Today we woke up late (jet lag), had lunch at Mevlana’s and then did this wonderful self-guided tour. We walked a lot. A lot. Here’s where we went: Rosenborg Castle (1600s) and its gardens (known as Kongens Have) – stunning public space where we saw a statue of Hans Christian Andersen; Nyboder – yellow barracks once the homes of Danish sailors and their families, now inhabited by regular folx; more in next post.
hello from norrebro, in copenhagen, where the sun is shining and the love for palestine is everywhere <3
finally a picture from my last trip to rochester in aug, where i attended a beautiful wedding, spent hours having profound discussions with friends in their lived-in gardens (thank u karen, ruhi and tom) and their welcoming homes – sometimes until after 2am (thank u matt, molly, maysaa, mazin, ayesha, tabassam, erica and rajesh). #grateful
ashwaq and i became friends in 2017 when i had a chance to invite her and others over for dinner at our house in pittsford. a young teacher from gaza, she was visiting the US thanks to a state department program. she radiated warmth and optimism. there was an immediate connection. we stayed in touch on facebook since that day.
in 2021, she participated in the warp & weft project and contributed a story in arabic about the unique problems of managing a pandemic in gaza, a densely populated concentration camp, cut off from the rest of the world. later ashwaq was kind enough to join us for a zoom meeting, where many warp & weft writers gathered, even though it was the middle of the night in palestine, that too during the month of ramadan. there had been israeli air strikes on gaza right before then. ashwaq told us patiently how she and her family had managed to survive, yet again. always gentle and gracious, my dear ashwaq.
i kept checking in on her after oct 7th. she would respond whenever she was able to get online. she was still ok. trying to leave gaza and move to canada where she has family. but the canadian government kept delaying her application. when she was finally allowed to evacuate, israel destroyed the rafah border. she was trapped along with millions of others. i kept checking in, feeling like a useless robot who offers the same empty words of concern and solidarity. like a dull broken record. do prayers actually work? do they? i don’t know.
i had not heard from ashwaq for a while. yesterday i saw the picture of a beautiful young man looking in the distance. he had been martyred. ashwaq and her family were tagged. i couldn’t breathe. my friend’s son, a vibrant young man, full of smiles, full of life, full of hopes and possibilities. gone. i saw a video of my friend praying over his body. he was wrapped in a white shroud with blood stains on it. oh god, i too have children. what horrors are these? what incomprehensible horrors. what incomprehensible pain. why are some humans permitted to act like apophis and deploy limitless hatred and savagery? what have they done? such unspeakable harm and irreversible injury. such final death. we ask for justice, god. nothing less than justice. may such evil be extinguished. ended.
may justice prevail. for my friend and millions of others. may justice shake the world to stillness and wash over us like rain.
inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji’un.
my artwork was exhibited for the first time in new york city, at ideal glass studios in the west village – a digital collage i created in concert with my short film, return to sender: women of color in colonial postcards & the politics of representation. i was one of 20 artists whose work was selected. the opening was last night and it was spectacular. met some wonderful people. am thankful to @tenten.nyc for showcasing my work and hope to collab more:)
our beautiful speakers, musicians, artists, organizers, and audience members at imagine palestine on aug 23, 2024. thank u muna, dina, andrea, hernease, lamisa, matt, molly, jennifer, megan, rashaad, michelle, jackie, wegdan, halima, and rachel <3
photo credit: elizabeth chiang and mara ahmed
so grateful for beautiful people in this world who can come together, almost at the last minute, and create small disruptions (with ripple effects – always ripple effects) in systems of imperial power and destruction. thank u rachel crawford and matt mcdonald for being my compadres. more pictures from ‘imagine palestine’ soon!
photo credit: elizabeth chiang
some pictures from imagine palestine: an evening of poetry readings and music to raise funds for gaza at the @swedgemission in #rochesterny. a space full of beautiful people who shared visions of freedom for palestine, and stunning palestinian poetry in conversation with live music. a full house where we were able to raise thousands for the gaza municipality.
the struggle to decolonize is something special. it creates love and solidarity between complete strangers. it builds community <3
this will be a series of events to support and celebrate gaza and palestine. stay tuned!
