I have a life-time love affair with Arabic which I first learnt when living in Gaza back in 2007- 2009 and more than fifteen years later I am still studying and learning how to express myself in this complex beautiful language
sumud (صمود) means steadfastness in the face of huge challenge: it sums up something about why I and so many others love the Middle East with such passion for its intense crazy, political chaos and the huge-heartedness of many people we each meet there.
the last two years of Israel’s war on the people of Gaza has been heartbreaking for so many reasons; the bloody loss of so many lives and the sheer horrific waste of opportunities to stem the bloodbath; I equally detest the Hamas atrocities against the people of Israel and the genocide Netanyahu unleashed against Gaza including the intent to destroy its cultural memories writers journalists and medical personnel.
the sumud of the people of Gaza – and the minority of Israeli human rights defenders who have opened condemned the Israeli government’s war crimes – has shamed the so-called international community that watched this war obliterate much of Gaza. this has been a terrible year for our collective humanity and we each need sumud to grasp our humanity and demand all war crimes are accounted for
(photo is mine from Baalbek in Lebanon)
