#Arab History

[hussyknee]

17/12/23 this masterlist has been completely revamped with free access to all material. It will be updated and edited periodically so please click on my username and reblog the current version directly from me if you're able.

14/8/24 reboosting this post with How to Help Palestine updated. Please scroll to the bottom to donate or boost the links.

The Big Damn List Of Stuff They Said You Didn't Know

(Yes, it's a lot. Just choose your preferred medium and then pick one.)

Podcasts

Backgrounders and Quick Facts

Interactive Maps

Teach-Out Resources

Reading Material (free)

Films and Documentaries (free)

Non-Governmental Organizations

Social Media

How You Can Help <- URGENT!!!

Podcasts

Cocktails & Capitalism: The Story of Palestine Part 1, Part 3

It Could Happen Here: The Cheapest Land is Bought with Blood, Part 2, The Balfour Declaration

Citations Needed: Media narratives and consent manufacturing around Israel-Palestine and the Gaza Siege

The Deprogram: Free Palestine, ft. decolonizatepalestine.com.

Backgrounders and Quick Facts

The Palestine Academy: Palestine 101

Institute for Middle East Understanding: Explainers and Quick Facts

Interactive Maps

Visualizing Palestine

Teach-Out Resources

1) Cambridge UCU and Pal Society

Palestine 101

Intro to Palestine Film + Art + Literature

Resources for Organising and Facilitating)

2) The Jadaliya YouTube Channel of the Arab Studies Institute

Gaza in Context Teach-in series

War on Palestine podcast

Updates and Discussions of news with co-editors Noura Erakat and Mouin Rabbani.

3) The Palestine Directory

History (virtual tours, digital archives, The Palestine Oral History Project, Documenting Palestine, Queering Palestine)

Cultural History (Palestine Open Maps, Overdue Books Zine, Palestine Poster Project)

Contemporary Voices in the Arts

Get Involved: NGOs and campaigns to help and support.

3) PalQuest Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question.

4) The Palestine Remix by Al Jazeera

Books and Articles

Free reading material

My Gdrive of Palestine/Decolonization Literature (nearly all the books recommended below + books from other recommended lists)

Five free eBooks by Verso

Three Free eBooks on Palestine by Haymarket

LGBT Activist Scott Long's Google Drive of Palestine Freedom Struggle Resources

Recommended Reading List

Academic Books

Edward Said (1979) The Question of Palestine, Random House

Ilan Pappé (2002)(ed) The Israel/Palestine Question, Routledge

Ilan Pappé (2006) The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine, OneWorld Publications

Ilan Pappé (2011) The Forgotten Palestinians: A History of the Palestinians in Israel, Yale University Press

Ilan Pappé (2015) The Idea of Israel: A History of Power and Knowledge, Verso Books

Ilan Pappé (2017) The Biggest Prison On Earth: A History Of The Occupied Territories, OneWorld Publications

Ilan Pappé (2022) A History of Modern Palestine, Cambridge University Press

Rosemary Sayigh (2007) The Palestinians: From Peasants to Revolutionaries, Bloomsbury

Andrew Ross (2019) Stone Men: the Palestinians who Built Israel, Verso Books

Rashid Khalidi (2020) The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine: A History of Settler Colonialism and Resistance 1917–2017

Ariella Azoulay (2011) From Palestine to Israel: A Photographic Record of Destruction and State Formation, 1947-1950, Pluto Press

Ariella Azoulay and Adi Ophir (2012) The One-State Condition: Occupation and Democracy in Israel/Palestine, Stanford University Press.

Jeff Halper (2010) An Israeli in Palestine: Resisting Dispossession, Redeeming Israel, Pluto Press

Jeff Halper (2015) War Against the People: Israel, the Palestinians and Global Pacification

Jeff Halper (2021) Decolonizing Israel, Liberating Palestine: Zionism, Settler Colonialism, and the Case for One Democratic State, Pluto Press

Anthony Loewenstein (2023) The Palestine Laboratory: How Israel exports the Technology of Occupation around the World

Noura Erakat (2019) Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine, Stanford University Press

Neve Gordon (2008) Israel’s Occupation, University of California Press

Joseph Massad (2006) The Persistence of the Palestinian Question: Essays on Zionism and the Palestinians, Routledge

