This Is Not a Watermelon | Palestinian History & Culture afikra

Dr Salman Abu Sitta lived through the Nakba. In this episode of This Is Not A Watermelon, we hear about his lived experience, writing his memoir "Mapping My Return: A Palestinian Memoir," and the Palestinian Land Society – an organization he founded that is dedicated to the documentation of Palestine's land and people. Dr Abu Sitta gives us an overview of the history of the Zionist occupation of Palestine, explaining the role that the British and the Haganah played, ultimately betraying the Palestinians. This is a unique opportunity to learn about the events of 1948 from a first-hand perspective.

Refqa Abu-Remaileh joins us on This Is Not A Watermelon podcast to discuss the fascinating and crucial work she does through her digital project "Country of Words: A Transnational Atlas for Palestinian Literature". We dive into the very nature of Palestinian literature, discussing how it is without a centralized nation state and the challenges this presents in understanding it, as well as the key role of magazines in its production. Refqa explains the concept of a "diaspora-homeland continuum" and what it means to historicize Palestinian literature. Finally, she shares the names of figures of Palestinian literary production that are often forgotten.

On this episode of This is Not a Watermelon podcast, we sit down with Yazid Anani to discuss Palestinian art, curation, and the role of artists and their work in redefining Palestine and the lexicon used to describe the Zionist project and Israeli occupation.

This episode of This is Not a Watermelon is a re-run of a conversation recorded on June 7, 2021 with three of Visualizing Palestine’s team members: Ramzi Jaber, Ahmad Barclay and Jessica Anderson. We are re-running this episode at a time when Visualizing Palestine’s work is more vital than ever.

In this episode of afikra's This Is Not A Watermelon, pioneer Palestinian filmmaker and director Mai Masri shares her cinematic journey, her inspirations, and the stories behind her most impactful works. Masri reflects on her early trilogy Children of Fire, Children of Shatila, and Frontier of Dreams and Fears, sharing the realities and experiences of filming under siege and occupation. She talks about the power of finding poetry in the human condition and capturing harsh realities faced by Palestinians every day, as well as why she chooses to focus on small, personal stories to speak to a broader narrative. Finally, we learn about how Masri fostered a sense of belonging through the camera as a Palestinian who had grown up in the diaspora.

This is a rerun of a conversation that we initially published on February 8th, 2023 with iconic Palestinian painter, sculptor, author and cartoonist Sliman Mansour. This conversation is still very relevant today. If you find it useful, please share it or let us know your thoughts in the comments section. And make sure to subscribe to the THIS IS NOT A WATERMELON podcast for more interesting content on Palestine.