Becoming Pro-Palestinian

Rosemary Sayigh is a social anthropologist, researcher and author. She has been based in Beirut for several decades, and has spent a lifetime researching the impact of the Israel-Palestine conflict on Palestinian refugees. She is also the author of Too Many Enemies: The Palestinian Experience in Lebanon (Zed Books, 1994). She is the 2023 winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Palestine Book Awards.

This book brings together testimonials from people of different nationalities and professions who are 'pro-Palestinian', whether as scholars, film-makers, artists, musicians, activists, or NGO workers. Using what oral historians call the 'focused life history', renowned scholar, Rosemary Sayigh, invites her contributors to describe the experiences, events, motives and feelings that led them to support the Palestinian cause.The book is the first of its kind in Palestiniography and includes voices from countries across the world. A chapter is dedicated to each country and contributors are asked to reveal how they 'discovered' Palestine - given that Palestine is rarely mentioned in school textbooks or university courses - whether by travel, friendship, study, membership in a political party or book group. They are also asked to detail what specific forms their engagement has taken - ranging scholarly, creative, militant, or charitable - and what their hopes are for the international solidarity movement. Finally, each contributor reflects on if they feel a just and equitable solution can ever be achieved for Palestinians, and if they accept the label 'pro-Palestinian' or would rather define their relationship to the Palestinians in some other way.With testimonies from both high profile and grassroots activists, the book is a rich and personal selection that reflects the diversity, dynamism and global nature of the movement for Palestine.

Brings together testimonials from over 40 contributors from different nationalities and professions - scholars, film-makers, artists, musicians, activists, or NGO workers - who are 'pro-Palestinian'

AcknowledgementsPreface, Noam ChomskyForeword, Rosemary Sayigh MIDDLE EASTHadi Borhani, IranAmira Hass, Occupied Palestinian West BankSanem Ozturk, TurkeyIlan Pappe, Israel/UKSOUTH ASIAM.H.Ilias, IndiaVijay Prashad, India/Lebanon EAST ASIAAng Swee Chai, Singapore/UKEisuke Naramoto, JapanRyantori, IndonesiaHiroyuki Suzuki, JapanAFRICASuraya Dadoo, South AfricaFarid Esack, South AfricaNaeem Jeenah, South AfricaZahid Rajan, Kenya NORTH AMERICAPenny Johnson, US/West BankDimitri Lascaris, CanadaRafi Silver, CanadaNaomi Wallace, US/UKEUROPELori Allen, US/UKHelga Baumgarten, Germany/JerusalemSophia Deeg, GermanyElisabetta Donini, ItalyJane Frere, ScotlandChris Giannou, GreeceMatts Grorud, NorwayRoger Heacock, France/West BankAnni Kanafani, Denmark/LebanonMonica Maurer, GermanyDavid McDowall, UKPhilomena McKenna, IrelandLuisa Morgantini, ItalyBirgitte Rahbek, DenmarkLeena Saraste, FinlandLex Takkenberg,the NetherlandsToine van Teeffelen, Netherlands/BethlehemKlaudia Wieser, Austria AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALANDStuart Rees, AustraliaJanfrie Wakim, New Zealand LATIN AMERICABianca Marcossi, BrazilO. Hugo Benavides, EcuadorHelena de Morais Manfrinato Othman, BrazilNatalia Revale, Argentine Biographies of ContributorsFurther ReadingIndex