Memoirs

Edward Said (1986) After the Last Sky: Palestine Lives, Columbia University PEdward Saidress

Edward Said (2000) Out of Place; A Memoir, First Vintage Books

Mourid Barghouti (2005) I saw Ramallah, Bloomsbury

Hatim Kanaaneh (2008) A Doctor in Galilee: The Life and Struggle of a Palestinian in Israel, Pluto Press

Raja Shehadeh (2008) Palestinian Walks: Into a Vanishing Landscape, Profile Books

Ghada Karmi (2009) In Search of Fatima: A Palestinian Story, Verso Books

Vittorio Arrigoni (2010) Gaza Stay Human, Kube Publishing

Ramzy Baroud (2010) My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story, Pluto Press

Izzeldin Abuelaish (2011) I Shall Not Hate: A Gaza Doctor’s Journey on the Road to Peace and Human Dignity, Bloomsbury

Atef Abu Saif (2015) The Drone Eats with Me: A Gaza Diary, Beacon Press

Anthologies

Voices from Gaza - Insaniyyat (The Society of Palestinian Anthropologists)

Letters From Gaza • Protean Magazine

Salma Khadra Jayyusi (1992) Anthology of Modern Palestinian Literature, Columbia University Press

ASHTAR Theatre (2010) The Gaza Monologues

Refaat Alreer (ed) (2014) Gaza Writes Back, Just World Books

Refaat Alreer, Laila El-Haddad (eds) (2015) Gaza Unsilenced, Just World Books

Cate Malek and Mateo Hoke (eds)(2015) Palestine Speaks: Narrative of Life under Occupation, Verso Books

Jehad Abusalim, Jennifer Bing (eds) (2022) Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, Haymarket Books

Short Story Collections

Ghassan Kanafani, Hilary Kilpatrick (trans) (1968) Men in the Sun and Other Palestinian Stories, Lynne Rienner Publishers

Ghassan Kanafani, Barbara Harlow, Karen E. Riley (trans) (2000) Palestine’s Children: Returning to Haifa and Other Stories, Lynne Rienner Publishers

Atef Abu Saif (2014) The Book of Gaza: A City in Short Fiction, Comma Press

Samira Azzam, Ranya Abdelrahman (trans) (2022) Out Of Time: The Collected Short Stories of Samira Azzam

Sonia Sulaiman (2023) Muneera and the Moon; Stories Inspired by Palestinian Folklore

Essay Collections

Edward W. Said (2000) Reflections on Exile and Other Essays, Harvard University Press

Salim Tamari (2008) Mountain against the Sea: Essays on Palestinian Society and Culture, University of California Press

Fatma Kassem (2011) Palestinian Women: Narratives, histories and gendered memory, Bloombsbury

Ramzy Baroud (2019) These Chains Will Be Broken: Palestinian Stories of Struggle and Defiance in Israeli Prisons, Clarity Press

Novels

Sahar Khalifeh (1976) Wild Thorns, Saqi Books

Liyana Badr (1993) A Balcony over the Fakihani, Interlink Books

Hala Alyan (2017) Salt Houses, Harper Books

Susan Abulhawa (2011) Mornings in Jenin, Bloomsbury

Susan Abulhawa (2020) Against the Loveless World, Bloomsbury

Graphic novels

Joe Sacco (2001) Palestine

Joe Sacco (2010) Footnotes in Gaza

Naji al-Ali (2009) A Child in Palestine, Verso Books

Mohammad Sabaaneh (2021) Power Born of Dreams: My Story is Palestine, Street Noise Book*

Poetry

Fady Joudah (2008) The Earth in the Attic, Sheridan Books,

Ghassan Zaqtan, Fady Joudah (trans) (2012) Like a Straw Bird It Follows Me and Other Poems, Yale University Press

Hala Alyan (2013) Atrium: Poems, Three Rooms Press*

Mohammed El-Kurd (2021) Rifqa, Haymarket Books

Mosab Abu Toha (2022) Things You May Find Hidden in My Ear: Poems from Gaza, City Lights Publishers

Tawfiq Zayyad (2023) We Are Here to Stay, Smokestack Books*

The Works of Mahmoud Darwish

Poems

Rafeef Ziadah (2011) We Teach Life, Sir

Nasser Rabah (2022) In the Endless War

Refaat Alareer (2011) If I Must Die

Hiba Abu Nada (2023) I Grant You Refuge/ Not Just Passing

[All books except the ones starred are available in my gdrive. I'm adding more each day. But please try and buy whatever you're able or borrow from the library. Most should be available in the discounted Free Palestine Reading List by Pluto Press, Verso and Haymarket Books.]

