Jwana Tabbara Mr.

Noah
Hastings
C Block May 15, 2022
History 10, 2021-2022
Research Paper Work Log

Annotated Bibliography

Source #1

Title: Al-Taghreba al-Falastenya (TV series)

MLA Citation: Saif, Walid. “Al-Taghriba Al-Filistinia.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 15 Oct.

2004, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3109682/ .

Who is the author and what is their academic background?

“Walid Saif, is a Palestinian-Jordanian poet, short storywriter, television drama
writer, playwright, critic, researcher, and academic. He received a BA in Arabic
language and literature from the University of Jordan and worked since 1987 as
director of educational production at Al-Quds Open University” (Wikipedia) Walid
was born in 1984, so he did not witness the beginning of the Nakba. However, he
witnesses the ongoing oppression and the aftermath of the first attacks.
Additionally, Walid’s perspective of the Nakba is influenced by the first-hand
accounts of his parents’ who experienced it.

What is the source about?

This TV drama is a narrative of the Palestinian exodus, with components inspired
by real stories of real people, reflecting the reality of the Palestinian suffering and
community, its struggles, traditions, culture, and imperfections.

What did it help you understand? This source has helped me understand the huge
effect and damage caused by the Occupation’s crimes on the relations between
families, their financial and social status, and the stability of their lives. Unlike
many sources, this series does not present Palestinian women as second-class
citizens, a less harmed party, or inactive members. Instead, it ensures that
Palestinian women’s struggles and roles are addressed and broadcasted through
female characters in the series who are discriminated against for their nationality
and sex.

How are you going to use it in your project?

This source is going to be one of the works that should be taught in schools in order
to deepen the students’ understanding of how catastrophic the Nakba was and in
order to build a sense of empathy towards the Palestinian pain and suffering by
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learning about exceptional and shared stories among the victims.

Source #2

Title:
Palestinian Music and Song: Expression and Resistance Since 1900 (book)

MLA Citation: McDonald, David A., et al., editors. Palestinian Music and Song:
Expression and Resistance since 1900. Indiana University Press, 2013.

Who is the author and what is their academic background?

Moslih Kanaaneh (Editor):
Stig-Magnus Thorsén (Editor):
Heather Bursheh (Editor): Instructor at Birzeit University, Bachelor Program In
Music, master from University of London.
David A. McDonald (Editor):

What is the source about?

This book is a collection of traditional and folkloric Palestinian songs from the 20th
century to the 21st century. Those songs vary in purpose and content from oral
traditions passed down from earlier generations and sang during weddings to
modern hip hop songs attacking political agendas, addressing and exposing biases.

What did it help you understand? These songs are a very strong representation of
the Palestinian case and cause, they helped me understand how the Palestinian
artistic identity evolved to embrace the suffering of the nation.

How are you going to use it in your project? I will use this source either to reference
specific songs from it that should be taught in schools or to reference the book as a
whole as one of the books that emphasize the importance of analyzing the issue
through art representations like music and songs.
Jwana Tabbara Mr. Noah
Hastings
C Block May 15, 2022

Source #3

Title:
In Search of Fatima

MLA Citation: Karmi, Ghada. In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Memoir. Verso,

2002.

Who is the author and what is their academic background? Ghada Karmi, a
physician specialized in the health care of ethnic minorities, migrants, and asylum
seekers. “She is an associate fellow at the Royal Institute of International Affairs in
London and a visiting professor at London Metropolitan University. She is also
vice-chair of the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU)” (Wikipedia).
A lecturer and an author whose work about the Palestinian issue has been
published in newspapers and magazines.

What is the source about? This source is an autobiography by Ghada who narrates
her story and the stories of those around her from the perspective of a child who
was forced to flee to Britain with her family, escaping the persecution of 1984, but
Fatima, the family’s helper whom Ghada loved was left behind and eventually her
new died out.

