MEMonitor

'Mapping My Return: A Palestinian memoir': A rich and moving memoir in which Salman Abu Sitta draws on oral histories and personal recollections to vividly evoke the vanished world of his family and home from the late 19th century to the eve of the British withdrawal from Palestine and subsequent war. "More Bad News from Israel': Building on rigorous research by the world-renowned Glasgow University Media Group, this book examines media coverage of the conflict in the Middle East and the impact it has on public opinion. 'Her First Palestinian': Elegant, surprising stories about Palestinian immigrants in Canada navigating their identities in circumstances that push them to the emotional brink. #bookreview #bookrecommendations #book #booklover #bookworm #bookstagram #bookreview #palestinebooks #palestinebookawards #palestine #gaza

A UN official filmed the destruction of northern Gaza as a humanitarian convoy drove past a landscape levelled by Israeli bombs. The official, Louise Wateridge, described seeing 'home after home flattened.' 'I was next to a young boy as a strike whistled above us. He froze, eyes wide open. It hit nearby & he just stood there, paralysed by fear. What’s left for children here? Constant displacement, among constant unimaginable horror.'

The Taliban's military marked 3 years since the fall of Kabul by parading abandoned US military equipment and vehicles. The US left behind a reported $7 billion of equipment as they scrambled to exit Afghanistan in August 2021 after a rapid Taliban offensive took the Americans and the world by surprise. They left behind hundreds, possibly thousands of Armoured Personnel Carriers, which were widely used by US forces, as well as the Afghan Army and police. In addition, hundreds of Russian-made combat helicopters, which they bought on the cheap for the Afghan Army, who, despite being given billions of dollars worth of training and weapons by the US, offered no resistance as the Taliban made its advance in summer 2021.

In Gaza's displacement camp in Deir Al-Balah, the Iqra Institute of Education has set up four classrooms in tents to provide Palestinian children who have now missed out on one year of education with an opportunity to learn. 'We tried to offer this support to children so it's a safe learning environment and entertainment as the war has deprived children of their right to education,' teacher Dina Nayef says. Read the article: https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20240815-gazas-teachers-are-rehabilitating-students-back-into-education/

London's O2 Arena refused entry to a couple because 1 of them was wearing a 'Free Gaza' t-shirt. The 2 asked if they could turn the t-shirt inside out, but were told that they would only be allowed to enter if the t-shirt remained with security. In a comment to MEMO, AEG Europe, which owns the O2 Arena, apologised the couple weren't offered 'an alternative item of clothing' but said such t-shirts are banned as per the venue's 'prohibited items policy' because ‘in our reasonable opinion, [they] may cause danger or disruption to any event or to other visitors’.

Palestinian historian Salman Abu Sitta was just 10 years old at the time of the Nakba, the Catastrophe, that forced him and his family out of their home in Beersheba in 1948. Since then he has worked to retrace Palestinian history and map Palestinian displacement and communities in historic Palestine. Here he tells MEMO about how his town fell to British forces under the command of General Allenby.

'We're making a statement, Jews and Palestinians together: you shall not starve,' Standing Together Co-Director Alon-Lee says as volunteers sort through hundreds of aid donations for Gaza. The collection in Umm Al-Fahm is one of dozens taking place in Palestinian communities in Israel, and they are expecting to fill 4 times as many trucks as initially planned. Standing Together is partnering with another organisation that already has clearance to cross into Gaza and so they're confident the aid will reach those who really need it. Alon-Lee and his comrades have also tried to respond to the increasing hostility of far-right settlers towards Palestinians by protecting aid trucks, stopping incursions at Al-Aqsa and protecting the mosque-goers during Israeli national events.