Human Rights Reports & Documents

Information on current International Court of Justice case on ‘Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem’

UN Commission of Inquiry Report 2022

UN Special Rapporteur Report on Apartheid 2022

Amnesty International Report on Apartheid 2022

Human Rights Watch Report on Apartheid 2021

Report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict’ 2009 (‘The Goldstone Report’)

Advisory Opinion on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, International Court of Justice, 9 July 2004

Films

Documentaries

Jenin, Jenin (2003) dir. Mohammed Bakri

Massacre (2005) dir. Monica Borgmann, Lokman Slim, Hermann Theissen

Slingshot HipHop (2008) dir. Jackie Reem Salloum

Waltz with Bashir (2008) dir. Ari Folman † (also on Amazon Prime)

Tears of Gaza (2010) dir. Vibeke Løkkeberg (also on Amazon Prime)

5 Broken Cameras (2011) dir. Emad Burnat (also on Amazon Prime)

The Gatekeepers (2012) dir. Dror Moreh (also on Amazon Prime)

The Great Book Robbery (2012) | Al Jazeera English

Al Nakba (2013) | Al Jazeera (5-episode docu-series)

The Village Under the Forest (2013) dir. Mark J. Kaplan

Where Should The Birds Fly (2013) dir. Fida Qishta

Naila and the Uprising (2017) (also on Amazon Prime)

GAZA (2019) dir. Andrew McConnell and Garry Keane

Gaza Fights For Freedom (2019) dir. Abby Martin

Little Palestine: Diary Of A Siege (2021) dir. Abdallah Al Khatib 

Palestine 1920: The Other Side of the Palestinian Story (2021) | Al Jazeera World Documentary

Gaza Fights Back (2021) | MintPress News Original Documentary | dir. Dan Cohen

Innocence (2022) dir. Guy Davidi

Short Films

Fatenah (2009) dir. Ahmad Habash

Gaza-London (2009) dir. Dina Hamdan

Condom Lead (2013) dir. Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser

OBAIDA (2019) | Defence for Children Palestine

Theatrical Films

Divine Intervention (2002) | dir. Elia Suleiman (also on Netflix)

Paradise Now (2005) dir Hany Abu-Assad (also on Amazon Prime)

Lemon Tree (2008) (choose auto translate for English subs) (also on Amazon Prime)

It Must Be Heaven (2009) | dir. Elia Suleiman †

The Promise (2010) mini-series dir. Peter Kosminsky (Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4)

Habibi (2011)* dir. Susan Youssef

Omar (2013)* dir. Hany Abu-Assad †

3000 Nights (2015)* dir. Mai Masri

Foxtrot (2017) dir. Samuel Maoz (also on Amazon Prime)

The Time that Remains (2019) dir. Elia Suleiman †

Gaza Mon Amour (2020) dir. Tarzan Nasser, Arab Nasser †

The Viewing Booth (2020) dir. Ra'anan Alexandrowicz (on Amazon Prime and Apple TV)

Farha (2021)* | dir. Darin J. Sallam

Palestine Film Institute Archive

All links are for free viewing. The ones marked with a star (*) can be found on Netflix, while the ones marked † can be downloaded for free from my Mega account.

If you find Guy Davidi's Innocence anywhere please let me know, I can't find it for streaming or download even to rent or buy.