What did it help you understand? Although Ghada wrote this when she was older,
there was still this sense of confusion of a child, which helped me isolate the
political biases while reading it. It was all about humanity in the context of the
Palestinian Story. It also helped me understand how the Nakba was still relevant to
those who referred, what news was delivered to them, and how they were part of its
history just like it always remained a part of them.

How are you going to use it in your project?

I am going to use this as an example of Palestinian voices that need to be heard,
and one that is a great demonstration of the power imbalance between Palestine
and Israel, and slightly addresses the lack of aid and support Palestine was
receiving from neighboring Arab countries: “Throughout April, the Arab League
was deliberating over plans of invasion to defend Palestine. These involved various
combinations of Arab forces which would cross into Palestine from the neighboring
states and rescue the Palestinians. But none of them came to anything, while the
Jews continued”.
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Source #4

Title:
Israeli Views of the Land of Israel/Palestine

MLA Citation:
Troen, S. Ilan. “Israeli Views of the Land of Israel/Palestine.” Israel Studies, vol.
18, no. 2, 2013, pp. 100–14, https://doi.org/10.2979/israelstudies.18.2.100.
Accessed 15 May 2022.

Who is the author and what is their academic background?

The author is S. Ilon Treon, an Israeli scholar and Professor of Israel Studies at
Brandeis University.He is a graduate of Brandeis, with an M.A. and Ph.D. from the
University of Chicago. (Wikipedia)

What is the source about? The source is an essay that summarizes the Zionist
ideology. It examines the religious origins of this ideology and critisize it
development and inclination to secularity. The author also explores aspects like the
name and language of the land and what their significance to Israle as a state.

What did it help you understand?

This source helped me understand Zionism was initially supposed to be built on the
traditions and values of Judaism but later became a more nationalistic party,
wotking towards global recognition as a politically and economically independent
state. It also helped me understand that not all Israelis support the government’s
crimes, some like the author disapprove of them. He recognizes and admits that
they are discriminatory against the Palestinians whose rights should also be
respected and protected.

How are you going to use it in your project? I am going to use this as an example of
a source coming from the Jewish/ Israeli prespective about their ideology. Also as a
source that explains the importance of learning about the origins and beginnings of
Israel in interpreting their actions and claims.
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We should not teach students about the Nakba, we should teach them the Nakba. I say this

because the current educational system is more focused on narrating the historical events of

the Nakba rather than telling the story of the land, people, streets, and buildings that

experienced it. Therefore, training sessions for teachers and adjustments to the program’s

content are required in order to establish a curriculum that allows the Nakba to teach itself.

This means approaching the topic through the period’s art, literature, poetry, music and any

other form of creative expression.

Initially, I would recommend starting with In Search of Fatima by Ghada Karmi, the vice-

chair of the Council for Arab-British Understanding (CAABU), a Palestinian author and

activist. In this book, Ghada narrates her family’s story and exodus from Palestine, from the

perspective of an 8-year-old child. This source is a child’s story which makes it easier for the

students to relate and engage with the ideas presented. The child’s confusion which Ghada

makes sure to depict gives students the chance to begin thinking about the truth apart from

political and social biases. It is basically opening their eyes to look through a blurry lens that

will clear up as they continue their exploration journey. Once the students get to the part

where Ghada’s family is forced to leave the helper, Fatima, behind, they will start getting

attached not only to the book, but to all the lives, places, and valuable items that were lost

during the Nakba.

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After learning the story of Fatima, the students should be ready for exposure to multiple

stories of mature humans who were robbed of their land and dignity. Al-Taghriba al-

Falastenya is a Syrian TV series by the Palestinian author, researcher, poet, and academic,

Walid Saif. Walid having been born in 1948, the year of the Nakba, decided to tell the

Palestinian story as a whole through many different personalized stories of characters

inspired by the reality Walid and his family had witnessed. One of the characters is a mother

who mistakes her baby for a pillow when it is time to flee the village, she ends up leaving her

baby behind and she only realizes that when her return is impossible. She lives in denial for

the rest of her life, forcing herself to believe that she is holding a baby in her arms. ٍShe used

to look at the pillow and say:

“‫ وارقص بزفتك يما‬،‫”ريتك تصير عريس‬

Which translates to: “I can’t wait to marry you off and dance in your wedding”. Such a story

could be very heartbreaking, dramatic, tragic, and maybe heavy but this is exactly the point!

