing from here, they

666
00:42:09,650 --> 00:42:13,070
will always try to assert their, you know, what's

667
00:42:13,070 --> 00:42:18,450
that called? This is our place here. So they write

668
00:42:18,450 --> 00:42:21,790
on the walls, insults, threats.

669
00:42:25,170 --> 00:42:27,850
graffiti behind the walls, written just for you,

670
00:42:27,950 --> 00:42:30,230
written by Zionist settlers sucking the breath

671
00:42:30,230 --> 00:42:31,870
from your lungs. What's the name of those

672
00:42:31,870 --> 00:42:36,170
creatures in Harry Potter? Dementors, you know? So

673
00:42:36,170 --> 00:42:38,130
the settlers have taken everything, the land, the

674
00:42:38,130 --> 00:42:41,330
crops, the roads, Palestine, air, its produce,

675
00:42:41,530 --> 00:42:45,830
everything. Even so greedy they want to suck the

676
00:42:45,830 --> 00:42:50,750
breath out of your lungs. What have they written

677
00:42:50,750 --> 00:42:55,160
on the wall? stuff in English. They're not native

678
00:42:55,160 --> 00:42:58,040
to the land. I know some of them started to write

679
00:42:58,040 --> 00:43:00,600
in Hebrew recently, but basically it was mainly

680
00:43:00,600 --> 00:43:03,280
English because they hail from Brooklyn, from New

681
00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:05,260
York, from England, from Brazil, from around the

682
00:43:05,260 --> 00:43:08,140
world, so they use English, not even Hebrew.

683
00:43:10,980 --> 00:43:12,920
And you understand this because you know probably

684
00:43:12,920 --> 00:43:15,160
you have asked or because you have a degree in

685
00:43:15,160 --> 00:43:20,150
English, but you have no job. Die sand niggers and

686
00:43:20,150 --> 00:43:23,970
niggers and is a horrible horrible horrible racist

687
00:43:23,970 --> 00:43:27,550
word you should never use it But white

688
00:43:27,550 --> 00:43:30,930
supremacists, racists would use this to describe

689
00:43:30,930 --> 00:43:35,770
black people in America. And about Arabs, that's

690
00:43:35,770 --> 00:43:38,190
why it's called the N-word. You say, he said the N

691
00:43:38,190 --> 00:43:40,450
-word, she said the N-word, which is horrible.

692
00:43:40,630 --> 00:43:44,470
Some people are digging actually a tape after

693
00:43:44,470 --> 00:43:48,970
Trump. Some claim that he once used the N-word.

694
00:43:49,590 --> 00:43:51,710
And this is a billion dollar tape if somebody

695
00:43:51,710 --> 00:43:56,500
finds it. So Arabs are sand niggers because, you

696
00:43:56,500 --> 00:43:58,540
know, of the desert, of the stereotypical images

697
00:43:58,540 --> 00:44:02,040
of Arabs and Muslims in the Middle East. So racist

698
00:44:02,040 --> 00:44:04,520
in America, racist in Europe, racist in Russia,

699
00:44:04,880 --> 00:44:07,020
racist here when they come to occupy Palestine.

700
00:44:07,220 --> 00:44:10,920
Once a racist, always a racist. And look at this

701
00:44:10,920 --> 00:44:13,920
heartbreaking. Sometimes you pine for that too.

702
00:44:13,980 --> 00:44:17,960
Sometimes you just want to die. You just want to

703
00:44:17,960 --> 00:44:20,560
die. You have nothing to lose. The humiliation,

704
00:44:20,780 --> 00:44:23,420
the pain, the suffering. It's five a.m. now. The

705
00:44:23,420 --> 00:44:25,580
soldiers arrive. Look, you've been there for two

706
00:44:25,580 --> 00:44:28,260
hours and then the soldiers arrive casually two

707
00:44:28,260 --> 00:44:32,300
hours later. The line loosens and you're propelled

708
00:44:32,300 --> 00:44:35,160
by the weight of the bodies. You look at the

709
00:44:35,160 --> 00:44:36,800
personification. Remember we said that Jibnez

710
00:44:36,800 --> 00:44:39,300
sandwich, you're clutching onto it. You're holding

711
00:44:39,300 --> 00:44:42,380
it very tightly. It's your lunch. It's from your

712
00:44:42,380 --> 00:44:45,160
wife. It connects you back home. It's your food.

713
00:44:48,390 --> 00:44:52,430
The cheese sandwich is crushed. It never survives.

