We are curating some lists of things to read and watch while in self-isolation. It’s a mix of free, to buy, @ihrc resources and others. Please tweet @ihrcbookshop or send us your feedback, requests and suggestions.
To help everyone get through this period IHRC is releasing all of its downloadable publications. Just find which one you want using the search term DOWNLOAD and use the code BARAKAH at the checkout. See below for some Palestine related suggestions.
Let’s start with something free, educational, moving and powerful for all ages to watch. The late photographer Muhsin Jak Kilby joined IHRC to talk about his memories of Palestine using some of his cherished images from his many visits. The video of this event suits all ages and provides an overview of the type of daily experiences faced by Palestinians.
Watch the event below.
Approx. 38 mins
We highly recommend this video.
Selected prints by this inspiring brother are available in our shop. Please discuss delivery options with us (everything is of course a little uncertain).
If you want to see more of his work then visit his own site.
If you want in-depth articles on different aspects of the Palestinian situation, find the archive of the Palestine Internationalist journal here on the @ihrc site.
It includes a special issue published last year based on Ilan Pappe’s research in unearthing soon to be lost historical documents surrounding the Nakba.
If you want something that can be delivered in concrete time to help your own understanding or as a teaching resource for your home-schooling here are a few suggestions:
The Prisoners’ Diaries: Palestinian Voices from the Israeli Gulag edited by Norma Hashim.
Palestine, Palestinians and International Law by Francis A. Boyle.
Palestine…It Is Something Colonial by Hatem Bazian.
Two free downloads from our shop on the topic are:
The Universal Theology of Liberation: Views from Muslim History by M. N. M. Nasir and D. Abdullah / Download
Towards a New Liberation Theology: Reflections on Palestine eds. Arzu Merali and Javad Sharbaf
Thinking on Palestine, there is always the poetry of Mahmoud Darwish. The Poetry Foundation have many poems of his on their site. We quote here the end of ‘In Jerusalem’:
I don’t walk, I fly, I become another,
transfigured. No place and no time. So who am I?
I am no I in ascension’s presence. But I
think to myself: Alone, the prophet Muhammad
spoke classical Arabic. “And then what?”
Then what? A woman soldier shouted:
Is that you again? Didn’t I kill you?
I said: You killed me … and I forgot, like you, to die.
In Jerusalem, Mahmoud Darwish from The Butterfly’s Burden (Copper Canyon Press, 2007)
Find more about Darwish and some of his poems here.
Find two of his poetry volumes in our store:
The Adam of Two Edens: Selected Poems / Mahmoud Darwish
Unfortunately, It Was Paradise: Selected Poems / Mahmoud Darwish
Here is a nod to previous blog about The Advocate available on iPlayer about Leah Tsemel and her and Michel Warschawski’s activism for justice in Palestine.
Finally, do send us your feedback and suggestions. Tweet us @ihrcbookshop or email us shop[AT]ihrc.org.
With prayers and peace,
The IHRC Bookshop & Gallery Team