In 2018, BDS urged Netflix to dump Fauda, a series created by former members of IOF death squads that legitimizes and promotes racist violence and war crimes, to no avail. Please warn others to not give this series any views. BDS has not called for a boycott of Netflix. ]

NGOs

The Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) Movement

Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor

UNRWA

Palestine Defence for Children International

Palestinian Feminist Collective

Al-Shabaka: The Palestinian Policy Network

Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association

Institute for Palestine Studies

Al Haq

Artists for Palestine

The Palestine Museum

Jewish Currents

B’Tselem

DAWN

Social Media

Palestnians on Tumblr

@el-shab-hussein

@killyfromblame

@apollos-olives

@fairuzfan

@palipunk

@sar-soor

@nabulsi

@wearenotjustnumbers2

@90-ghost

@tamarrud

@northgazaupdates

Allies and advocates (not Palestinian)

@bloglikeanegyptian beautiful posts that read like op-eds

@vyorei daily news roundups

@luthienne resistance through prose

@decolonize-the-left scoop on the US political plans and impacts

@feluka

@anneemay

(Please don't expect any of these blogs to be completely devoted to Palestine allyship; they do post regularly about it but they're still personal blogs and post whatever else they feel like. Do not harrass them.)

Gaza journalists

Motaz Azaiza IG: @motaz_azaiza | Twitter: @azaizamotaz9 | TikTok: _motaz.azaiza (left Gaza as of Jan 23)

Bisan Owda IG and TikTok: wizard_bisan1 | Twitter: @wizardbisan

Saleh Aljafarawi IG: @saleh_aljafarawi | Twitter: @S_Aljafarawi | TikTok: @saleh_aljafarawi97

Plestia Alaqad IG: @byplestia | TikTok: @plestiaaqad (left Gaza)

Wael Al-Dahdouh IG: @wael_eldahdouh | Twitter: @WaelDahdouh (left Gaza as of Jan 13)

Hind Khoudary IG: @hindkhoudary | Twitter: @Hind_Gaza

Ismail Jood IG and TikTok: @ismail.jood (announced end of coverage on Jan 25)

Yara Eid IG: @eid_yara | Twitter: @yaraeid_

Eye on Palestine IG: @eye.on.palestine | Twitter: @EyeonPalestine | TikTok: @eyes.on.palestine

Muhammad Shehada Twitter: @muhammadshehad2

(Edit: even though some journos have evacuated, the footage up to the end of their reporting is up on their social media, and they're also doing urgent fundraisers to get their families and friends to safety. Please donate or share their posts.)

News organisations

The Electronic Intifada Twitter: @intifada | IG: @electronicintifada

Quds News Network Twitter and Telegram: @QudsNen | IG: @qudsn (Arabic)

Times of Gaza IG: @timesofgaza | Twitter: @Timesofgaza | Telegram: @TIMESOFGAZA

The Palestine Chronicle Twitter: @PalestineChron | IG: @palestinechron | @palestinechronicle

Al-Jazeera Twitter: @AJEnglish | IG and TikTok: @aljazeeraenglish, @ajplus

Middle East Eye IG and TikTok: @middleeasteye | Twitter: @MiddleEastEye

Democracy Now Twitter and IG: @democracynow TikTok: @democracynow.org

Mondoweiss IG and TikTok: @mondoweiss | Twitter: @Mondoweiss

The Intercept Twitter and IG: @theintercept

MintPress Twitter: @MintPressNews | IG: mintpress

Novara Media Twitter and IG: @novaramedia

Truthout Twitter and IG: @truthout

Noura Erakat: Legal scholar, human rights attorney, specialising in Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Twitter: @4noura | IG: @nouraerakat | (http://www.nouraerakat.com/)

Palestnians on Other Social Media

Taleed El Sabawi: Assistant professor of law and researcher in public health. Twitter: @el_sabawi | IG

Hebh Jamal: Journalist in Germany. IG and Twitter: @hebh_jamal

Lexi Alexander: Filmmaker and activist. Twitter: @LexiAlex | IG: @lexialexander1

Mariam Barghouti: Writer, blogger, researcher, and journalist. Twitter: @MariamBarghouti | IG: @mariambarghouti

Rasha Abdulhadi: Queer poet, author and cultural organizer. Twitter: @rashaabdulhadi

Mohammed el-Kurd: Writer and activist from Jerusalem. IG: @mohammedelkurd | Twitter: @m7mdkurd

Ramy Abdu: Founder and Chairman of the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor. Twitter: @RamyAbdu

‼️How You Can Help Palestine‼️

Subhi: Founder of The Palestine Academy website. IG: @sbeih.jpg |TikTok @iamsbeih | Twitter: @iamsbeih

Click for Palestine (Please reblog!!)