714
00:44:52,550 --> 00:44:56,450
A personification of the sandwich. It never

715
00:44:56,450 --> 00:45:01,650
survives. And now it's 7 a.m., it's your turn, you

716
00:45:01,650 --> 00:45:04,190
produce your papers, refold, unfold. Look at how,

717
00:45:04,330 --> 00:45:06,610
again, the humiliation. You have to go through

718
00:45:06,610 --> 00:45:08,890
this, you have no choice. We've seen some people

719
00:45:08,890 --> 00:45:11,610
smile, you know, when it's their turn, so they get

720
00:45:11,610 --> 00:45:14,410
to the soldier, they smile. It's not a smile of

721
00:45:14,410 --> 00:45:19,030
victory, this is just We finished one episode of

722
00:45:19,030 --> 00:45:21,410
agony, pain and suffering and humiliation, utter

723
00:45:21,410 --> 00:45:24,070
humiliation, and we're starting a new one. That's

724
00:45:24,070 --> 00:45:27,810
the break, that's the... Your eyes down, your

725
00:45:27,810 --> 00:45:32,190
heart down, even your shoes are against you. But

726
00:45:32,190 --> 00:45:36,480
because you're out of the line, probably, Fifteen

727
00:45:36,480 --> 00:45:39,100
men before you were pulled aside. Now in real

728
00:45:39,100 --> 00:45:42,720
life, man is and woman, we are curious, we want to

729
00:45:42,720 --> 00:45:47,700
look at least, to examine, explore. And probably

730
00:45:47,700 --> 00:45:50,440
some of these men are your neighbors, your

731
00:45:50,440 --> 00:45:53,100
friends, probably your brothers, family members.

732
00:45:55,180 --> 00:45:58,700
They're pulled aside for no reason. I say this

733
00:45:58,700 --> 00:46:00,040
about the Israeli occupation. The worst thing

734
00:46:00,040 --> 00:46:01,460
about the Israeli occupation is that it's

735
00:46:01,460 --> 00:46:04,860
arbitrary, it's random. You don't know who they

736
00:46:04,860 --> 00:46:06,880
are going to kill or when or where, what they're

737
00:46:06,880 --> 00:46:09,620
going to destroy or when or where. Not that Israel

738
00:46:09,620 --> 00:46:13,120
has no system, because occupation is inherently,

739
00:46:13,540 --> 00:46:17,500
purely, utterly, absolutely evil. Never ever talk

740
00:46:17,500 --> 00:46:19,960
about occupation in a positive sense. It shouldn't

741
00:46:19,960 --> 00:46:20,420
be there.

742
00:46:24,390 --> 00:46:26,790
It's random in a systematic way. They want just to

743
00:46:26,790 --> 00:46:32,170
drive us crazy, to kick us out of our land. So

744
00:46:32,170 --> 00:46:36,110
people are pulled aside. You don't even dare to go

745
00:46:36,110 --> 00:46:39,150
protect them, to fight against their aggressors,

746
00:46:39,350 --> 00:46:43,690
to say something, to object. Because that could be

747
00:46:43,690 --> 00:46:46,270
the end of you. Could get you killed, sent to

748
00:46:46,270 --> 00:46:52,190
prison, or worse, having your work permit

749
00:46:52,190 --> 00:46:56,980
terminated. You don't want that. And you try not

750
00:46:56,980 --> 00:47:00,160
to look, not to hear the one begging, don't hit

751
00:47:00,160 --> 00:47:08,260
me. 7.30 on the cattle bus. Even the bus is cattle

752
00:47:08,260 --> 00:47:12,020
bus. And look at this beautiful and sad scene

753
00:47:12,020 --> 00:47:16,060
here. You ride the country. They stole from you

754
00:47:16,060 --> 00:47:20,520
speeds outside your window. And you imagine the

755
00:47:20,520 --> 00:47:22,380
man you would have been, the man you should have

756
00:47:22,380 --> 00:47:26,330
been. I always encourage my students to just

757
00:47:26,330 --> 00:47:28,570
please think of yourself without Israeli

758
00:47:28,570 --> 00:47:29,150
occupation.

759
00:47:36,010 --> 00:47:38,110
Especially those refugees. I know how many of you

760
00:47:38,110 --> 00:47:41,870
are refugees? Oh, that's like what, more than 50%?

761
00:47:42,070 --> 00:47:45,010
Whoa. Imagine if your parents, your grandparents

762
00:47:45,010 --> 00:47:49,270
were not pushed, were not forced, were not sent to

763
00:47:49,270 --> 00:47:50,370
Gaza at gunpoint.

764
00:47:56,270 --> 00:47:59,530
Where would you be now? What would you be

765
00:47:59,530 --> 00:48:03,330
studying? Eating? Married to? Who would you be

766
00:48:03,330 --> 00:48:08,050
married to? Living? Imagine this. Crazy, yeah? But

767
00:48:08,050 --> 00:48:10,830
it's a basic human right. Imagine this situation

768
00:48:10,830 --> 00:48:13,790
where you can have breakfast in Gaza, lunch in

769
00:48:13,790 --> 00:48:17,870
Hebron, dinner in Jerusalem, a sleepover in the

770
00:48:17,870 --> 00:48:22,970
Galilee. You can travel where you want, go where

771
00:48:22,970 --> 00:48:25,150
you want. No occupation, no restrictions, no

772
00:48:25,150 --> 00:48:28,720
borders. The man you could have been. Please think

773
00:48:28,720 --> 00:48:30,700
about this and write about this. You have to write

774
00:48:30,700 --> 00:48:32,540
about this. The man you could have been. The man

775
00:48:32,540 --> 00:48:37,040
you should have been. Out there riding the family

776
00:48:37,040 --> 00:48:40,120
steed. Steed, you know? The horse. Poetic word for

777
00:48:40,120 --> 00:48:43,320
horse. And the cerebrum as your grandfather. Look

778
00:48:43,320 --> 00:48:45,480
at the existence of all the older generation

779
00:48:45,480 --> 00:48:49,540
always. Being there, caring, loving. Raised and

780
00:48:49,540 --> 00:48:52,600
nurtured and loved in a Palestine

781
00:48:55,280 --> 00:48:58,720
Unraped, unstolen, unoccupied, unbrutalized.

