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Our Vision For Liberation: Engaged Palestinian Leaders & Intellectuals Speak Out
Our Vision for Engaged Palestinian Leaders & Intellectuals Speak Out aims to challenge several strata of the current Palestine discourse that have led to the present dead the American pro-Israel political discourse, the Israeli colonial discourse, the Arab discourse of purported normalization, and the defunct discourse of the Palestinian factions. None promote justice, none have brought resolution; none bode well for any of the parties involved. Here, an alternative Palestinian view of liberation and decolonization is provided by engaged Palestinian leaders and intellectuals, those who been actively involved in generating an ongoing Palestinian discourse on liberation, taking into account the parameters of their struggle as it now stands.
Drawing on their own remarkable personal experiences and successes -- as archaeologists, artists, authors, community leaders, educators, filmmakers, historians, human rights activists, journalists, lawyers, spiritual leaders, political prisoners, and the like -- they address what now, what next, is to be done, in a manner that reflects not only Palestinian aspirations, but their view of what is possible.
'Liberation' is a term that was dropped from the official Palestinian lexicon simply because it was incompatible with the US-championed political discourse, but it has resurfaced here because without its justice dimensions, there can be no peace. Now that the international community is able to see that Oslo, along with the 'two-state solution' model, has irreversibly failed, the paradigmatic void has opened space for the articulation of new possibilities. Our Vision for Liberation embraces this opportunity to introduce a new Palestinian discourse, one that is able to address current challenges and obstacles to Palestinian rights and freedom, and provide diverse paths, all leading forward.
Drawing on their own remarkable personal experiences and successes -- as archaeologists, artists, authors, community leaders, educators, filmmakers, historians, human rights activists, journalists, lawyers, spiritual leaders, political prisoners, and the like -- they address what now, what next, is to be done, in a manner that reflects not only Palestinian aspirations, but their view of what is possible.
'Liberation' is a term that was dropped from the official Palestinian lexicon simply because it was incompatible with the US-championed political discourse, but it has resurfaced here because without its justice dimensions, there can be no peace. Now that the international community is able to see that Oslo, along with the 'two-state solution' model, has irreversibly failed, the paradigmatic void has opened space for the articulation of new possibilities. Our Vision for Liberation embraces this opportunity to introduce a new Palestinian discourse, one that is able to address current challenges and obstacles to Palestinian rights and freedom, and provide diverse paths, all leading forward.
462 pages, Paperback
Published May 15, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
March 19, 2024
“With 51% of Gaza’s population under the age of 15, a war on Gaza is a war on children. With 45% of the West Bank population under the age of 15, Israel’s military Occupation is waged against babies, toddlers and teenagers. With over 30% of the total Palestinian population aged between 15-29, young adults live in oppressive conditions, brutalized by Israel’s settler-colonial apartheid regime.”
“Our very existence is a symbol of resistance on this land.” Why is it “that Jewish feelings are more important than Palestinian ones?” Zionism “insists on the primacy of Jewish suffering over that of its victims: how it assumes that Jews have a right to settle in another person’s homeland because they have suffered; and how it promotes the non-sequitur of linking Jewish suffering in the Holocaust with Palestine.” One author rightfully mentions the Zionist “invader” which reminds me how Noam Chomsky once marveled that you can’t find reference to the US “invasion” of Vietnam even though it’s obvious the US invaded Vietnam. Israel “has a population of 6.6 million Israeli Jews with citizenship and full rights, 1.8 Israeli Palestinians with citizenship and partial rights, and 4.7 million Palestinians with no citizenship and no rights.” Critical Fact: “If all Palestinians become citizens, Israel’s demography will irrevocably alter towards pluralism, and so bring Zionism to an end.” This is exactly why US Southerners didn’t want Jim Crow to end; if you are a morally challenged racist, as Mel Brooks said, “It’s (simply) good to be King!” “As of today, there are an estimated 500,000 Chileans of Palestinian descent.”
“Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former Chairman of South Africa’s truth and Reconciliation Commission in the post-apartheid era, points out that the process of forgiveness ‘requires acknowledgement on the part of the perpetrator that they have committed an offense’. But Israel has not offered any acknowledgement; instead, it continues on the path of more discrimination, oppression, human rights violations, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid without any accountability.” “Israel, too, needs to feel the pressure of the international community.”
For Zionist Christians, “the Jews had to return as a prerequisite to the return of Jesus himself. According to Christian fundamentalist thought, the returning Jesus will lead a war against the forces of evil, one in which two-thirds of all Jews will perish and the remaining third converts to Christianity. Only then, can Christ rule the world as king for a thousand years.” Can anyone picture Jesus, of all people, leading a “war”? What kind of crack were they smoking? And Zionists are happily in bed with Christian fundamentalists who clearly expect their new “friends” (the Jews) to all die or be converted? Some choice, if you are Jewish. And can anyone imagine the real Christ would want to be called a king? Fantasyland.
“Israel’s position is not that of self-defense. It is merely defending its military Occupation of Palestine.” One author in this book writes, “For as long as we are denied our rights, we intend to deny our occupiers their peace as well.” “If we cannot fulfill our mission in this life, another generation of Palestinians will.” “All Palestinians experience imprisonment in its various forms on a daily basis.” “My grandfather, my father and I, like every other Palestinian in Gaza, were imprisoned in our houses every night when the Israeli military imposed a shoot-on-site curfew from 8pm until 6am throughout the six years of the First Intifada, 1987-1993.”
Page 266, discusses “the systematic theft of hundreds of Palestinian private libraries by the Israeli army and its precursor, the Haganah, in cooperation with the Israeli National Library.” “Thousands of books were destroyed and recycled for paper, while many others remain in the Israeli National Library, designated as ‘abandoned property’, although many of the Palestinian owners are still suffering through the atrocities of their losses.” Another author here writes, “With songs, we wage wars without shedding a single drop of blood” and “what really matters are, those thrusts of words!” Another writes, “World powers far outside our control decided to designate our homeland as the property of someone else.” Another writes, “Zionism ultimately gained the support of Nazi Germany; the Nazi government signed the 1933 Transfer Agreement with the Zionist Federation of Germany” and “Lord Arthur Balfour was notoriously anti-Semitic. So was Winston Churchill.”
Another author writes, “Terrorism is not Israel’s biggest threat; its biggest threat is, in fact, freedom.” A different author writes, “In 70 years, these invaders have not bothered to learn our language or get to know our history or our culture. After 70 years, they demand that we lower the sound of call to prayer.” A female author was told by Zionists, “Go to Gaza and see for yourself how Hamas treats a single woman in her forties like you” and “You spinster, no man wants to touch you.” Another writes, “Calling us ‘Arab-Israeli’ is a deliberate act that aims to sever us from our Palestinian people’s history and culture.”
As Desmond Tutu said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” “For Israel to survive, it must keep the states in the region divided, requiring it to ensure their weakness and vulnerability by colluding with colonial powers as well as sowing war and discord on religious, sectarian, ethnic or other grounds.” That’s why Israel is committed to regional hegemony continuing its “aggressive military posture”. “The Zionist project is based on the denial of the Other.” After the 1948 Nakba, in 1967 was the Naksa.
Depressing Facts: Of the Israeli public – “70% of it believes Jews are God’s ‘chosen people’ and 57% are disturbed by the large number of Arab doctors working in hospitals, 40% of Jewish Israeli youth support denying the right of Arab citizens to vote, 73% support politics of the far right, compared to just 19% who identify as ‘leftists’.” And in a nod to Racial Fascism, “73% support placing Arab citizens in concentration camps in the event of war between the Jewish state and an Arab country – all percentages that are increasing over time.” “A significant portion of the Israeli public view Israeli citizenship as a ‘reward’ to be bestowed on those who swear their loyalty to the ‘Jewish state’, a state which places itself above humanity, above rights, above history and above the law.” “International aid lets Israel off the hook for its obligations to Palestinians under international humanitarian law. In fact, it subsidizes the occupation, and facilitates Israel’s ongoing violations of Palestinian rights.”
