Aunt Jameela's Bread. A Story of Food, Family, and Love..... A beautiful new book by Palestinian-American Mike Odetalla about childhood and baking bread in his homeland.

 

A beautiful new book by Palestinian-American Mike Odetalla about childhood, family, and homemade bread in his homeland  

Auntie Jameela's Bread

by Mike Odetalla (Author), Jaber Yassein (Illustrator) Format: Paperback

See all formats and editions

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In a small village nestled among golden fields and olive trees, Aunt Jameela baked bread that fills more than just hungry tummies...it fills hearts with joy, stories, and love.

From the wheat grown in the fields to the warm loaves shared with family and friends, every step is a reminder of what truly matters.

A heartwarming tale of tradition, togetherness, and the special memories made around the table.   https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0GXRFK11T/ref=sw_img_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

Buy a copy, enjoy, savor it... then pass it on to your local library or a child that you know and love 

Palestine on the Moon - a lovely new children's book by Susan Abulhawa, illustrated by M. Jaber ... a small sampling of the pages ... PLEASE buy a copy from the author

https://susanabulhawa.com/books/palestine-on-the-moon/

https://susanabulhawa.com/books/palestine-on-the-moon/

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Mother and her child (أم وطفلها), mud on wood, 2000 by Sliman Mansour of Palestine

Mother and her child (أم وطفلها), mud on wood, 2000 by Sliman Mansour of Palestine

During the first Intifada (1987 – 1993), Palestinians boycotted Israeli goods as a form of resistance. 

 

Artists, in their turn, boycotted Israeli art supplies. 

 

Four Palestinian artists, Vera Tamari, Nabil Anani, Tayseer Barakat, and myself, formed the “New Visions” group. 

 

Artists turned towards their environment and used wood, leather, mud, henna, natural dies, and found objects. 

 

This new approach helped to develop Palestinian art and formed a link between Palestinian art produced for several decades after Alnakbah and contemporary art created by young Palestinian artists.  https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10162242212696051&set=a.10150390568516051  

A STATEMENT FROM THE PATRIARCHS AND HEADS OF THE CHURCHES IN JERUSALEM ON UNITY AND REPRESENTATION OF THE CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES IN THE HOLY LAND

 January 17, 2026

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in the Holy Land affirm before the faithful and before the world that the flock of Christ in this land is entrusted to the Apostolic Churches, which have borne their sacred ministry across centuries with steadfast devotion. Recent activities undertaken by local individuals who advance damaging ideologies, such as Christian Zionism, mislead the public, sow confusion, and harm the unity of our flock. These undertakings have found favor among certain political actors in Israel and beyond who seek to push a political agenda which may harm the Christian presence in the Holy Land and the wider Middle East.

Holy Scripture teaches us that “we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Romans 12:5). To claim authority outside the communion of the Church is to wound the unity of the faithful and burden the pastoral mission entrusted to the historic churches in the very land where our Lord lived, taught, suffered, and rose from the dead.

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches further note with concern that these individuals have been welcomed at official levels both locally and internationally. Such actions constitute interference in the internal life of the churches and disregard the pastoral responsibility vested in the Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem.

The Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem reiterate that they alone represent the Churches and their flock in matters pertaining to Christian religious, communal, and pastoral life in the Holy Land.

May the Lord, who is the Shepherd and Guardian of souls, grant wisdom for the protection of His people and the safeguarding of His witness in this sacred land.

—The Patriarchs and Heads of the Churches in Jerusalem

 https://en.jerusalem-patriarchate.info/announcements/a-statement-from-the-patriarchs-and-heads-of-the-churches-in-jerusalem-on-unity-and-representation-of-the-christian-communities-in-the-holy-land/

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As the Israeli bombs fell, my family committed an act of rebellion: we planted a garden in Gaza: Amid constant danger, each planted seed was a tiny act of resistance. As they grew, they offered us food – and a sense of achievement amid the devastation- Taqwa Ahmed al-Wawi of Palestine

Illustration: Narmeen Hamadeh/The Guardian

My 12-year-old brother Mazen ran into the kitchen, shouting that the eggplants were sprouting. He held up the tiny green shoots, his hands shaking. My older brother Mohammed and I rushed outside, laughing despite the fear that had become our constant companion. Each sprout was a victory.