782
00:48:59,760 --> 00:49:03,700
Fascinating, beautiful image from but

783
00:49:03,700 --> 00:49:05,600
heartbreaking at the same time because we can't

784
00:49:05,600 --> 00:49:10,120
have this. It's 8 a.m. you get off the cattle bus,

785
00:49:10,280 --> 00:49:12,320
you crush the jebne sandwich, still have the

786
00:49:12,320 --> 00:49:15,620
sandwich because it's crushed but you can eat it.

787
00:49:16,790 --> 00:49:20,610
Your wife made it with cucumber in a plastic bag

788
00:49:20,610 --> 00:49:24,850
in one hand, your eyes down, heart down, your pot,

789
00:49:24,990 --> 00:49:30,250
your toolbox down and knock. It's all been like

790
00:49:30,250 --> 00:49:34,650
six, five hours because you're going to work and

791
00:49:34,650 --> 00:49:37,410
your boss is a Zionist that you have no choice and

792
00:49:37,410 --> 00:49:42,370
that's really a hard choice to make. where the

793
00:49:42,370 --> 00:49:45,630
help goes now if you're dealing with a sane person

794
00:49:45,630 --> 00:49:47,550
if you have an appointment they would be texting

795
00:49:47,550 --> 00:49:49,370
you hey I'm sorry I'm running late I have to run

796
00:49:49,370 --> 00:49:52,270
this errand can we meet tomorrow you know we have

797
00:49:52,270 --> 00:49:54,570
friends who don't do this at all and we just kind

798
00:49:54,570 --> 00:49:57,830
of hate them they just we have an appointment at

799
00:49:57,830 --> 00:49:59,550
two and they never show up or they show up two

800
00:49:59,550 --> 00:50:01,770
hours late and then oh sorry okay I'll be there in

801
00:50:01,770 --> 00:50:03,910
one hour an hour but we have decent people who

802
00:50:03,910 --> 00:50:06,370
have the courtesy of just texting sorry I'm

803
00:50:06,370 --> 00:50:11,080
running late so you can at least grab something So

804
00:50:11,080 --> 00:50:13,520
the settler could have texted him, contacted him,

805
00:50:13,660 --> 00:50:16,200
could have said that, don't come tomorrow, don't

806
00:50:16,200 --> 00:50:19,100
come here at least, and saved him all the pain and

807
00:50:19,100 --> 00:50:23,740
the suffering. But, and look at this, this is one

808
00:50:23,740 --> 00:50:28,480
whole stanza here. It's the heaviest but you'd

809
00:50:28,480 --> 00:50:31,620
ever see anywhere. It's one paragraph, one stanza.

810
00:50:32,860 --> 00:50:35,940
So harsh, like a rock thrown at the man, at us, at

811
00:50:35,940 --> 00:50:39,400
breeders. I could ask you on your exam to

812
00:50:39,400 --> 00:50:45,140
contextualize it. Just one word. That's the beauty

813
00:50:45,140 --> 00:50:47,860
of modernist poetry, of reverse, of, you know, not

814
00:50:47,860 --> 00:50:52,300
having to stick to, you don't have to fill words,

815
00:50:52,400 --> 00:50:56,960
you don't want to use words. Words fail you. And

816
00:50:56,960 --> 00:50:59,540
this is the harshest thought ever. The Zionist

817
00:50:59,540 --> 00:51:00,660
boss yells,

818
00:51:03,180 --> 00:51:05,260
You know, we make fun of this. Sometimes kids say,

819
00:51:05,340 --> 00:51:07,520
hey, dad, somebody's at the door. You say, tell

820
00:51:07,520 --> 00:51:10,000
him dad is not here. He says, dad tells you he's

821
00:51:10,000 --> 00:51:13,040
not here? But this is harsh. This is the soldier

822
00:51:13,040 --> 00:51:15,780
himself, the settler himself, yelling, I'm not

823
00:51:15,780 --> 00:51:19,540
here. Go away. Not having the courtesy to open the

824
00:51:19,540 --> 00:51:22,860
door, to apologize, to speak politely. But this is

825
00:51:22,860 --> 00:51:26,700
occupation. It's evil. Turns people into monsters,

826
00:51:27,380 --> 00:51:32,100
absolute monsters. Go away. Wallah. And look at

827
00:51:32,100 --> 00:51:35,040
this word. Wallah is a word you use for kids. It

828
00:51:35,040 --> 00:51:37,340
means boy, yeah, but it's an insult when you use

829
00:51:37,340 --> 00:51:42,580
it to a grown-up. You don't like this sometimes.

830
00:51:44,780 --> 00:51:47,240
It's sexist, huh? It's horrible.