Masterlist of donation links by @sulfurcosmos (Please reblog!!)

Water for Gaza: Donate directly to the Gaza Municipality

Gazafunds (vetted and spotlighted GFMs)

The Butterfly Effect Project (spreadsheet of vetted GFMs)

Operation Olive Branch Linktree for vetted fundraisers, donations and political action resources. TikTok and Instagram: @operationolivebranch | Twitter: @OPOliveBranch

Spreadsheet of Gaza fundraisers vetted by @el-shab-hussein and @nabulsi

Political action to pressure the Harris campaign to stop arming Israel (for US citizens): Uncommitted Movement (TikTok: @uncommittedmvmt) (Please reblog!!)

If any links are broken let me know. Or pull up the current post to check whether it's fixed.

"Knowledge is Israel's worst enemy. Awareness is Israel's most hated and feared foe. That's why Israel bombs a university: it wants to kill openness and determination to refuse living under injustice and racism."

— Dr. Refaat Alareer, (martyred Dec 6, 2023)

From River To The Sea Palestine Will Be Free 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸

-----

Edit 1: took the first video down because turns out the animator is a terf and it links to her blog. Really sorry for any distress.

Edit 2: All recommended readings + Haymarket recommendations + essential decolonization texts have been uploaded to my linked gdrive. I will adding more periodically. Please do buy or check them out from the library if possible, but this post was made for and by poor and gatekept Global South bitches like me.

Some have complained about the memes being disrespectful. You're actually legally obligated to make fun of Israeli propaganda and Zionists. I don't make the rules.

Edit 3: "The river to the sea" does not mean the expulsion of Jews from Palestine. Believing that is genocide apologia.

Edit 4: Gazans have specifically asked us to put every effort into pushing for a ceasefire instead of donations. "Raising humanitarian aid" is a grift Western governments are pushing right now to deflect from the fact that they're sending billions to Israel to keep carpet bombing Gazans. As long as the blockades are still in place there will never be enough aid for two million people. (UPDATE: PLEASE DONATE to the Gazan's GoFundMe fundraisers to help them buy food and get out of Rafah into Egypt. E-SIMs, food and medical supplies are also essential. Please donate to the orgs linked in the How You Can Help. Go on the strikes. DO NOT STOP PROTESTING.)

Edit 5: Google drive link for academic books folder has been fixed. Also have added a ton of resources to all the other folders so please check them out.

Edit 6: Added interactive maps, Jadaliya channel, and masterlists of donation links and protest support and of factsheets.

The twitter accounts I reposted as it was given to me and I just now realized it had too many Israeli voices and almost none of the Palestinians I'm following, so it's being edited. (Update: done!) also removed sources like Jewish Voices of Peace and Breaking the Silence that do good work but have come under fair criticism from Palestinians.

Edit 7: Complete reformatting

Edit 8: Complete revamping of the social media section. It now reflects my own following list.

Edit 9: removed some more problematic people from the allies list. Remember that the 2SS is a grift that's used to normalize violence and occupation, kids. Supporting the one-state solution is lowest possible bar for allyship. It's "Free Palestine" not "Free half of Palestine and hope Israel doesn't go right back to killing them".

Edit 10: added The Palestine Directory + Al Jazeera documentary + Addameer. This "100 links per post" thing sucks.

Edit 11: more documentaries and films

Edit 12: reformatted reading list

Edit 13: had to remove @palipunk's masterlist to add another podcast. It's their pinned post and has more resources Palestinian culture and crafts if you want to check it out

Edit 14 6th May '24: I've stopped updating this masterlist so some things, like journalists still left in Gaza and how to support the student protests are missing. I've had to take a step back and am no longer able to track these things down on my own, and I've hit the '100 links per post' limit, but if you can leave suggestions for updates along with links in either the replies or my asks I will try and add them.

Edit 15 10th August: added to Palestinian allies list and reworked the Help for Palestine section. There's been a racist harrassment campaign against the Palestinian Tumblrs that vetted the Gaza fundraisers based off one mistake made by a Gazan who doesn't understand English. If you're an ally, shut that shit down. Even if you donate to a scam GFM, you're only out some coffee money; if everyone stops donating to all the GFMs in fear of scams, those families die.

