This summer, a delegation of 18 librarians, archivists, and other library workers will travel to Palestine:
The delegation, which has been in the works since the summer of 2002, is set to arrive in Palestine on June 22 and stay until the 5th of July. They write on their blog:
We will connect with our colleagues in library- and archive-related projects and institutions there, applying our experience in the form of skillshares and other types of joint work. We will travel as truth-seekers and information-skeptics, eager to dispense with the superficial and inaccurate portrayals of life in Palestine/Israel that we see in the west and to learn about the realities of life under occupation and settler colonialism. As library workers, we support access to information, and we recognize that this goes in more than one direction. Our trip will shed light on how Palestinian voices and information about Palestine reach us (or do not) and how Palestinians access (or cannot access) information.
Organizer Melissa Morrone, a public librarian in New York City, said, “Yes, we are fundraising! Anyone interested in contributing to offset our travel costs can go here: http://librarians2palestine.wordpress.com/donate/. We will appreciate any amount!”
You can find out more at their website, librarians2palestine.wordpress.com, including a rough schedule of the trip.
Hello, I am part of a project called: Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here ( http://www.al-mutanabbistreetstartshere). Could I send in some information about a poetry reading that I am organising on March 5th in remembrance of the 2007 bombing of Al-Mutanabbi street to be published on your site?
I very much appreciate the vast amount of information that I have received through “Arabic Literature”.
Thank you!
Janet Bradley London UK
I emailed you. You can also find me at mlynxqualey – at – gmail – dot – com.
They might want to check out this film about the Palestinian books confiscated during the Nakba and plan to make a visit to see them in the Israeli Archives. (Listed as AP for Abandoned Property.) It’s called The Great Book Robbery and can be watched in full here: http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/great-book-robbery/
Also, here is the film’s website with more details of the research that went into the film: http://thegreatbookrobbery.org/
Yes, thanks, we ran a review of the film last week: http://arablit.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/stolen-books-stolen-identity-what-did-israel-do-with-palestinians-literary-heritage/
We also mentioned that it’s coming to the US in Feb.
I assume the librarians group knows about it…
Thanks, Katherine – there’s actually a screening coming up soon in NYC, where some of us delegation organizers live. And another organizer, Hannah Mermelstein, did research into the “Abandoned Property” of 1948: http://www.jerusalemquarterly.org/ViewArticle.aspx?id=386