831
00:51:50,100 --> 00:51:54,780
Okay? And what would you do if somebody insults

832
00:51:54,780 --> 00:51:59,470
you? No violence, of course. But at least you just

833
00:51:59,470 --> 00:52:03,450
shout, throw a rock, fight him back, challenge

834
00:52:03,450 --> 00:52:06,710
him. But you're deprived of your basic human right

835
00:52:06,710 --> 00:52:09,570
to resist, to fight back. You can't do that. If

836
00:52:09,570 --> 00:52:11,230
you do that, you're evil, you're a terrorist.

837
00:52:12,090 --> 00:52:15,090
That's the harshest thing. Your inability to

838
00:52:15,090 --> 00:52:20,830
defend yourself, to fight for yourself. And if I

839
00:52:20,830 --> 00:52:25,290
want to turn this into a short movie, I had this

840
00:52:25,290 --> 00:52:30,310
crazy idea. I always do. I would imagine this man,

841
00:52:30,390 --> 00:52:32,130
the whole poem starting from a man sitting

842
00:52:32,130 --> 00:52:34,250
somewhere on the pavement, you know, altered,

843
00:52:34,610 --> 00:52:38,580
devastated, destroyed, hopeless, you know. and

844
00:52:38,580 --> 00:52:43,280
eating bits and pieces of the Jibnez sandwich and

845
00:52:43,280 --> 00:52:46,240
everything going back into his mind. I really,

846
00:52:46,280 --> 00:52:51,280
really have this beautiful idea. So if some of you

847
00:52:51,280 --> 00:52:54,000
are into movie making, we can make something out

848
00:52:54,000 --> 00:52:54,320
of this.

849
00:52:59,450 --> 00:53:01,590
Because the insult here, if this is a man, this is

850
00:53:01,590 --> 00:53:03,930
a father, he's somebody's son, somebody's brother,

851
00:53:04,050 --> 00:53:05,950
somebody's probably he's the coolest guy in the

852
00:53:05,950 --> 00:53:08,070
neighborhood, yeah? Everybody respects him,

853
00:53:08,130 --> 00:53:11,010
everybody looks up to him. Imagine the utter

854
00:53:11,010 --> 00:53:14,970
humiliation and insult here. And your inability to

855
00:53:14,970 --> 00:53:17,190
defend yourself, say, hey, at least don't say,

856
00:53:17,270 --> 00:53:22,410
well, at least respect yourself. But the man here

857
00:53:22,410 --> 00:53:26,510
is helpless. And all you can do is thank Allah.

858
00:53:26,550 --> 00:53:28,890
And again, Allah, the Arabic word, Muslim word.

859
00:53:30,210 --> 00:53:33,170
that your wife and your babies are not there to

860
00:53:33,170 --> 00:53:36,070
hear you, to hear them. It's not just one man,

861
00:53:36,510 --> 00:53:40,310
it's everybody calls you Wala. Call you Wala.

862
00:53:44,530 --> 00:53:47,550
It's a beautiful poem. Susan Abulhawa is a very

863
00:53:47,550 --> 00:53:51,650
fine writer, very fine person, very fine poet.

864
00:53:56,170 --> 00:53:58,410
So yeah, what do you have to say?

865
00:54:01,570 --> 00:54:04,550
Please. I think it is very emotional and

866
00:54:04,550 --> 00:54:06,250
depressing.

867
00:54:07,830 --> 00:54:09,790
Devastating, yeah, depressing, devastating,

868
00:54:10,850 --> 00:54:15,170
heartbreaking, heart-wrenching. No matter how much

869
00:54:15,170 --> 00:54:17,730
you hear this poem or you read it, every time

870
00:54:17,730 --> 00:54:21,150
you'll also be brought to tears because it's so

871
00:54:21,150 --> 00:54:24,610
emotional. It embodies every single part of his

872
00:54:24,610 --> 00:54:28,480
journey as like a whole entity or a whole It's an

873
00:54:28,480 --> 00:54:31,920
odyssey. Everything is a fight against everything.

874
00:54:32,460 --> 00:54:33,180
Please.

875
00:54:36,740 --> 00:54:38,840
Okay, so this is more realistic especially for us

876
00:54:38,840 --> 00:54:41,460
Palestinians again, especially if your dad has

877
00:54:41,460 --> 00:54:45,740
ever worked inside Ask him about this journey or

878
00:54:45,740 --> 00:54:49,180
ask your mom Or if you know somebody there's a

879
00:54:49,180 --> 00:54:52,360
book by you know, Suad Al Anari Sharona my mother

880
00:54:52,360 --> 00:54:54,580
-in-law She wrote a book nothing to lose but your

881
00:54:54,580 --> 00:54:58,420
life I think or Murad Murad the other name She

882
00:54:58,420 --> 00:55:01,260
actually this is a crazy one. This is an amazing

883
00:55:01,260 --> 00:55:04,220
woman She dressed like a man a laborer and she

884
00:55:04,220 --> 00:55:06,000
woke up early in the morning and she took this

885
00:55:06,000 --> 00:55:11,370
same journey with the guys, you know, smuggled

886
00:55:11,370 --> 00:55:14,450
inside in order to find work. And she wrote a

887
00:55:14,450 --> 00:55:18,530
very, very interesting book. You should read it. I

888
00:55:18,530 --> 00:55:20,130
think it was translated into Arabic, but read the

889
00:55:20,130 --> 00:55:20,670
English version.