Before Gaza’s skies darkened with smoke and the ground shook with bombs, our garden was a lush tapestry of trees and plants, each leaf and branch woven into our family memory. Birds danced above the branches. Five ancient trees stood tall, twisted trunks weathered by sun and wind, branches heavy with black and green olives. Fruit trees filled the air with sweetness – orange, lemon, a broad-leaved fig and a small clementine.

In the midst of the Israeli bombardment, my brother Mohammed and our father committed a small but profound act of rebellion. They decided to plant – to extend our small crop. They bought seedlings and seeds from a local farmer, who tended a rare patch of green and sold plants grown on his land. They bought 30 corn seeds, costing 15 shekels, roughly $5; three pepper seedlings, each priced at $2; two eggplant seedlings; two stems each of mint, basil, ain jarada (a local herb, known for its fresh aroma) and arugula, all for a single dollar; and four potato seeds.

When the genocide came, it ravaged buildings, tore through markets, disrupted supplies and inflated prices beyond reason. Food became a luxury, and the simple act of eating turned into a daily struggle. The weight of hunger was heavy, occupying every corner of our lives. It was a constant companion, reminding us of what we lacked and how powerless we often felt.

My father and brother placed each plant carefully, covering their roots with soil, pressing gently to hold them in place. The seeds represented a gamble against the odds, a test of faith that life could flourish even now. “To plant is to believe in tomorrow,” my father said, as he pressed them gently into the soil.

Carrying heavy buckets, they hauled water for the garden from more than 200 meters away, where neighbours queued in line to fill jugs. Water, once abundant from municipal taps, had become a hard-won treasure.

The work was exhausting. The heat bore down mercilessly.  Despite dizziness and weariness, day after day, they watered, tended and cleared space, so the seedlings could stretch toward the sun. Each drop of water was a tiny act of ... READ MORE   https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/jan/08/gaza-israel-palestine-garden-seed-food

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United Nations: International TRANSLATION Day... Translation is more than words; it is a connection. It bridges cultures, carries histories, and gives voice to those unheard. Today, September 30th on Translation Day, we celebrate those who make dialogue possible, the quiet architects of unity in every language.

United Nations Geneva

@UNGeneva

Translation is more than words; it is a connection. It bridges cultures, carries histories, and gives voice to those unheard. Today, on #TranslationDay, we celebrate those who make dialogue possible, the quiet architects of unity in every language.

Why 30 September?

30 September celebrates the feast of St. Jerome, the Bible translator, who is considered the patron saint of translators.

St. Jerome was a priest from North-eastern Italy, who is known mostly for his endeavor of translating most of the Bible into Latin from the Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. He also translated parts of the Hebrew Gospel into Greek. He was of Illyrian ancestry and his native tongue was the Illyrian dialect. He learned Latin in school and was fluent in Greek and Hebrew, which he picked up from his studies and travels. Jerome died near Bethlehem on 30 September 420.

https://www.un.org/en/observances/international-translation-day 

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The role of language professionals

International Translation Day is meant as an opportunity to pay tribute to the work of language professionals, which plays an important role in bringing nations together, facilitating dialogue, understanding and cooperation, contributing to development and strengthening world peace and security.

Transposition of a literary or scientific work, including technical work, from one language into another language, professional translation, including translation proper, interpretation and terminology, is indispensable to preserving clarity, a positive climate and productiveness in international public discourse and interpersonal communication.

Thus, on 24 May 2017, the General Assembly adopted resolution 71/288 on the role of language professionals in connecting nations and fostering peace, understanding and development, and declared 30 September as International Translation Day.

Multilingualism, a core value of the United Nations

Languages, with their complex implications for identity, communication, social integration, education and development, are of strategic importance for people and the planet.

There is growing awareness that languages play a vital role in development, in ensuring cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue, but also in attaining quality education for all and strengthening cooperation, in building inclusive knowledge societies and preserving cultural heritage, and in mobilizing political will for applying the benefits of science and technology to sustainable development.

