Nora Lester Murad - The View From My Window in Palestine

20 years since Oslo (Perspectives – Issue #5, December 2013)

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Download the 106 page book here. According to the Heinrich Boll Stiftung, the publisher:

“This is not an attempt to provide a complete or “objective” review of the Oslo-process, but to provide space for on-the-ground analysis by Palestinian writers, thinkers and politicians of very different backgrounds. All authors express solely their personal views; the contributions do not represent the opinion of the Heinrich-Böll-Foundation. However we hope that this volume can contribute to rethinking the Oslo-framework and those elements, which have proven to prolong the conflict instead of delivering a historic compromise so urgently needed to allow security, peace and dignity for all citizens in the region.”

My chapter, “Humanitarian Aid and the Oslo Process” starts on p. 74, amidst a truly impressive line up of authors.

It will be easy to read this book and conclude that the Oslo Peace Process didn’t work and should be laid to rest. What will be hard is figuring out how to move forward from here.

No shortage of international complicity with Israeli occupation

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The folks over at openDemocracy asked me to comment on “Funding Cannot Stop Human Rights Abuses” by Lori Allen. It was an excellent article, but of course I can always find something to critique.

In my response, I say, “Lori Allen concludes that international aid to Palestine should not be falsely posited as a means to curtail Israeli human rights violations. I couldn’t agree more! However, her argument would be stronger if she didn’t conflate three distinct problems with international aid that, while mutually reinforcing, are better addressed one by one, and in a more nuanced way.”

Read the whole analysis here.

Women: Dealing With the Past

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IMG_2094It was a tremendous honor to be invited by the impressive and inspirational Community Foundation for Northern Ireland to speak at a learning workshop in Belfast.

My talk, intentionally provocative, was supposed to give an outside perspective on dialogue to women on both sides of the conflict in Northern Ireland–women who have been meeting over time to work on reconciliation.

Women: Dealing with the Past (Belfast)
Women: Dealing with the Past (Belfast)

I hope I communicated that while there is certainly a time for parties in conflict to talk, there is also a time when we should refuse to talk.

For Palestinians who are suffering from fake “negotiations” that are clearly intended only to prolong the status quo, there is reason to refuse to talk. As long as Israel has no intention of enabling a just, sustainable solution, then boycott tactics make much more sense.

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One of Belfast’s many “peace walls”

I also want to thank the amazing folks at Community Foundation for Northern Ireland for taking me on a truly life-changing political tour of Belfast. Among other things, I learned that Belfast is full of walls — reminiscent of Israel’s Annexation Wall — and they are called “peace walls!”

It might sound crazy, but I look forward to the day when everyone who suffered in this long, stupid Israel-Palestine conflict can talk about “the past” and have a nice lunch together while talking about reconciliation. But as I said to the women in Belfast, now we’re busy enough dealing with the present.

The lucky children of the Siraj al-Quds School in Jerusalem

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At the Siraj al-Quds School, children look happy.

Kids with visual impairments, kids with learning difficulties, kids with family challenges, and kids without too many problems (because we all have some problems, don’t we?) mix together with ease. The kids look engaged. IMG_1890They look cared for. They look happy.

I had the pleasure of visiting the school with dear friends Hassan Hassanein, Alia Nasseridin, and Moira Jilani. IMG_1907IMG_1879We had heard that some of the kids are coming to school hungry.

We wanted to learn how we could help.

Like all Palestinian students in Jerusalem, the kids of Siraj al-Quds face hardships.

But these children are lucky. They study at Siraj al-Quds school, in the able hands of Nurredin Amro. He is an educational administrator, a teacher and a community activist, but more than that, he is a visionary and a doer.

Nurredin, himself blind, envisions kids of all backgrounds and abilities learning together to build stronger communities.

IMG_1898I’ve known Nurredin for years and he always inspires me with his gentle persistence. He inspired my friends, too.

Are you inspired? Let me know if you’d like to help ensure that kids at Siraj al-Quds enjoy school on a full stomach.

 

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A mural being painted on the wall at Siraj al-Quds

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