890
00:55:23,360 --> 00:55:25,960
But again, look at how this touches everybody of

891
00:55:25,960 --> 00:55:28,580
us. Remember I said it's about probably your

892
00:55:28,580 --> 00:55:30,900
father has not been in this situation, you don't

893
00:55:30,900 --> 00:55:33,800
know someone closely related to you who has been

894
00:55:33,800 --> 00:55:36,820
here, but this is about us. We've seen everything

895
00:55:36,820 --> 00:55:38,920
about this and this is why the occupation has

896
00:55:38,920 --> 00:55:42,500
impacted all our lives, whether you know, whether

897
00:55:42,500 --> 00:55:44,260
you don't know, consciously and unconsciously.

898
00:55:44,340 --> 00:55:46,920
Again, keep thinking of the alternatives, the

899
00:55:46,920 --> 00:55:48,740
person you could have been, the person you should

900
00:55:48,740 --> 00:55:53,210
have been. You probably can't travel because of

901
00:55:53,210 --> 00:55:56,310
Israel. You can't seek, you can't have medical

902
00:55:56,310 --> 00:55:58,470
treatment because of Israel. You can't be in

903
00:55:58,470 --> 00:55:59,970
Jerusalem. I want to be in Jerusalem. I just want

904
00:55:59,970 --> 00:56:03,570
to have fun there, fly kites without wars and

905
00:56:03,570 --> 00:56:07,010
without soldiers, without machine guns, without

906
00:56:07,010 --> 00:56:10,470
occupation. I want to go spend time, swim in the

907
00:56:10,470 --> 00:56:12,390
Dead Sea or I don't know.

908
00:56:15,590 --> 00:56:19,420
But you can't have that. Our lives have been

909
00:56:19,420 --> 00:56:23,320
impacted by Israel in every, Israel has interfered

910
00:56:23,320 --> 00:56:26,160
in every tiny little aspect of our lives. Even the

911
00:56:26,160 --> 00:56:28,680
food we eat, sometimes it's just because of

912
00:56:28,680 --> 00:56:32,400
Israel. The choices, what we read, what we do, why

913
00:56:32,400 --> 00:56:36,240
we are on social media, probably partly because of

914
00:56:36,240 --> 00:56:41,280
Israel, because of the occupation. So this can be

915
00:56:41,280 --> 00:56:43,800
classified as resistance literature, because we

916
00:56:43,800 --> 00:56:47,640
want to expose, we want to resist, we want Because

917
00:56:47,640 --> 00:56:49,700
writing itself is an act of life, an act of

918
00:56:49,700 --> 00:56:54,140
resistance, writing, being there, just being

919
00:56:54,140 --> 00:56:58,980
there. Now, I'll talk about two things and see if

920
00:56:58,980 --> 00:57:02,420
you can have comments about the poem or talk about

921
00:57:02,420 --> 00:57:04,240
features, because this is an assignment you need

922
00:57:04,240 --> 00:57:08,960
to write to find the features between from Man'ish

923
00:57:08,960 --> 00:57:12,180
by Lina Al Sharif and Wala by Susan Aboulhawan,

924
00:57:12,280 --> 00:57:15,320
comment on them. Now, the use of Arabic is, I find

925
00:57:15,320 --> 00:57:19,450
it very interesting. Usually, look at this, when

926
00:57:19,450 --> 00:57:22,350
you write in a foreign language, probably you

927
00:57:22,350 --> 00:57:24,530
write for yourself because this is the language

928
00:57:24,530 --> 00:57:26,730
you feel comfortable writing in because you don't

929
00:57:26,730 --> 00:57:29,310
want your mom or dad or family members to read

930
00:57:29,310 --> 00:57:32,030
your stuff if you write in Arabic, your own mother

931
00:57:32,030 --> 00:57:34,670
language. But you also write to reach out to

932
00:57:34,670 --> 00:57:37,470
people, either to expose, like Palestinians do,

933
00:57:37,530 --> 00:57:40,690
expose the brutality of Israeli occupation, or

934
00:57:40,690 --> 00:57:46,170
just simply to reveal or release or express

935
00:57:46,170 --> 00:57:51,010
yourself. Why would you use Arabic words and not

936
00:57:51,010 --> 00:57:53,950
translate them, for example? Now there could be

937
00:57:53,950 --> 00:57:56,130
two reasons here, very briefly. Number one,

938
00:57:57,270 --> 00:57:59,370
usually your mother tongue is like your mother

939
00:57:59,370 --> 00:58:02,980
takes some other tongue. It feels protective. So

940
00:58:02,980 --> 00:58:05,240
I've noticed this. Many non-native speakers of

941
00:58:05,240 --> 00:58:07,020
English, when they write English, they tend to use

942
00:58:07,020 --> 00:58:10,020
foreign language, their own mother tongue.