An essential factor in harmonious communication among peoples, multilingualism is also regarded by the United Nations General Assembly as a core value of the Organization. By promoting tolerance, multilingualism ensures effective and increased participation of all in the Organization’s work, as well as greater effectiveness, better performance and improved transparency.

Translation at the UN

The United Nations is one of the world's largest employers of language professionals. Several hundred language staff work in UN offices in New York, Geneva, Vienna and Nairobi, or at the United Nations regional commissions in Addis Ababa, Bangkok, Beirut, Geneva and Santiago. Translators are one type of language professionals employed at the UN.

UN language specialists include:

• Editorial and desktop publishing assistants;
• Editors;
• Interpreters;
• Précis-writers;
• Production editors and desktop publishers;
• Translators;
• Verbatim reporters

United Nations translators handle all kinds of documents, from statements by Member States to reports prepared by expert bodies. The documents they translate cover every topic on the United Nations agenda, including human rights, peace and security, and development. New issues arise every day. UN documents are issued simultaneously in the six official languages of the Organization (Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish). Some core documents are also translated into German. This multilingual documentation is made possible by United Nations translators, whose job is to render clearly and accurately the content of original texts into their main language.

Interested in working as a language specialist at the United Nations? Please check UN Careers on Competitive examinations for language professionals.

Did you know?

• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights holds the Guinness World Record as the most translated document. It exists in more than 500 languages.
• The United Nations is one of the world's largest employers of language professionals.
• There are six official languages of the UN - Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.
• A delegate may speak in any official UN language. The speech is interpreted simultaneously into the other official languages of the UN.

TRANSLATION: From one world to another

What does it really mean to translate? Translation is often the essential prerequisite for accessing a universal, multiple, diverse culture. In this issue of the UNESCO Courier, explore what this really entails.

Related Observances

• 21 February - International Mother Language Day
• 20 March - French Language Day at the UN
• 20 April - Chinese Language Day at the UN
• 23 April - English Language Day at the UN 
• 23 April - Spanish Language Day at the UN 
• 5 May - World Portuguese Language Day
• 6 June - Russian Language Day at the UN 
• 7 July - World Kiswahili Language Day
• 18 December - Arabic Language Day at the UN 
• 2022-2032 - International Decade of Indigenous Languages

Why do we mark International Days?

International days and weeks are occasions to educate the public on issues of concern, to mobilize political will and resources to address global problems, and to celebrate and reinforce achievements of humanity. The existence of international days predates the establishment of the United Nations, but the UN has embraced them as a powerful advocacy tool. We also mark other UN observances.

 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights... Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on 10 December 1948 (General Assembly resolution 217 A) as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages. 

 

It Being Sunday - a poem by Anne Selden Annab

"La Liberalité". Texte latin: "Dives in omnes". (Il est riche pour tous). Corne d'abundance. Pierre Le Moyne (1602-1671): De l'art de regner / Le Moyne. Publisher: À Paris : chez Sebastien Cramoisy et Sebastien Mabre-Cramoisy, imprimeurs du Roy.

 

   It Being Sunday

It being Sunday

in a land with many churches

I pray that prayers for peace 

rise up, rise up to sway

people away from war.

Away from bombing children,

pulverizing families,

and homes ... and jobs.

Away from generating enemies.

Away from creating poverty, starvation, suffering...

Might does not make right

nor does armed resistance.

Scorn violence!

We live in an age of computers- the internet

an endless feed of personal truths at our fingertips

with the power of fair and just laws

able to shape a better way forward

for all of humankind.

poem  copyright ©2025 Anne Selden Annab

Laila El-Haddad & Mosab Abu Toha both win the JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION AWARD 2025 for their essays on Gaza ... "We Palestinians win, with or without recipes..."

JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION AWARD.

Laila El-Haddad  

@gazamom

 

It was a true honor. I only wish it did not take a genocide to win an award or for people’s eyes to be opened. Still, we will continue to resist by narrating our own stories

 

https://www.lailahaddad.com/books

 

Mosab Abu Toha

@MosabAbuToha

 

Congratulations to me and my dear sister Laila El-Haddad on each winning a prestigious JAMES BEARD FOUNDATION AWARD 2025. 