organized by @unabridged.roc, mara ahmed and matthew mcdonald
good morning rochester! i am back and so looking forward to imagine palestine, an evening of poetry readings and music to raise funds for gaza, today at 7pm at the south wedge mission in rochester, ny. 12 artists and activists, 4 musicians, 7 poems by palestinian poets, multiple visions of palestinian futures, the reading of a beloved classic by a resistance writer, and a unique juxtaposition of silence for gaza by mahmoud darwish and musical reflections. all of it to come together in one space and provide mutual aid to the gaza municipality which is doing essential work at this moment. the event is free but pls come ready to donate and intervene in systems of oppression. see u at 7pm this evening!
lunch with the lovely kiran on tuesday. she took these beautiful pictures of our house. so much fun to hang out with another lover of abbas kiarostami’s film work
downtime and karaoke with friends last night and a meeting organized by @phototrouveemagazine where we got to meet in nyc and exchange photos today. a much needed break <3
Dear friends, please donate directly to the Gaza Municipality via this link:
Life for Gaza
“The Gaza Municipality is tasked with providing vital services such as water supply, waste management and sewage treatment. However, the widespread destruction in Gaza City has severely hampered the Municipality’s ability to deliver even the most basic necessities to its residents. With limited access to water, the population faces a dire health and environmental crisis, especially affecting children.
By joining forces in this initiative, we cultivate hope and solidarity, fostering empathy and collaboration across communities while easing the hardships endured by those in Gaza. This collective effort reassures Gazans that they are not alone in their struggle. The Gaza Municipality earnestly appeals for your support to help reinstate essential services, currently the foremost priority. In the northern regions of the Gaza Strip alone, over 500,000 individuals urgently require these services.”
So proud to attend the opening of my friend Safia’s photography exhibition at the Glen Cove Public Library yesterday! Here is more about her brilliant project:
“Living Water for Women is a halfway house located in Glen Cove, NY that fosters growth and independence for formerly incarcerated women to overcome their addictions. In 2016 l established biweekly art workshops at the home. At each session we use art as means of communication and expression. In this process, stories are shared, tears are often shed, and an important community has been created. These women are often shunned and forgotten by their families, friends, and society. They have important stories to share to help those who might also be struggling with addiction, mental health issues, and jobs. By combining portraits with transcribed interviews, I hope to both empower these women and raise awareness about addiction.“
Friends, as you know settler colonial violence has reached shocking levels in Gaza, with non-stop bombings and massacres for the past 10 months.
Gaza’s infrastructure has been systematically destroyed which means that along with starvation (on account of the food and water blockade), deadly epidemics are also setting in. The poliovirus has been found in sewage water now flowing freely in Gaza.
The Gaza Municipality provides water, sanitation and sewage management, waste collection, the removal of debris and reopening of key thoroughfares to facilitate movement, and aid to personnel doing heroic emergency work. They have started a fundraiser and are trying to raise a million dollars. They still have a long way to go. Let’s support them.
At this gathering, we hope to imagine Palestine beyond the ongoing horrors. Fanon said: “The settler’s work is to make dreams of liberty impossible for the native.” Let’s challenge such temporal control and envision Palestinian futures free of Zionist settler domination.
We will read poetry by Palestinian poets and writers, some of them iconic, others still relatively young. We will listen to music that will frame beautiful words of hope and resistance, and inspire us to visualize freedom for Palestine.
This is a free event where we will invite everyone to donate directly to the Gaza Municipality. Let’s articulate a just future in the face of imperial death cults – it’s a radical act!
Organized by Unabridged Literary Arts, Matthew McDonald and myself/ Warp & Weft Archive. Join us!
in a world full of violence and death, some stories manage to sparkle like drops of sunshine and make one’s heart sing. look at imane khelif who grew up in an algerian village and sold scrap metal to pay for bus trips to the city where she trained as a boxer. her dad is a welder, her mom sold couscous to support her daughter’s dream. now arshad nadeem from a small village in pakistan, who built his skills in javelin throwing by practicing tent pegging, has broken olympic records with a stunning throw of 92.97 meters. his dad is a mason who makes as little as $1/day at times. when gas bills got too high, the family was forced to use a coal pit for cooking, but they made sure arshad continued to have the diet he needed. to rise from such humble beginnings and become the best in the world, to compete with athletes trained by states and given an abundance of resources, to come from the global south and win in colonial empires – what incredible power and audacity! u make us proud!
btw still boycotting the olympics. come across these stories on social media and in whatsapp groups 🙂