943
00:58:10,600 --> 00:58:13,260
Sometimes usually I feel that because your

944
00:58:13,260 --> 00:58:16,040
language gives you protection and safety and

945
00:58:16,040 --> 00:58:18,780
security, gives you warmth. So sometimes you feel

946
00:58:18,780 --> 00:58:21,980
in trouble, you feel unable to express yourself,

947
00:58:22,100 --> 00:58:25,360
unable to talk, unable to be yourself. you shift

948
00:58:25,360 --> 00:58:30,260
to, you go back to your native language, your

949
00:58:30,260 --> 00:58:33,060
mother tongue, to give you this safety and

950
00:58:33,060 --> 00:58:36,160
protection. Sometimes people, words can never

951
00:58:36,160 --> 00:58:38,380
convey their true meanings.

952
00:58:41,720 --> 00:58:43,760
That's why there's this expression, lost in

953
00:58:43,760 --> 00:58:47,120
translation. The other reason, we said before that

954
00:58:47,120 --> 00:58:49,180
writing is an act of power, is an act of

955
00:58:49,180 --> 00:58:53,600
exercising power. like speaking, the readers, the

956
00:58:53,600 --> 00:58:56,740
listeners, the recipients are you know passive

957
00:58:56,740 --> 00:59:00,120
generally speaking. Imagine you're writing

958
00:59:00,120 --> 00:59:02,980
somebody to somebody in English in their language

959
00:59:02,980 --> 00:59:05,400
and then you refer to you use an Arabic expression

960
00:59:05,400 --> 00:59:08,410
or something and you don't translate it. This is

961
00:59:08,410 --> 00:59:11,370
an act of exercising double power. It's the play

962
00:59:11,370 --> 00:59:14,370
of power here is even more intensified here

963
00:59:14,370 --> 00:59:17,250
because what they're going to do is they're going

964
00:59:17,250 --> 00:59:18,990
to go to dictionary, they're going to ask you,

965
00:59:19,070 --> 00:59:21,110
they're going to ask you, they're going to take

966
00:59:21,110 --> 00:59:23,310
action. And Palestinians, we want people to take

967
00:59:23,310 --> 00:59:26,350
action, to boycott Israel, to do something, to

968
00:59:26,350 --> 00:59:29,710
help, to support, to stand up for human rights,

969
00:59:30,210 --> 00:59:35,000
for justice, for freedom. So pushing them, people,

970
00:59:35,240 --> 00:59:41,240
to read, to ask, to Google, your own words, your

971
00:59:41,240 --> 00:59:44,660
own expressions and your own language, is again

972
00:59:44,660 --> 00:59:47,080
exercising power over them. You're controlling

973
00:59:47,080 --> 00:59:50,640
them, you're telling them what to do. And in part

974
00:59:50,640 --> 00:59:53,790
this is an act of power. And there could be many

975
00:59:53,790 --> 00:59:55,970
other things. I try to raise things, research

976
00:59:55,970 --> 00:59:58,290
issues. By the way, you could do your MA or your

977
00:59:58,290 --> 01:00:02,830
graduation paper on how poets sometimes use their

978
01:00:02,830 --> 01:00:04,810
language and in what situations, on what

979
01:00:04,810 --> 01:00:07,750
occasions. Be an interesting research to do.

980
01:00:11,290 --> 01:00:15,010
Because you could dig, dig more. Please, speak up.

981
01:00:15,470 --> 01:00:18,270
For me, using like Arabic words when I learn

982
01:00:18,270 --> 01:00:18,910
English.

983
01:00:29,730 --> 01:00:32,610
Thank you very much. Rahaf says here, when I

984
01:00:32,610 --> 01:00:35,170
write, that's why I beg you, please write. You

985
01:00:35,170 --> 01:00:38,310
have a lot of potential, a lot of talent. Because

986
01:00:38,310 --> 01:00:41,350
everything we discussed in this whole course can

987
01:00:41,350 --> 01:00:43,690
have a totally different experience when you start

988
01:00:43,690 --> 01:00:45,710
writing poetry, start writing about Palestine,

989
01:00:45,970 --> 01:00:50,640
start writing about anything. So yeah, please.

990
01:00:52,420 --> 01:00:55,000
Speak up. For me personally, when I read it, I

991
01:00:55,000 --> 01:00:59,240
feel like more belong to it and more warm. There's

992
01:00:59,240 --> 01:01:02,260
more attachment. I can't think myself, well, in

993
01:01:02,260 --> 01:01:05,240
this place of this land, also for a foreigner when

994
01:01:05,240 --> 01:01:08,820
he read this, what is the reason to show our

995
01:01:08,820 --> 01:01:11,860
tradition and rudeness of our tradition? The food

996
01:01:11,860 --> 01:01:12,460
is culture.

997
01:01:20,660 --> 01:01:31,260
Okay, thank you very much. I think

998
01:01:31,260 --> 01:01:38,000
that's only you. There are hundred types of

999
01:01:38,000 --> 01:01:41,340
cheese. I keep personally I keep imagining you

1000
01:01:41,340 --> 01:01:44,540
know that cheese with holes and Tom and Jerry you

1001
01:01:44,540 --> 01:01:46,640
know that's the only thing I that's but that's

1002
01:01:46,640 --> 01:01:47,020
only me.

