The Other Narrative - Finding Palestinian voice

Like many of you, I've recently unearthed a prejudice cultivated in me against Palestinians. This bias has lived in me as an active disinterest in the crisis in Palestine/Israel. It's accompanied by a very clear image of what is Palestinian: brown man (not woman), head wrapped & face hidden (scary), suicide bomber (terrorist). 

Without even wanting this knowledge, it's what I've absorbed as an American. This is how biases work. So now, alerted to the fact that I've been exposed to one narrative, I'm actively seeking to hear the perspective that's been suppressed. The Palestinian perspective.

I recently found Mohammed El-Kurd. He's a Palestinian poet, writer, journalist, and organizer. I find his words, stories, voice, and cadence both informative and mesmerizing. I'm mesmerized by all I've been missing.

When El-Kurd was 11, he and his home and family were featured in the 25 minute documentary "My Neighbourhood".

Here he is on November 1 at the 2023 Palestine Festival of Literature, reading several poems (the entire 2hr festival is well worth watching).

In this recent piece in The Nation, he discusses who is (and isn't) allowed to speak about Palestine, and references the context for the film from his childhood.

Finally, an essay published in Mondoweiss in late September, that El-Kurd says is "inspired by James Baldwin’s landmark 1967 article, “Negroes Are Anti-Semitic Because They’re Anti-White". I recommend both.

December 2023 Back to Blog Home

Sign up for my newsletter to get a monthly article, recommended resource, and anti-racist action.