Storytelling as Resistance: Palestinian Identity and Resilience in Literature for Young People
Talking about Palestine with our friends and family can be difficult for many of us. In this webinar, we will hear from a diverse panel of professionals - Christian, Muslim, and Jewish - who through their teaching and writing about Palestine for young people, convey a challenging subject in engaging and educational ways that overcome the all-too-common erasure of the Palestinian people and their story. Topics will include the importance of representation and truth-telling and how children can learn about difficult subjects in age-appropriate ways. Booklists, curriculums, and other resources will be shared that can help us learn how best to convey the Palestinian story to children. Our discussion and resources should provide valuable insights and learning for Palestine-related conversations and communications with adults as well.
Our expert panel:
HANNAH MOUSHABECK is a second‐generation Palestinian American author, editor, and marketer who was raised in a family of booksellers and publishers in Western Massachusetts and England. She recently published her first picture book: "Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine," a story that brings Palestine to life for children of the Palestinian diaspora and that can resonate with diverse immigrant families. Born in Brooklyn into Interlink Publishing, a family‐run independent publishing house, Hannah learned the power of literature at a young age and was taught that “books are the gateway to a country’s soul." She has worked in editing and marketing children’s books for Chronicle Books, Interlink Publishing, and The Quarto Group. She also has served as co-chair of the New England Children’s Booksellers Advisory Committee, and on the executive board of the Boston Teen Author Festival. She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts on the homelands of the Pocumtuc and Nipmuc Nations.
NORA LESTER MURAD is a writer, educator, and activist. She co-authored “Rest in My Shade: A Poem About Roots” with Danna Masad and edited “I Found Myself in Palestine: Stories of Love and Renewal From Around the Globe." Her young adult novel, “Ida in the Middle,” about a Palestinian- American girl’s search for belonging, includes curricular materials for 6th-9th grade. While living in Palestine, Nora co-founded Palestine's first community foundation, Dalia Association, and the aid accountability initiative, Aid Watch Palestine. She now lives in Massachusetts where she organizes to expand the teaching of Palestine in schools, among other social justice issues. Murad is a policy member with Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network and been published widely on the subjects of international aid and community philanthropy, including in The Guardian, Aljazeera, Huffington Post, OpenDemocracy, and Counterpunch.
ABEER RAMADAN-SHINNAWI is a Palestinian American educator of 20+ years, a veteran middle school social studies teacher who has used her upbringing as a child of immigrants to help connect students, schools, and communities by providing curriculum, content, and activities that reflect BIPOC students and teachers. Ramadan-Shinnawi started her own education consulting business in 2019 called Altair Education Consulting out of a need to create learning pathways to amplify the voice and history of the Arab/Muslim American communities. She has been a resource teacher in the Baltimore County Public Schools Office of Social Studies, served as an equity liaison and the co-facilitator of an affinity group for teachers of color, and created and facilitated a student support group for Arab/Muslim immigrant female students. Ramadan-Shinnawi is a member of many Teacher Advisory groups, has written many education guides, been featured in several conferences and podcasts and has written about empowering students to share their narratives to work towards global equity and justice. Abeer Ramadan-Shinnawi was the program lead for the non-profit Re-Imagining Migration.
Our moderator, LISA BENDER, is Chair of United Methodists for Kairos Response (UMKR), the grassroots movement mobilizing United Methodist advocacy for Palestinian liberation and a just peace in Palestine/Israel. She also leads UMKR's Boycott and Divestment Committee and serves on the Steering Committee of the Love Your Neighbor Coalition, an alliance of diverse justice-seeking movements and ethnic caucuses in the United Methodist Church. Lisa worked for 18 years as the Executive Secretary for the Director of Connectional Ministries of the UMC's Susquehanna Conference. Today she serves her conference on the boards of Mission Central, Global Ministries, and Preachers' Aid Society. Lisa was a delegate to the UMC General Conference in 2012, 2016, and 2019 and is an alternate to General Conference 2024.
BOOKS BY OUR SPEAKERS
Homeland: My Father Dreams of Palestine
By Hannah Moushabeck
By Nora Lester Murad
Other books by Murad, not children’s literature:
ARTICLES
Palestinian Erasure Starts in Preschool - With Sesame Street’s Endorsement
by Nora Lester Murad
September 30, 2022
https://fair.org/home/palestinian-erasure-starts-in-preschool-with-sesame-streets-endorsement/
Censorship of Palestinians is So Normal, Even Antiracists Don't See It
by Nora Lester Murad
https://afuse8production.slj.com/2022/11/09/guest-post-censorship-of-palestinians-is-so-normal-even-antiracists-dont-see-it-by-nora-lester-murad%EF%BF%BC/
Palestine Children’s Book: Threats & Censorship
https://palestinelegal.org/case-studies/2018/2/20/palestine-childrens-book-threats-censorship-
COLLECTIONS OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS ON PALESTINE
Palestinian Feminist Collective
https://palestinianfeministcollective.org/
Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA)
https://teachpalestine.org/articles/childrens-books-palestine/
TEACHING RESOURCES
Nora Lester Murad’s collection of Teaching Resources addresses teachers’ questions and concerns when bringing the topic of Palestine to the classroom. Many resources including a 6-week curriculum, videos, and more:
http://www.idainthemiddle.com
More curricula at PalestinePortal.org
https://www.palestineportal.org/learn-teach/curricula/high-school-elementary-curricula/