Archive

Archive for the ‘Palestine’ Category

Celebrities For Palestine – Suheir Hammad her Palestinian blood speaks with her poetry

October 31, 2014 1 comment

Suheir Hammad

Suheir Hammad

One of our own #Celebs4Pal Suheir Hammad, a Palestinian poetess, actress and peace activist. Suheir Hamad is a gift to us, to Palestine, to Palestinians, to the Palestinian Solidarity Movement and to the women of the world.  Suheir Hammad’s poetry is empowering by her women inner voice.

Over the years we have witnessed the pain of the land (Palestine) we seen her mothers taking their sons to the grave only with their courage and their pride as mothers of the martyrs of the land.

She is Palestinian one hundred percent Palestinian,  she takes her blood to the stages of the world. Her poetry is powerful, energetic and even though it is sad poetry, her poetry deliver hope.

“As a child I had this sense that God was a huge poet,” she said. Her father taught her nationalist songs, which she later realized were originally written as poems. She then went on to discover for herself the great
Palestinian poetry has this pain ingrained in its soul, Mahmoud Darwish poetry has been an inspiration for thousands of poets, Suheir Hammad, Palestinian herself, said that his poetry played a significant role in her life and eventually in her poetry.

In ‘Salt of the Sea’ Suheir Hammad walks the streets of Palestine showing her (Palestine) terrible tragedy of being occupied land,  “Salt of the Sea’  gives every Palestinian in the exile a taste of Palestine, to the world ‘Salt of the Sea’ gives testimony of an occupy land.

A fact little known is that our #Celebs4Pal Danny Glover, a known American actor was part of the Salt of the Sea production Co-producing of the project.

“The range of international co-producers — including Danny Glover’s Louverture Films — attests to the well-intentioned multinational desire to support Palestinian cinema, and “Salt” has received numerous pre- and post-production grants, including funding from San Sebastian’s Cinema in Motion 3 and the Hubert Bals Fund. Too bad Jacir’s characters are written to explain a situation rather than enjoy an independence of personality.” Variety.com
To understand Suheir’s poetry you need  to understand women’s struggles, Palestinian’s struggles and her being born out of Palestinian refugees that even though have found a place in the world to raise a family they never forget Palestine. How could they?

When she read the script of Salt Of the Sea, she saw poetry in it and acted as Palestinians and not as an actress. The film was a success but as Suheir said,

“the film is really marginalized” she explains, “ but it’s also part of a continuum… so now other films that are not that aesthetic or are not that drive will have a chance now, because it pushed the door open. The victory is to see your position as part of the continuum and that’s where the hope is.”

Roddy Doyle, Brigid Keenan, Suheir Hammad, Ahdaf Soueif,

Roddy Doyle, Brigid Keenan, Suheir Hammad, Ahdaf Soueif,

http://globalartscentral.com/suheir-hammad-the-palestinian-poet-born-black/

Salt of the Sea Trailer Trailer

Support Suheir Hammad with her career, her activism and  her poetry.

That is the beauty of being a #Celebs4Pal all their success,  and their power taken to the stages, at the end their support Palestine with their voice.

 

In her poems and plays, Suheir Hammad blends the stories and sounds of her Palestinian-American heritage with the vibrant language of Brooklyn to create a passionately modern voice. TED.com

Follow her in her twitter https://twitter.com/yosuheirhammad, and support her directly buying her poetry, attending her speeches and her acting career.

Suheir Poetry at Amazon.com

The only way to support Palestine is if we are strong, for that we must support each other and unfortunately we can not travel the world speaking for Palestine if there is no financial support. We are supporting Palestine when we support our #Celebs4Pal through their art.

Poems of war, peace, women and power

Poet Suheir Hammad performs two spine-tingling spoken-word pieces: “What I Will” and “break (clustered)” — meditations on war and peace, on women and power. Wait for the astonishing line: “Do not fear what has blown up. If you must, fear the unexploded.” TED.com


Palestinians I Love Your Smiling Face: You Overshadowed Gandhi by thousands miletones


Posted on August 03, 2013 by Akashma Online News 

While being arrested against Prawer Plan

Palestinians I love your smiling Face.

I love your sweet attitude, your non violent front. You Overshadowed Gandhi by thousands milestones.
Bring it on you Cowards.
Every affront you cause to us, it is a new weapon in our arsenal.
Every insult you deliver, it is a new supporter we recruit for our fight.
Keep them coming Israel, keep digging your grave.
You’re giving the final touches for your grand Finale.
Very proud of our Palestinians brothers/sisters and its supporters taking every day blows of tear gas, dirty boots on their faces, detentions, incarcerations, torture and more.