[deadpresidents]

I thought this was a blog about us presidents, no one comes here to read your thoughts on the mess in syria.

Well, first and foremost, this isn't a request line. I started this blog to write about whatever I want to write about and I've been doing that for 15+ years. It's not changing anytime soon. I don't care what you came here to read. It's not for you. If anybody finds anything interesting, it's an added bonus.

The collapse of a regime that has existed longer than I've been alive and has had an iron grip on one of the oldest continuous civilizations in the world is historic. And it's interesting to me, and I'll write about whatever interests me whenever I am interested by it. These moments should be fascinating to anybody who has an interest in history. You never know where the story is going to go from here, and that alone is interesting, as well. Just because it isn't "your" history doesn't mean it isn't historic.

When Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father in 2000, there was actually a significant amount of optimism around him. He was a London-educated ophthalmologist who was never intended to be Syria's leader but was thrust into the role after the death of his brother in a car accident. It was thought that he might be a reformer who would lead differently than the tyrannical rule of his father. There was hope that some real changes might take place in parts of the Arab world in 1999 and 2000 when King Hussein of Jordan, King Hassan II of Morocco, and Hafez al-Assad of Syria -- longtime rulers in their respective countries -- all died and were replaced by sons in their mid-30s (King Abdullah II in Jordan, King Mohammed VI in Morocco, and Bashar in Syria). Jordan and Morocco weren't in the same situation as Syria, especially considering the decades of close connections King Hussein and King Hassan II had with the United States, but there was still genuine hope about Bashar al-Assad in 2000.

Twenty-four years later, we know the path of history that Assad took, but these moments are hugely important -- not just for Syrians or Arabs or the Middle East in general, but for the entire world. What happens in Syria matters here. Don't forget that there are American soldiers on the ground in Syria. I'm from Sacramento and live in Los Angeles -- those two cities are almost twice as far apart as Damascus is from Jerusalem. Damascus is closer to Beirut than Sacramento is to San Francisco. Russia, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Israel -- these countries are all intricately connected with Syria in various ways and have been for decades. If you aren't interested in what's going on in Syria today, that's your prerogative. If you don't think what's going on in Syria today makes a difference here, you are disturbingly ignorant.

[dragoneyes618]

"Jews have lived throughout the Middle East and North Africa for thousands of years, of ten in communities that long pre-dated the Islamic conquest. But during the mid-twentieth century's tumultuous power shifts in the region between colonial and post colonial control, political instability, and antisemitic violence intensified to create a vast exodus, driving nearly a million Jews to emigrate to Israel and elsewhere, leaving entire countries all but dead of Jews - and leaving behind synagogues, schools, and cemeteries that served these communities for generations. The circumstances of this mas migration varied. In some places, like Morocco, the Jewish community's flight was largely voluntary, driven partly by sporadic antisemitic violence but mostly by poverty and fear of regime change. At the other extreme are countries like Iraq, where Jews were stripped of their citizenship and had their assets seized, and where, in the capital city of Baghdad, a 1941 pogrom left nearly two hundred Jews murdered and hundreds of Jewish-owned homes and businesses looted or destroyed." 

- Dara Horn, People Love Dead Jews: Reports from a Haunted Present

[city-of-ladies]

"In the royal inscriptions of the Neo-Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III (744-727 BCE) is a detailed passage describing the defeat of a foreign ruler. It reads just like every other description of an Assyrian king defeating an enemy: a description of how desolate the land is, a short phrase saying the enemy was destroyed, a detailed explanation of the aftermath of the battle, and finally the foreign ruler surrendering and sending gifts to their new ruler. What sets this passage apart is the gender of the ruler: Samsi is not a king, but has the title šarrat aribī — “Queen of the Arabs”. 

Samsi was not the only woman with this title in the royal inscriptions — in total, five women are called “Queen of the Arabs”. One was imposed as ruler of the Arabs by the Assyrian king, and two more were queens of cities along the Persian Gulf in the Arabian Peninsula. These women are described as sending tribute to Assyria, leading armies, and in one instance there is a suggestion that they had a prominent religious role in their community. 

