Soul of all Souls: Palestine Decolonizing Us by Dr. Shazra Ibrahim and Dr. Rana Ahmed Hameed
Palestine has been brutally occupied by illegal occupation of Israel for the past 76 years and until last year October, Palestine colonization has been stowed away by the West. Today, in every country of the world, the flag of Palestine is raised. Colonization has plagued human history for centuries and only those who lived through it can only truly elaborate the extend of the ramifications. This book is build upon work of many authors and is a comprehensive guide decolonizing the mind.
What inspired you both to begin your activism for the Palestinian cause in November 2023?
When I was small (Dr. Shazra) on the National TV of Maldives, the footage of a Palestinian unarmed boy shot and killed by Israel after demolishing the homes nearby and the boy's father lost his sanity temporarily. This was captured by a hiding photographer nearby as Israel kills journalists in Palestine for the last 77 years. That was the day even as a child I understood the ramifications of colonization by the West and Europe. After I grew up, I began hearing more stories and even how the British colonized our region including Maldives, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, India and Pakistan and killed more than 100 million people (from India alone!). I started to learn how America and the West kill millions of Muslims for resources such as oil while how Europe still loot African countries for their resources. Israel is the last colonization project of the British so I wanted to be a freedom fighter via education. (https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2020/9/30/behind-the-lens-remembering-muhammad-al-durrah) This is the photo of the footage I saw on TV as a small child. Was immensely hurt by the footage coming from Israel and to learn that this did not start on October 7th, but 77 years ago so wanted to do more for Palestinians (Dr. Rana).
What made you write this book now, especially in light of the widespread global solidarity and flag raising for Palestine?
We feel that still there are people who do not know the entire history and only know various pieces of information. We wanted to compile all this information into one book so that people can learn the entire history by reading just one book. In addition, Western imperialists are doing everything within their power to censor the Global South on social media and are trying their best to twist the narrative by claiming that they have the right of self-defence even after brutally invading and colonizing a land for over 77 years. For example, consider this example, I have been living in my family ancestorial home for thousands of years and a European came to invade my home using weapons, kill my children, rape my mother, kill my spouse, force me out of my home and built a settler home on my land. Who is the terrorist here? I am fighting for my land while they are occupying my land and killing my family. This is the story of every Palestinian family and there are over 15 million Palestinians having this same reality. Our book will bear this narrative and we feel like during a time of the biggest revolution of human history, educating the masses will only strengthen our work towards liberation from colonizers.
Decolonization isn't just physical resistance but also cultural and intellectual. How should Palestinians balance historical symbols of resistance with building future political programs?
From our book, we have sculpted a pyramid called "Watermelon Pyramid" which details how educational programs and electing natives as government officials can decolonize not only Palestine but the entire West. Today, Palestinian keffiyeh is seen from every corner of the world including the West. Palestinian keffiyeh is now a symbol of courage in fighting colonizers and hence, Palestinians can use such important cultural things (Palestinian keffiyeh, Maqluba, olive oil, olive trees, Za’atar, hummus, Dabke dance, Palestinian Tatreez dress, watermelon and Handala) to narrate the history and the stories behind the various Palestinian cultural identities.
What role do international communities play in supporting Palestine, and how can they be more effective allies?
By uniting more and materializing direct actions on every front such as for example thousands of fleets of aid boats to Gaza like Greta Thunberg did recently. Neither Israel nor America can kill or arrest millions. Governments are elected by the people and when people unite, governments can be brought to their knees. Therefore, international communities can collaborate in devising more direct actions so that they can protest daily to force the government listen and mobilize against corrupted governments who support genocide and colonization. To be more effective, more collaborations are required from all the global communities.
How has Western colonialism affected Palestinian identity, and what steps can be taken to reclaim and preserve it?
Western colonization has deliberately killed one of the oldest olive trees in Palestine (as old as 4000 years old) and Israel basically did identity theft by claiming everything that belongs to Palestine as theirs. Israel was created on not only land theft but identity theft too. Consider this example, a European after converting to a Hindu, came and invaded parts of India, created a hypothetical country called Krishna, started to revive old Sanskrit and claim that their forefathers were Indo-Aryans (a group of people who lived in India thousands of years back), kill native Indians, steal their homes, invite Europeans who convert to Hinduism and settle in the occupied India for 77 years all the while brutally killing more Indians, stealing their homes and expanding their occupied territories. In addition, DNA tests are illegal in the country of Khrishna. Question is would these European settlers ever be Indians? The answer is no, and this is exactly how Israel did the identity theft in Palestine. Palestinians have been revealing the truth of their identity theft by Israel and now it's time that the entire Global South help the Palestinians to reclaim this. By creating more awareness about Palestine in every corner of the world, via educational programs Palestine can reclaim it back.
What is it that you talk about differently in the book considering that the internet is already flooded with information, resistance and rebels?
Our book highlights the importance of a Khalifa that will protect Muslims and even non-Muslims from colonization and this aspect is still subtle despite many discussions about liberating Palestine and the oppressed people. Though armed resistance is now accepted, and people know that to dismantle colonizers, the best strategy is armed resistance, with the majority still emphasizing un-armed actions. Our book details how both armed resistance and un-armed resistance can be incorporated together to develop effective strategies against colonizers.
What message would you like to convey to readers who are new to the Palestinian cause and the concept of decolonization?
That this is the opportunity to unlearn everything you have been taught, that we were colonized once and it's time we free others who are still colonized. That the British, America and the entire Europe do not have legitimacy to teach us (Global South) about humanity after killing our forefathers and generations of our countries as well as regions. Like Nelson Mandela said and I quote, "if there is a country that has committed unspeakable atrocities in the world, it is the United States of America. They don't care for human beings and who are they to pretend to be police officers of the world?".
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From the Editor's desk
Vanshika Gupta