Adalah: Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel

On 24 June 2013, the Israeli Knesset approved the discriminatory Prawer-Begin Bill, with 43 votes for and 40 votes against, for the mass expulsion of the Arab Bedouin community in the Naqab (Negev) desert in the south of Israel. If fully implemented, the Prawer-Begin Plan will result in the destruction of 35 “unrecognized”Arab Bedouin villages, the forced displacement of up to 70,000 Arab Bedouin citizens of Israel, and the dispossession of their historical lands in the Naqab. Despite the Arab Bedouin community’s complete rejection of the plan and strong disapproval from the international community and human rights groups, the Prawer Plan is happening now.
The Prawer-Begin Bill is an unacceptable proposition that entrenches the state’s historic injustice against its Bedouin citizens. Adalah and our NGO partners have been challenging the Prawer Plan before courts, government authorities and the international community, but we need your help to stop what would be the largest single act of forced displacement of Arab citizens of Israel since the 1950s!
Please sign our petition and visit our Facebook page to find out what you can do to Stop the Prawer Plan!
Sign up for Adalah’s Newsletter to stay informed.

What is the Prawer Plan?
Arab Bedouin citizens of Israel, inhabitants of the Naqab (Negev) desert since the seventh century, are the most vulnerable community in Israel. For over 60 years, the indigenous Arab Bedouin have faced a state policy of displacement, home demolitions and dispossession of their ancestral land. Today, 70,000 Arab Bedouin citizens live in 35 villages that either predate the establishment of the State in 1948, or were created by Israeli military order in the early 1950s. The State of Israel considers the villages “unrecognized” and the inhabitants “trespassers on State land,” so it denies the citizens access to state infrastructure like water, electricity, sewage, education, health care and roads. The state deliberately withholds basic services from these villages to “encourage” the Arab Bedouin citizens to give up their ancestral land. If Israel applied the same criteria for planning and development that exist in the Jewish rural sector, all 35 unrecognized villages would be recognized where they are.
In September 2011, the Israeli government approved the Prawer Plan, the brainchild of former Deputy Chair of the National Security Council, Mr. Ehud Prawer. The Prawer Plan will result in the destruction of the unrecognized villages and the forced displacement of up to 70,000 Arab Bedouin citizens. This plan was completed without consultation of the local community, and is a gross violation of the constitutional rights of the Arab Bedouin citizens to property, dignity, equality, adequate housing, and freedom to choose their own residence.
Prawer is Happening Now
Despite complete rejection of the plan by the Arab Bedouin, and strong disapproval from the international community, Prawer is happening now. More than 1,000 houses were demolished in 2011 alone, and civil society observed the same practices in 2012.  Since Prawer was announced, the government announced plans that will displace over 10,000 people and plant forests, build military centers, and establish new Jewish settlements in their place.
The Prawer Plan is today being turned into an Israeli law. On 6 May 2013, the Ministerial Committee on Legislation approved the proposed “Law for the Regulation of Bedouin Settlement in the Negev – 2013” (“the Prawer-Begin Bill”, after recommendations by Minister Benny Begin were included). On 24 June 2013, the Knesset approved the Prawer-Begin Bill with 43 votes for and 40 votes against. The bill will now be sent to the Committee for Interior Affairs and Environment to be prepared for the second and third readings.
The international community has repeatedly expressed its opposition to the Prawer Plan. In March 2012, the UN Committee on the Elimination for Racial Discrimination called on Israel to withdraw the proposed implementing legislation of the Prawer Plan, on the grounds that it was discriminatory. In July 2012, the European Parliament passed a historic resolution calling on Israel to Stop the Prawer Plan and its policies of displacement, eviction, and dispossession.
Adalah calls on the Israeli government to:
  • Cancel the Prawer Plan
  • Recognize the “unrecognized villages” and the land claims of the indigenous Arab Bedouin community
  • Halt home demolitions and forced evictions
  • Engage in meaningful dialogue with the Arab Bedouin community and the Arab political leadership to justly resolve the land claims
  • Invest in greater health, education, and employment opportunities for Arab Bedouin citizens of Israel
Find out More:
Introduction
Factsheet: Myths and Misconceptions about the Arab Bedouin in the Naqab
Article: Four Reasons to Reject the Prawer Plan, by Dr. Thabet Abu Rass and Professor Oren Yiftachel
Briefing/Position Papers:
Briefing Paper: Understanding the Prawer Plan Law, 2012
Briefing Paper: Analysis of the Prawer Plan, October 2011
Videos:
International responses
EMHRN Statement: Time for EU action on Prawer Bill, 2 July 2013
UN CERD Calls on Israel to Withdraw the Prawer Plan Law, 15 March 2012
European Parliament Passes Resolution Calling on Israel to Stop the Prawer Plan
Press Releases
%d bloggers like this: