Summary
Steadfastness: a comprehensive understanding of Palestinian resistance, beyond armed resistance, as perseverance against erasure, as presented in Chapter 8 of Palestine: A Socialist Introduction — “our sumoud (steadfastness) when Zionists are intent on erasing our very existence”, and, in the popular Palestinian saying the chapter quotes, “Our mere existence is resistance.” (Palestine: A Socialist Introduction, lines 1549-1565).
Details
- Armed resistance is only one of many ways Palestinians have fought their oppression and, in the chapter’s judgment, “certainly not the most effective, as it has never achieved any lasting victories” (lines 1552-1562).
- Women’s sumoud is instanced by the sheltering of orphans, behind-the-scenes organizing, community building in the diaspora and fostering safe spaces for queers (lines 1555-1570).
Related pages
Palestine: A Socialist Introduction, Nada Elia, Hind al-Husseini