1003
01:01:53,240 --> 01:01:56,520
Okay It's a stable food. Yeah stable food because

1004
01:01:56,520 --> 01:01:59,900
these are farmers they you know, they eat what

1005
01:01:59,900 --> 01:02:04,020
they produce Thank you. That's a very good point I

1006
01:02:11,820 --> 01:02:14,460
So it makes you interact more with the text, makes

1007
01:02:14,460 --> 01:02:16,680
you nervous, makes you, you know, feel a little

1008
01:02:16,680 --> 01:02:19,700
bit inferior. Oh, this guy knows more than I do.

1009
01:02:20,540 --> 01:02:24,140
And then pushes you to do something that follows.

1010
01:02:37,390 --> 01:02:40,370
When you go to America, not many people will be

1011
01:02:40,370 --> 01:02:42,550
saying Gaza, by the way. They're all like Gaza,

1012
01:02:42,750 --> 01:02:45,610
Gaza, Gaza, Gaza, Gaza, Palestine, Palestine,

1013
01:02:45,730 --> 01:02:48,110
Palestine. And yeah, it sounds cooler. There's

1014
01:02:48,110 --> 01:02:50,810
more attachment. It's, you know, it's not like

1015
01:02:50,810 --> 01:02:56,390
Gaza, you know? Palestine. Yeah, that's something

1016
01:02:56,390 --> 01:03:00,170
common, by the way. And it's really beautiful.

1017
01:03:00,390 --> 01:03:04,070
It's like it's finally, talking about the poem,

1018
01:03:04,330 --> 01:03:05,190
about Susan Abulhawa.

1019
01:03:16,540 --> 01:03:19,040
It's number one, the shape, the way it's written,

1020
01:03:19,200 --> 01:03:22,140
you know. You don't write diaries like this, you

1021
01:03:22,140 --> 01:03:24,940
write long paragraphs. And also this is very

1022
01:03:24,940 --> 01:03:28,540
poetic. It sounds poetic, you read it, but there

1023
01:03:28,540 --> 01:03:33,250
is prose that can be poetic. Yeah, I know some

1024
01:03:33,250 --> 01:03:36,910
people would object that, sorry, this is not

1025
01:03:36,910 --> 01:03:39,710
poetry, free verses. Yeah, it says some people

1026
01:03:39,710 --> 01:03:43,190
still say this about Arabic free verse. They don't

1027
01:03:43,190 --> 01:03:46,510
believe, but look at this. If some people say

1028
01:03:46,510 --> 01:03:49,870
poetry is what, you know, the texts that have the

1029
01:03:49,870 --> 01:03:53,190
ability to move you, to shake you, to make you

1030
01:03:53,190 --> 01:03:56,590
reconsider your life choices, to bring you to

1031
01:03:56,590 --> 01:04:01,640
tears. Prose does this. But pottery has more

1032
01:04:01,640 --> 01:04:06,480
potential to do it. Is this here? Can you feel it?

1033
01:04:06,600 --> 01:04:12,240
Can you? I think it is there. I find also the lack

1034
01:04:12,240 --> 01:04:16,160
of punctuation marks to be interesting. There are

1035
01:04:16,160 --> 01:04:19,260
some here and there, but basically it's loose,

1036
01:04:20,320 --> 01:04:23,180
chaotic. That's Israel. This is what Israel brings

1037
01:04:23,180 --> 01:04:26,000
to the table, chaos, lawlessness.

1038
01:04:28,580 --> 01:04:31,460
There are no rules here. Rules of the jungle,

1039
01:04:32,240 --> 01:04:37,280
where a foreign alien intruder is controlling

1040
01:04:37,280 --> 01:04:42,640
every breath we take, everything we do. One more

1041
01:04:42,640 --> 01:04:47,600
thing about the poem, Susan Abu Alhawa. Even the

1042
01:04:47,600 --> 01:04:51,680
shape, like the short lines, the long lines, shape

1043
01:04:51,680 --> 01:04:55,500
is connected. You like?

1044
01:04:59,940 --> 01:05:06,200
So it's

1045
01:05:06,200 --> 01:05:11,020
deeply connected to land, like the Jibna and Ha,

1046
01:05:11,040 --> 01:05:13,920
where we get it from, and to time, time and place.

1047
01:05:26,710 --> 01:05:28,110
Okay.

1048
01:05:37,560 --> 01:05:40,460
Very good. You humanize this. But has this

1049
01:05:40,460 --> 01:05:45,780
prevented the soldiers from further humiliating

1050
01:05:45,780 --> 01:05:49,580
you? The Zionists settler from humiliating you

1051
01:05:49,580 --> 01:05:52,560
beyond imagination? Because no matter how much you

1052
01:05:52,560 --> 01:05:54,340
humanize yourself, what else should we do?

1053
01:05:55,160 --> 01:05:57,440
Remember, it's not our fault. Many people would

1054
01:05:57,440 --> 01:05:59,340
blame Palestinians. Remember, never blame the

1055
01:05:59,340 --> 01:06:03,580
victim. Would blame us for our own plight. Hey,

1056
01:06:04,000 --> 01:06:06,480
look up. Look there. Look at the Israeli

1057
01:06:06,480 --> 01:06:11,190
occupation. So how, like there was this thing,

1058
01:06:11,330 --> 01:06:13,550
like I'm not sure if I can remember who did this,

1059
01:06:13,650 --> 01:06:16,150
like how many kids should be killed by Israel so

1060
01:06:16,150 --> 01:06:18,970
Israel can realize we're human beings? How many

1061
01:06:18,970 --> 01:06:21,350
times should Israel wage wars against us to

1062
01:06:21,350 --> 01:06:24,170
realize that for Israelis? That's really

1063
01:06:24,170 --> 01:06:25,030
heartbreaking.

