Reem Kelani: one live album, one new album Kickstarter
It’s been rather a while since I posted on here, due to various changes in direction. This post is slightly recycling insofar as I’m putting up a review of Reem … Continue reading
The Palestine Hotel, Nablus
Sitting in the University Library at Cambridge, reading the sculptor Eric Gill’s diaries of his trip to Palestine in 1934 (he had been commissioned by the architect Austen St. Barbe … Continue reading
New review: Jerusalem, Interrupted
Electronic Intifada, 11th January 2017 Whether Arabic or Aramaic has been the dominant tongue, or Islam, Judaism, Christianity or paganism the majority religion, the city has always been a patchwork; … Continue reading
New Samih al-Qasim anthology review
The Electronic Intifada, 3rd January 2017 The only two significant bodies of al-Qasim’s poetry available in translation were, until now, Sadder than Water, a fine bilingual edition from Jerusalem-based Ibis … Continue reading
Hilarion Capucci: a reminder of resistance history
Hilarion ibn Bashir Capucci died today (along with a lot of other people, no doubt, probably quite a few in his home city of Aleppo). Capucci caught my attention, though, … Continue reading
Bart Moore-Gilbert on the perils of translated texts
Just found in a Bart Moore-Gilbert (RIP) article on Palestine and postcolonial studies an interesting example of the risks of literature scholars working from translations. It could be read, I … Continue reading
Bats in the Museum
A couple of months ago I was furtling around in the online archives of the Rockefeller Museum, established under the British Mandate as the Palestine Archaeological Museum and run from … Continue reading
Review: Ghassan Zaqtan’s ‘Describing the Past’
The Electronic Intifada, 3rd October 2016 The theme of the unstable balance between myth and memory recurs constantly throughout the novella. “Things evaporate and die if they don’t find someone … Continue reading
Review: Salman Abu Sitta’s autobiography
The Electronic Intifada, 27th September 2016 Unlike Jawhariyyeh, al-Hout or Sayigh, Galilean hills, Lebanon and Jerusalem do not loom large in Abu Sitta’s account. Instead, his life story is rooted … Continue reading
Reviewed: Palestine Youth Orchestra in Glasgow
The Electronic Intifada, 29th July 2016 The first half of the performance closed with “Metal,” a short piece by contemporary composer Graham Fitkin, a celebratory work inspired by modern British … Continue reading
New review: Sayed Kashua’s ‘Native’
Electronic Intifada, 7th July 2016 When novelist and columnist Sayed Kashua announced in 2014 that he and his family would be leaving Jerusalem for the US, the announcement was a … Continue reading
New review: Susan Muaddi Darraj’s ‘A Curious Land’
The Electronic Intifada, 13th June 2016 A Curious Land begins in 1916 with a group of Bedouin refugees fleeing the violence and famine which wreaked havoc across the Levant during … Continue reading
New review: Yusif Sayigh memoirs
The Electronic Intifada, 7th June 2016 Yusif Sayigh’s life story, narrated and edited by his wife Rosemary (herself an eminent anthropologist and activist), is a significant addition to this list. … Continue reading
Gribetz, “Defining Neighbours”
A few fascinating and thought-provoking excerpts from Jonathan Gribetz’s excellent exploration of intellectual life and perceptions of faith in Late Ottoman and early inter-war Palestine (Defining Neighbors: Religion, Race, and … Continue reading
New review: On the Bride’s Side
Electronic Intifada, 7th April 2016 Tasnim, a Palestinian with German citizenship who had left Syria only a few months earlier and whose parents and grandparents were still in the Yarmouk … Continue reading
New review: Speed Sisters
Electronic Intifada, 23rd March 2016 Marah, with whom Betty maintains a sometimes bitter rivalry, comes from Jenin refugee camp but, contrary to the camp’s conservative image, is backed by her … Continue reading
Sarah Irving 