Preserved Online For All To See ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

“My Christian grandmother and my Muslim grandmother in Palestine” - Shared by a Palestinian man on Facebook

  The Holy Land

You have bullets, bully brigades,

biblical words & word smiths

all fundraising for more...

More injustice. More suffering.

More homes and gardens usurped,

more children tormented and

families destroyed in what was

(what always will be)

historic Palestine.

We have nothing much more

than personal stories,

beloved memories,

and old photographs

preserved online for all to see.

We are people, human beings.

Our ancestry reaches back

totally entwined with every

rock and stone, every tree,

every water well, every little flower,

no matter where we are now.

Our recipes are of the land

and trade routes, plus trial

and error.  We helped perfect bread

baked in clay ovens, in our own way.

Our Zaatar is a scrumptious blend

of herbs & our olive oil is heavenly gold.

We keep keys.

Our embroideries are

by hand, with symbols

imagined and taught

mother to daughter for eons,

for longer than thread can last.

Our hope is that one day

justice and peace will prevail

for all good people willing to

actively empower fair and just laws

with full and equal rights, respect, 

dignity... and security for all.

                                  poem copyright ©2015 Anne Selden Annab                  

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Amman-based artist Nasser Jafari: #TweetYourThobe !

"Look at this beautiful image by Amman-based artist Nasser Jafari!!! I LOVE THIS!!! It says "Gharidi biThowbek," or TweetYourThobe in Arabic." Susan Muaddi Darraj , creator of the marvelous #TweetYourThrobe" pro-heritage campaign

"The world will never be broken, because we will always stitch it back together & make it beautiful." Susan Muaddi Darraj: #tweetyourthobe

2019 #TweetYourThobe creator Susan Muaddi Darraj

Codebreaker! From the initiator of the marvelous #TweetYourThobe Twitter/Facebook campaign, Susan Muaddi Darraj:

  "Wondering what all the symbols mean on Palestinian thobes? The 2nd half of Leila ElKhalidi's book has a "dictionary"!..."

Susan Muaddi Darraj, author of A Curious Land & The Inheritance of Exile

Susan Muaddi Darraj:"Every thobe is a dress embroidered with the stories, the loves, the tragedies of Palestinian women. The world will never be broken, because we will always stitch it back together & make it beautiful."

#TweetYourThobe. "I was raised in a Palestinian-American family that celebrated the strength of women," Darraj told the Institute of Middle Eastern Understanding. "Seeing Rashida Tlaib wear her thobe today is a powerful affirmation of that strength. I started #TweetYourThobe to celebrate her achievement and educate our fellow Americans about our culture."  

 

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Tatreez & Tea & Rashida Tlaib & #TweetYourThobe : "Today... she was all of us"

Wafa Ghnaim: "I was interviewed by the New York Times today to discuss the significance in the first Palestinian-American congresswoman @rashidatlaib wearing a traditional Palestinian thobe to her swearing in ceremony today. Palestinian women and their artistry have long been invisible in history and today our maternal ancestors were seen in the halls of Western power. Rashida’s decision to wear her thobe to a significant moment in her life is one Palestinian women naturally think to do for any momentous achievements in career, life and family. Today, Rashida’s thobe stood for all Palestinian women. She was all of us." 

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Palestinian Village Embroidery Designs

KEEP CALM and TWEET YOUR THOBE !!!

IN HONOR OF RASHIDA TLAIB #TweetYourThobe ...Beautiful Palestinian Christian Women from Bethlehem, Palestine

Palestinian traditional costumes infographic map #America #TweetYourThobe #Heritage #Beauty #Palestine #History

Spring in Palestine by Ismail Shammout #TweetYourThobe

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Putting a Face on the Facts... An Easy to Understand Essay by Nancy Harb Almendras outlining a Global Controversy: The conflict between the state of Israel and the Palestinians.

A Christmas poem... Star Street Bethlehem Palestine 2014

Ibrahim's Estate .... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

       The Promised Land: In Celebration of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 
  & Peace Day

Little Golden Bell... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

Tiny 2,000-year-old golden bell found in Jerusalem: A tiny golden bell which was lost in Jerusalem some 2,000 years ago during the Second Temple period has been found among ruins near the Old City, Israel's Antiquities Authority has said

 

Our words have a way of echoing out into either war or peace....

Ask a Name... a poem by Anne Selden Annab 

Darwish & Dickinson

Ibtisam ... a poem by Anne Selden Annab

Freedom to me is ... (a poem)

...To be True

...Universal Echo

Embroidered keepsakes (2008)

Mosaics : "I like that websites everywhere are growing a positive paper trail not only introducing West to East, but also proving Palestine- and showing at least a bit of its beauty. And I like that people bother to add into Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, information that used to be impossible to find or even know unless you were a scholar with a huge library of reference books.

And so in growing a private personal garden for Palestine today, I think it is important to spend some time exploring and enjoying treasures that can be found on the Internet. Capturing ideas and colors and shapes that can be used in our gardens."

Planning a garden is one step towards planting it and making it real:

Growing Gardens for Palestine
The Golden Rule... Do unto others as you would have them do unto you

 "WHEREAS recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world..." Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948