The point is to confront the painful reality, to build a sense of empathy towards the Nakba,

and push them to think of holding those responsible for it accountable. It is proof that the

crimes of the Israeli occupation against the people of Palestine whose attempts of self-

defense almost always failed is nothing near a conflict.

The purpose of teaching history and events like the Nakba specifically is not to encourage

certain biases or promote hate against one group. Instead, it should expose the students to the

truth and allow them to have open minds that respect all voices and are open to analyzing the

different opinions and perspectives while being guided to not forget, conceal or suppress

anyone’s suffering. Eventually, this will help them develop a skill of shaping personal but

logical and evidence-based arguments, and determining their own stances on controversial

and sensitive topics. Additionally, being aware of the opposing side’s perspective and motive
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would help them defend their own argument and bias. The events of the Nakba are part of a

long history of abuse and oppression between the Israelis and the Palestinians, which makes

the recognition of those crimes nondebatable. However, The Israeli claim of their right to

return to the promised land, Palestine should be taught from the Jewish/Israeli perspective

before teaching any judgments on it.

Israeli Views of the Land of Israel/Palestine is an essay by the Israeli scholar and Professor of

Israel Studies at Brandeis University, S. Ilan Troen. This essay provides the reader with a

summary of the Zionist ideology and the religious interpretations used as justifications to

support the Israeli agenda. It also discusses the evolution of the Zionist ideology, having

shifted from being a religious right to becoming more secularly inclined in order to sound

more reasonable to the public. Although Troen is Israeli he makes sure to be critical of all the

crimes that Israel commits, motivated by an extremely strong/ fanatic sense of nationalism

leading them to discriminate against the others living in Palestine, violating the Palestinians'

rights to protect the Zionists’.

Music and songs have always been ways for people to react, revolt, tell stories, deliver

various expressive messages that travel directly to the hearts and minds of the people

listening, clapping, singing or dancing. This specific form of art is capable of bringing joy in

midst of chaos and defeat. Palestinians folkloric and traditional songs and music was one of

their very few but strong weapons against the occupation. Palestinian Music and Song:

Expression and Resistance Since 1900 (book) is a book that includes a number of Palestinian

songs from the 20th century to the 21st collected by multiple scholars. It studies the rhythm,

music, and words of those songs and examines the musical culture of the indigineous people

of the land. This source would help the students understand evolution of Palestinian music,
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and the neighbouring Arabic cultures’ influences on it. In addition to inspecting the

integration of the Nakba into the Palestinian artistic identity. The songs in this book mostly

revolve around themes like pride, love, nationalism, patriotism, and honor. Sometimes songs

would mention names of popular martyrs and Palestinian heroes.

Since we live in an area geographically very close to Palestine, we have many Palestinian

citizens and refugees living in Jordan, and most Jordanians have Palestinina ancestry. This

means schools are teaching kids their history, or their ancestors’ history or at least the history

of those who are close/realted to them. Their contributions to the class whether to tell stories

they heard from their grandparents or their neighbours can be very useful and beneficial to

their learning process, connection skills, and ability to value their history and experiences.

Finally, it is impossible to teach the Nakba and capture the zeitgeist without showing and

expressing all the emotions provoked by hearing the word “Nakba”, the empathy, humanity,

pain, anger, and disappointment, but most importantly, the hope. The hope that one day

justice will be delivered, maybe not to those who were killed in 1948 but to those who are

still living the ongoing Nakba. Teach the students to raise their voices, to scream it, to write

it, to draw it and to remember it. Teach them that it is their responsibility to imply change,

teach them to hope and pursue a bright future where there is peace, inclusivity, tolerance and

a free Palestine!