 

I won in Personal Essay Laila won in Personal Essay with Recipes. 

 

We Palestinians win, with or without recipes. 

 

Laila read her remarks, which represent me and her and all of us who have families in Gaza. 

 

I could not share mine there because I was not there in person. But I will post my remarks here soon.

 

Award Winning Work

 

THE WINNING ESSAYS

 

Laila El-Haddad PICTURED WITH HER AUNT UM HANI (PHOTO: MAGGIE SCHMITT)

A Cuisine Under Siege

I couldn’t rescue my aunt in Gaza, but I can keep her recipes alive.

By Laila El-Haddad

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Published on March 5, 2024 in SAVEUR

Though I’ve lived abroad most of my life, Gaza is where I call home. It's where my parents were born and raised and where I spent summers as a child. Whenever we’d return, we’d be welcomed back by our large extended family. First among them was my aunt An’am Dalloul, whom we called Khalto Um Hani: “mother of Hani,” her eldest child and my cousin. She’d always arrive bearing a bowl of sumagiyya, Gaza City’s signature meat stew with chard, sumac, and chickpeas—and my father's favorite meal.   

Um Hani, along with my cousins Hoda, Wafaa, and Hani, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in their residential Gaza City neighborhood in November 2023. 

In an instant, the household perished, my cousin Nael later told me. Only a skeleton of the building was left. He recounted the horrific scene over WhatsApp—how he gathered their remains in his arms and buried them in a mass grave under heavy Israeli bombardment, how he failed to retrieve the corpse of one of his sisters, and how his brother bled to death before paramedics could reach him. Nael, like 90 percent of Gazans at the time of writing, is displaced, fleeing with his children from one city to the next in search of shelter, food, and some semblance of safety. He has been surviving on canned beans for more than three months.

Nael’s news shook me to my core. I couldn’t sleep.... READ MORE https://www.saveur.com/culture/palestinian-cuisine-under-siege/

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The New Yorker Illustration by Matt Rota

Essay

My Family’s Daily Struggle to Find Food in Gaza

In my homeland, where we used to cook and celebrate together, my relatives are eating animal feed to keep from starving.

By Mosab Abu Toha

February 24, 2024

Recently, my wife’s distant aunt, Leila, invited me, my wife, and our three children to her home in the Faisal neighborhood of Cairo. She promised to cook us maftoul, a Palestinian dish that we had not eaten since we fled Gaza in December. Back home, making maftoul was often a family affair. One person cooks a rich stew from pumpkin, onions, tomatoes, and chickpeas. Someone else mixes wheat flour into a dough. A third person rubs the dough through the holes of a sieve, creating tiny balls that are similar to pearl couscous. Finally, the balls are steamed and served with a hot ladleful of the stew. We looked forward to tasting it again.

Leila speaks with the same warmth as my mother, and she cooks the same familiar foods. When we arrived at her sixth-floor apartment, I felt the comfort that comes from shared history. Only months ago, my family survived Israel’s bombardment of northern Gaza, and I was detained by Israeli forces. Leila’s husband, who was deaf, was killed during Israel’s 2014 offensive in Gaza. The moment I sat down, their eleven-year-old son, who lost his father as a toddler, took out a box of dominoes and taught me to play. I thought about how none of us meant to live in Egypt. Leila and her brother came here for her son’s medical treatment, and they can no longer go home.

While the maftoul was cooking, sending a delicious smell through the apartment, I got a video call from my brother Hamza, a father of three with a fourth on the way. He was in northern Gaza, picking through the rubble of the house that we once shared. In the background was the recognizable sound of military drones, and I urged him to get to safety. Instead, Hamza passed the phone to my mother, who was there, too. She looked pale and tired, and she told me that they were running out of food, but she still thanked God for what they had. She was scouring the area for edible plants such as cheeseweed... READ MORE  https://www.newyorker.com/news/essay/my-familys-daily-struggle-to-find-food-in-gaza

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