1064
01:06:29,070 --> 01:06:33,490
2014, when Israel waged its most horrific war in

1065
01:06:33,490 --> 01:06:36,290
decades against Palestinians, over 90% of Israeli

1066
01:06:36,290 --> 01:06:40,670
Jews supported the war against Palestinians. What

1067
01:06:40,670 --> 01:06:43,710
should we do? There's nothing wrong with us. We're

1068
01:06:43,710 --> 01:06:45,510
occupied, we're fighting back, we're resisting,

1069
01:06:45,670 --> 01:06:48,930
we're oppressed, we're brutalized. The problem is

1070
01:06:48,930 --> 01:06:52,300
with the occupier. The problem is with the

1071
01:06:52,300 --> 01:06:56,820
occupier. So that's why probably the grandmother

1072
01:06:56,820 --> 01:07:01,880
in Lina's poem didn't want the young lady to

1073
01:07:01,880 --> 01:07:06,200
overdo this kind of humanization, self

1074
01:07:06,200 --> 01:07:10,960
-humanization. Be yourself, fight back, resist in

1075
01:07:10,960 --> 01:07:15,290
your own way. and you're good to go. One last

1076
01:07:15,290 --> 01:07:18,250
point, and then I'll stop here. This poem could be

1077
01:07:18,250 --> 01:07:21,190
taken literally, but it also can be taken

1078
01:07:21,190 --> 01:07:24,490
allegorically. This whole poem could be an

1079
01:07:24,490 --> 01:07:28,210
allegory of Palestinians against the Israeli

1080
01:07:28,210 --> 01:07:31,030
occupation. Look at what Palestinians, like even

1081
01:07:31,030 --> 01:07:33,910
the Palestinian, okay, some kind of Palestinian

1082
01:07:33,910 --> 01:07:36,590
leadership, the Palestinian authority, they have

1083
01:07:36,590 --> 01:07:39,170
done everything for the sake of the peace process.

1084
01:07:41,360 --> 01:07:43,920
We've taken some privileges here and there to

1085
01:07:43,920 --> 01:07:46,220
protect Israel, to bring safety to Israel, to

1086
01:07:46,220 --> 01:07:48,120
prevent Palestinian resistance, to stop the

1087
01:07:48,120 --> 01:07:50,900
freedom fighters, right? And in return, what has

1088
01:07:50,900 --> 01:07:54,200
Israel given us back, given them back? Nothing. No

1089
01:07:54,200 --> 01:07:58,700
matter what you do, how much you try, you will

1090
01:07:58,700 --> 01:08:01,580
always be treated as a boy. You'll be kicked out,

1091
01:08:01,680 --> 01:08:05,410
you'll be humiliated, dismissed. Because this is

1092
01:08:05,410 --> 01:08:09,250
what occupiers do. And I like to take, I don't

1093
01:08:09,250 --> 01:08:11,590
want to say either or, this is a personal story,

1094
01:08:12,190 --> 01:08:14,510
but could be also allegorical, metaphorical of

1095
01:08:14,510 --> 01:08:18,410
Palestinians. So is this an invitation to stop

1096
01:08:18,410 --> 01:08:21,610
with the nonsense peace process? Fight back,

1097
01:08:21,710 --> 01:08:26,110
resist in your own way, bidias, boycott? Because

1098
01:08:26,110 --> 01:08:30,430
you did anyway. You humiliated anyway. Why not die

1099
01:08:30,430 --> 01:08:35,900
fighting? Is this a theme? Think about it. I'll be

1100
01:08:35,900 --> 01:08:38,700
stopping here. And if you have, stay back, please.

1101
01:08:38,780 --> 01:08:40,920
If you have any question, we can talk about it.

1102
01:08:40,940 --> 01:08:44,040
But there are probably pictures we can post on our

1103
01:08:44,040 --> 01:08:47,380
Facebook group. These pictures, we've seen them so

1104
01:08:47,380 --> 01:08:50,380
many times. These pictures, these pictures. Look

1105
01:08:50,380 --> 01:08:56,060
at this, cattle cage, right? So sad. So how is

1106
01:08:56,060 --> 01:09:00,700
Wala an allegorical poem? Also, Susan Abulhawa's

1107
01:09:00,700 --> 01:09:03,220
poem, Wala, is about every Palestinian, not only

1108
01:09:03,220 --> 01:09:05,500
every laborer. Actually, it's about every human

1109
01:09:05,500 --> 01:09:07,760
being that ever lived under occupation and

1110
01:09:07,760 --> 01:09:10,480
colonialism and imperialism. Thank you very much,

1111
01:09:10,800 --> 01:09:13,120
and we'll be seeing you tomorrow for our last

1112
01:09:13,120 --> 01:09:15,780
session, a review session, an optional review

1113
01:09:15,780 --> 01:09:16,180
session.