Note that regarding the Nakba, ‘this foundational crime is not acknowledged by presidents, and prime ministers, governments, mainstream media or the political systems, in general. Their denial serves as the basis for Western perceptions of the Palestine issue.” Ilan Pappe wants to create a “Center Against Nakba Denial” and says, “There are hundreds of centers against Holocaust denial, and this is good and fine, but the Palestinian struggle needs at least one against the (obvious) Nakba denial.”
This was a great book to have read and was the 27th Israel/Palestine book I’ve reviewed of the 72 total I have ready to review in order to really understand Israel/Palestine. Everything by Ilan Pappe has been great and critically important to have read. Kudos to Baroud and Pappe for this book which gives us many great diverse Palestinian voices in one book.
“Our very existence is a symbol of resistance on this land.” Why is it “that Jewish feelings are more important than Palestinian ones?” Zionism “insists on the primacy of Jewish suffering over that of its victims: how it assumes that Jews have a right to settle in another person’s homeland because they have suffered; and how it promotes the non-sequitur of linking Jewish suffering in the Holocaust with Palestine.” One author rightfully mentions the Zionist “invader” which reminds me how Noam Chomsky once marveled that you can’t find reference to the US “invasion” of Vietnam even though it’s obvious the US invaded Vietnam. Israel “has a population of 6.6 million Israeli Jews with citizenship and full rights, 1.8 Israeli Palestinians with citizenship and partial rights, and 4.7 million Palestinians with no citizenship and no rights.” Critical Fact: “If all Palestinians become citizens, Israel’s demography will irrevocably alter towards pluralism, and so bring Zionism to an end.” This is exactly why US Southerners didn’t want Jim Crow to end; if you are a morally challenged racist, as Mel Brooks said, “It’s (simply) good to be King!” “As of today, there are an estimated 500,000 Chileans of Palestinian descent.”
“Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former Chairman of South Africa’s truth and Reconciliation Commission in the post-apartheid era, points out that the process of forgiveness ‘requires acknowledgement on the part of the perpetrator that they have committed an offense’. But Israel has not offered any acknowledgement; instead, it continues on the path of more discrimination, oppression, human rights violations, ethnic cleansing, and apartheid without any accountability.” “Israel, too, needs to feel the pressure of the international community.”
For Zionist Christians, “the Jews had to return as a prerequisite to the return of Jesus himself. According to Christian fundamentalist thought, the returning Jesus will lead a war against the forces of evil, one in which two-thirds of all Jews will perish and the remaining third converts to Christianity. Only then, can Christ rule the world as king for a thousand years.” Can anyone picture Jesus, of all people, leading a “war”? What kind of crack were they smoking? And Zionists are happily in bed with Christian fundamentalists who clearly expect their new “friends” (the Jews) to all die or be converted? Some choice, if you are Jewish. And can anyone imagine the real Christ would want to be called a king? Fantasyland.
“Israel’s position is not that of self-defense. It is merely defending its military Occupation of Palestine.” One author in this book writes, “For as long as we are denied our rights, we intend to deny our occupiers their peace as well.” “If we cannot fulfill our mission in this life, another generation of Palestinians will.” “All Palestinians experience imprisonment in its various forms on a daily basis.” “My grandfather, my father and I, like every other Palestinian in Gaza, were imprisoned in our houses every night when the Israeli military imposed a shoot-on-site curfew from 8pm until 6am throughout the six years of the First Intifada, 1987-1993.”
Page 266, discusses “the systematic theft of hundreds of Palestinian private libraries by the Israeli army and its precursor, the Haganah, in cooperation with the Israeli National Library.” “Thousands of books were destroyed and recycled for paper, while many others remain in the Israeli National Library, designated as ‘abandoned property’, although many of the Palestinian owners are still suffering through the atrocities of their losses.” Another author here writes, “With songs, we wage wars without shedding a single drop of blood” and “what really matters are, those thrusts of words!” Another writes, “World powers far outside our control decided to designate our homeland as the property of someone else.” Another writes, “Zionism ultimately gained the support of Nazi Germany; the Nazi government signed the 1933 Transfer Agreement with the Zionist Federation of Germany” and “Lord Arthur Balfour was notoriously anti-Semitic. So was Winston Churchill.”
