Iftar in honor of Hajj Suleiman al-Hathaleen
صحة و عافية ✨
a few days ago I attended iftar in the village of Umm al-Khair in honor of Hajj Suleiman Hathaleen, allah yerhamo. @awdah.hathaleen and the village had invited several solidarity activists that have worked together in the movement for Palestinian liberation to join them. a very humbling gesture, I returned to the community gladly and with a big welcoming by its members. and together all of us sat down to partake in a meal together, and to share some words in remembrance of Hajj Suleiman.
when I decided to come to Palestine nearly three years ago in a commitment to do on the ground understanding, solidarity work and grassroots organizing initially with @humansofachvatamim I remember quite distinctly when we came to Umm al-Khair and listened to Awdah speak of his homeland, and what it means to come back to it and to protect what he and his community have from further dispossession and displacement. I remember being so inspired by the words Awdah spoke, a young man who had gathered up so much strength and resilience in spite of everything.
in a way this is in the virtue of Hajj Suleiman, who persevered in his engagement of nonviolent civil resistance, in spite of many arrests for his speaking out, and the attempted suppression and violence of the IOF and extremist settlers. I did not have the opportunity to meet Hajj Suleiman, but hearing Awdah and others in the community speak in such deep reverence to their community leader, I could and can still feel the elder's energy resonating, though of course also there is the sense of deep loss.
again I feel honored to work with the community of Umm al-Khair, especially in creating a mural in memory of Hajj Suleiman. the Israeli government and its partitioning of land has always been a means to fragment the Palestinian people by separating communities from one another. I was very happy that my wonderful friends and colleagues Jenan and Manar, Palestinians from Jerusalem, could also join in on this project with Palestinians from Massafer Yatta. I do really believe art is a mechanism to connect people and send a visual message in many different capacities. insha'allah we will create more with Umm al-Khair ❤️