Palestinian culture

Palestinians collect olives from a tree during the annual harvest season, in Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, September 21, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

For Gaza’s olive farmers, the war has left little to salvage

Facing bombardment and water shortages, Palestinian farmers are clinging on to a livelihood that has long symbolized and been a source of resilience.

By Taghreed Ali and Ibtisam Mahdi November 19, 2024

Tamer Nafar (courtesy of the author)

What can Palestinian artists do in the face of our slaughter?

I used to believe art could change the world. Now it feels like an airplane black box: it won’t navigate the landing, it can only document the crash.

By Tamer Nafar July 11, 2024

Paintings from Gaza on display at "This is Not an Exhibition" in the Palestinian Museum, Birzeit, occupied West Bank. (Fatima AbdulKarim)

‘You could be looking at the last surviving works by Gaza’s artists’

An exhibition in the West Bank attempts both to capture and counteract the erasure of Palestinian life and culture in Gaza, even as its artists are killed.

By Fatima AbdulKarim May 16, 2024

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Empty seats in Haifa's Sard Theater. (Courtesy)

Palestinian artists stifled as Israel ‘weaponizes fear and fame’

Death threats, arrests, and self-censorship are creating a repressive environment for Palestinian cultural figures and institutions in Israel.

By Mariam Farah April 23, 2024

The ruins of the Great Omari Mosque, the largest and oldest mosque in northern Gaza. (Omar El Qattaa)

The obliteration of Gaza’s multi-civilizational treasures

Israel’s war has brought ruin to thousands of years of rich heritage in Gaza, with Palestinian experts decrying the destruction as a cultural genocide.

By Ibtisam Mahdi February 17, 2024

Rally in solidarity with Jenin's Freedom Theatre in New York, January 15, 2024. (Ken Schles)

Art world takes the stage to defend a Palestinian theater

After an unprecedented response to Israel’s latest raid on Jenin's Freedom Theatre, there will be no going back to show business as usual.

By Dana Mills February 15, 2024

Adnan Barq and Faten Elwan speaking at the launch event of Fikra Magazine at the Qattan Foundation, Ramallah, West Bank, August 2, 2023. (Courtesy of Fikra)

Nurturing a new home for Palestinian literature

From photos of Gaza postage stamps to fictional stories about Shakira, Fikra magazine aims to be a creative, uncensored platform for writers and artists.

By Vera Sajrawi September 6, 2023

A discussion held during the Jerusalem Arab Film Festival at Yabous Cultural Center, occupied East Jerusalem. (Samir Shareef)

At local festivals, Palestinian cinema steps out of its comfort zone

Two film festivals in Haifa and Jerusalem showcased an appetite for a Palestinian cinema scene that is thriving despite many obstacles.

By Vera Sajrawi August 16, 2023

Participants in Nour Palestina's DJ workshop at Sabreen, occupied East Jerusalem. (Alice Austin)

Spinning discs in Sheikh Jarrah

Led by Nour Palestina, a DJ workshop offers Palestinian women a window into the electronic music world despite the occupation.

By Alice Austin August 8, 2023

Yusor Hamed. (Bushra Barghouti)

Yusor Hamed is redrawing the boundaries of Palestinian sound

The musician's unashamedly individual style has brought some of Palestine's most renowned artists knocking. Now, she's taking her sound global.

By Alice Austin April 13, 2023

A still from "Farha," the new film from director Darin J. Sallam. (Talebox)

One Palestinian film and the colonizer’s endless anxiety

‘Farha’ holds up a mirror to Israelis and their victimless narrative about the 1948 war — and they don't like what they see.

By Shaul Magid February 2, 2023

Rasha Nahas performing in a show for her new album 'Amrat' at Kantine am Berghain, Berlin, January 2023. (Laura Müller)

‘What is this place I long for?’ A Palestinian musician’s healing journey

Rasha Nahas speaks to +972 about opening emotional wounds on her new Arabic album, the 'disarming' power of music, and navigating her identity between Haifa and Berlin.

By Vera Sajrawi February 2, 2023

A still from the movie "Farha," directed by Darin J. Sallam. (Talebox)

What can a new generation of Palestinian filmmakers learn from ‘Farha’?

The desire to direct a film about the Nakba is a powerful call to action. But to fully convey what we lost, it must be carefully rooted in historical reality.

By Samah Bsoul January 25, 2023