The institution of “woman kings” lasted over 200 years. It was clearly an important element of Northwestern Arabian society in the first millennium. Sadly, with very little written evidence from the Arabians during this time, we can only rely on the Assyrian narrative. Samsi and the other “women kings” may have been part of a much older institution, and there are likely many other women whose names have been lost over time. Thankfully the little information recorded by the Assyrian scribes that we have about these women has ensured their legacy has not been forgotten, and Samsi can serve as a reminder of the power these ancient women held."

[labyrinthofstreams]

"Zhora la mauresque Ouled-Nail"

Photographed by Jean Geiger, c. 1880, Algeria.

[baudouinette]

Never posted her here because it is unfinished and I don’t like a lot of things about it but this is an interpretation of Lluna Valentia bint Al Mualim De Bosch, the character from my Baldwin story.

She is from the Almohad Caliphate in Al Andalus (the Iberian Peninsula) daughter of a Muslim and a Christian.

[unsolicited-opinions]

This lecture by Haviv Rettig Gur at Shalem College in January 2024 is excellent.

I get that attention spans are short these days, but this is worth your time and attention. Gur is knowledgable, insightful, nuanced, and an engaging speaker.

Among other things, Gur frames Zionism not as a nationalist project, but as a refugee/rescue project.

In part two, he starts talking about the Palestinian perspective:

[cid5]

World War I. Arab Revolt of 1916-1918. Dhari ibn Tawala of the Aslam Shammar and his Tribesmen on Horseback.

[joelchaimholtzman]

Painting I made a year ago, depicting a Sub Saharan African tribal leader; Both a merchant and a warrior. Hope you like it!

Best, JCH

www.joelchaimholtzman.com

[the-first-man-is-a-cat]

On the Outcome of the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, Life Magazine (1967)

[anakinsafterlife]

I was just looking at the cast list for Lawrence of Arabia and it is mind-boggling to me that of all the top-billed actors for the movie, only *one* was a native Arabic speaker, and that was Omar Sharif. Omar was Egyptian, meaning he was from an Arabized culture, not an ethnically Arab country. Alec Guiness (!) played Prince Faisal of *Iraq and Syria* in this movie and said that he learned his Arab accent from Omar. But Prince Faisal was an ethnically Arab ruler, born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Ottoman Turkey, who spoke an entirely different dialect of Arabic. Modern Egyptian Arabic is heavily influenced by a number of foreign languages, as well as Ancient Egyptian and later Coptic, while, as a ruler and a descendent of the Prophet Mohamed, Faisal would certainly have spoken an Arabic very close to the classical language. There's no way Omar Sharif's accent sounded like the historical Faisal.

It just makes me crazy. I know it was very common in classic Hollywood for Western actors to play everyone, and even having Omar Sherif play a role was probably considered progressive, but it's all so strange and hodgepodge. In a way, it reminds me that no matter how hard we try to legitimize film and make it into historical fact, it's still just pantomime.

[hummussexual]

مدرك الشيباني هو شاعر عربي ولد عام (٣٩٠هـ - ١٠٠٠م) في البصرة جنوب العراق، ومن ثم انتقل إلى وسكن في بغداد، وقد عشق الشيباني شخصاً مسيحياً كان اسمه عمرو بن يوحنا، وقال فيه: من عاشق ناء هواه دان … ناطق دمع صامت اللسان وكان عمرو بن يوحنا النصراني يسكن في دار الروم ببغداد من الجانب الشرقي، وكان من أحسن الناس صورة وأجملهم خلقاً، وكان مدرك بن علي الشيباني يهواه، وكان مدرك من أفاضل أهل الأدب والمطبوعين في الشعر، فكتب الشيباني قصيدة غزلية أراد اعطائها لعمرو وهو في مجلس العلم، فعرف الجميع هذه الأبيات، ووقف عليها من كان في المجلس وقرأوها، واستحيا عمرو من ذلك، فانقطع عن الحضور، وغلب الأمر على مدرك، فترك مجلسه ولزم دار الروم، وجعل يتبع عمراً حيث سلك، ولمدرك في عمرو أيضاً أشعار كثير، ثم خرج مدرك إلى الوسواس وسل جسمه، وذهل عقله، وانقطع عن إخوانه ولزم الفراش، فحضره جماعة، فقال لهم: ألست صديقكم القديم العشرة لكم، أفما فيكم أحد يسعدني بالنظر إلى وجه عمرو؟ فمضوا بأجمعهم إليه، قالوا: قد صار إلى حال ما نحسبك ترضى به. فلبس ثيابه ونهض معهم، فلما دخلوا عليه سلم عليه عمرو وأخذ بيده وقال: كيف تجدك يا سيدي؟ فنظر إليه فأغمي عليه ساعةً ثم أفاق وفتح عينيه، وهو يقول: أنا في عافية … إلا من الشوق اليكا أيها العائد بي … منك لا يخفى عليكا لا تعد جسما، وعد … قلبا رهيناً في يديكا كيف لا يهلك مرشق … بسهمي مقلتيكا ثم شهق شهقةً فارق فيها الدنيا ومات، ليترك لنا واحدة من اكثر القصص الرومانسية حزنا في الإرث الكويري الشرق الأوسطي، والتي تعطي المعن، الحرفي لعبارة ومن الحب ما فْتل

[deadpresidents]

50+ years of rule by the Assad family in Syria is officially over.

[hahahakeemu]

I appreciate a video like this. So here’s a nice way of explaining how names work, whether one wants to get into Islamic History, or if one wishes to understand names within other cultures or names before our modern era.

So, he for sure knows what he’s talking about, but other YouTube videos always kill me when they start referring to an Arab/Islamic figure by their father’s name. Like it doesn’t make sense to call “Nasir ibn Sayyar” by the name “Sayyar” after you’ve introduced him. That’s not his surname lol. I need everyone to understand that part.

[augustsappho]

'Luxury Foods' in Medieval Islamic Societies by David Waines from World Archaeology, Vol. 34, No. 3, Luxury Foods (Feb., 2003)

"We may begin with the work entitled The Meadows of Gold written by the famous historian al-Mas'udi (d. AD 956). He was born in Baghdad and died in Cairo, having, in between, travelled widely in Persia and India in addition to Iraq, Palestine and Syria. The Meadows of Gold contains a number of anecdotes related to food. One involves the Abbasid Caliph, Harun al-Rashid (d. AD 809), of 1001 Arabian Nights fame. He was invited to dine by his brother Ibrahim b. al-Mahdi (d. AD 853), a noted poet and culinary expert, of whom more later.

Harun was served a dish of what appeared to be small and delicate slices of fish arranged in the shape of a fish. When informed that the dish was made from more than 150 fish tongues, the Caliph demanded to know its price and commanded that an equivalent of 1000 silver dirhams be distributed to the poor. This was in expiation, he said, for his brother's wastefulness. Moreover, he ordered a servant to take the fish on its plate, itself an expensive item worth five times as much as the fish preparation, and give it to the first beggar he met in the street.

A second anecdote involves another Caliph, al-Mutawakkil (d. AD 861), who was relaxing one day with his courtiers and singers beside one of the many canals that traversed Baghdad. He smelled the aroma of cooking drifting from a pot being prepared by a sailor on his boat. The Caliph ordered the pot - a beef sikbaj, a sweet and sour stew dish, brought immediately to him. The Caliph sampled the stew with a piece of bread, as did his courtiers and singers, until the pot was empty. He then ordered the pot filled with 2000 dirhams and returned to the boat; the coins that did not fit into the pot were placed in a pouch and given directly to the cook. In the Caliph's judgement the dish was the best sikbaj he had ever tasted."

I found this excerpt incredibly lovely and highly recommend you check out the whole thing on JSTOR (free to access when you make an account but also on scihub). Doing a short article review on it for my Global Connections module - covering Islamic history briefly has really touched me especially when I covered it quite begrudgingly as a child/pre-teen through Saturday-Sunday school. It was always a tug of war with my mother to make me go until at 16 I finally just refused outright and there was nothing she could do. Admittedly out of all the classes taught at the mosque Tahrikh and Seerah always engaged me. I'm glad I can revisit it with a warm heart and with no expectation to be something I'm not so I can love share and appreciate it with fresh eyes.