Another author writes, “Terrorism is not Israel’s biggest threat; its biggest threat is, in fact, freedom.” A different author writes, “In 70 years, these invaders have not bothered to learn our language or get to know our history or our culture. After 70 years, they demand that we lower the sound of call to prayer.” A female author was told by Zionists, “Go to Gaza and see for yourself how Hamas treats a single woman in her forties like you” and “You spinster, no man wants to touch you.” Another writes, “Calling us ‘Arab-Israeli’ is a deliberate act that aims to sever us from our Palestinian people’s history and culture.”
As Desmond Tutu said, “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” “For Israel to survive, it must keep the states in the region divided, requiring it to ensure their weakness and vulnerability by colluding with colonial powers as well as sowing war and discord on religious, sectarian, ethnic or other grounds.” That’s why Israel is committed to regional hegemony continuing its “aggressive military posture”. “The Zionist project is based on the denial of the Other.” After the 1948 Nakba, in 1967 was the Naksa.
Depressing Facts: Of the Israeli public – “70% of it believes Jews are God’s ‘chosen people’ and 57% are disturbed by the large number of Arab doctors working in hospitals, 40% of Jewish Israeli youth support denying the right of Arab citizens to vote, 73% support politics of the far right, compared to just 19% who identify as ‘leftists’.” And in a nod to Racial Fascism, “73% support placing Arab citizens in concentration camps in the event of war between the Jewish state and an Arab country – all percentages that are increasing over time.” “A significant portion of the Israeli public view Israeli citizenship as a ‘reward’ to be bestowed on those who swear their loyalty to the ‘Jewish state’, a state which places itself above humanity, above rights, above history and above the law.” “International aid lets Israel off the hook for its obligations to Palestinians under international humanitarian law. In fact, it subsidizes the occupation, and facilitates Israel’s ongoing violations of Palestinian rights.”
Note that regarding the Nakba, ‘this foundational crime is not acknowledged by presidents, and prime ministers, governments, mainstream media or the political systems, in general. Their denial serves as the basis for Western perceptions of the Palestine issue.” Ilan Pappe wants to create a “Center Against Nakba Denial” and says, “There are hundreds of centers against Holocaust denial, and this is good and fine, but the Palestinian struggle needs at least one against the (obvious) Nakba denial.”
This was a great book to have read and was the 27th Israel/Palestine book I’ve reviewed of the 72 total I have ready to review in order to really understand Israel/Palestine. Everything by Ilan Pappe has been great and critically important to have read. Kudos to Baroud and Pappe for this book which gives us many great diverse Palestinian voices in one book.
December 6, 2024
This was truly a treasure trove of insight. I gained a tremendous knowledge and awareness of Palestinian liberation efforts and voices. Highly recommend.
April 21, 2022
If one glanced at the cover of Our Vision for Liberation, written by internationally-renowned authors, Dr. Ramzy Baroud, and Dr. Ilan Pappe, and believed the cover to be the most beautiful part of the book, one would be mistaken. (Although an understandable mistake for sure…the Red text featured on the checkered image of the white and Black Keffiyeh is truly mesmerizing). The pages of this book, featuring the stories of over two-dozen Palestinians, based both in the homeland and the diaspora, weave together a narrative that is far too invaluable to not have been shared with the world. There are dozens of parts of this book I could quote, all equally meaningful, and powerful. However, there is one sentence that was spoken by Palestinian-Chilean lawyer Anuar Majluf, Issa, that I think touches the soul of why this book was needed by the world: “Since existence is not a passive act, it has to be fueled through an active memory” (Baroud, Pappe, 2022). Unfortunately, for decades, Palestinian existence itself has been questioned, and this questioning has been fueled by massive propaganda thinktanks, and even common conversation amongst both regressives and “progressives” alike. These stories affirm that not only do Palestinians very much exist, but they are a people, who, above all else, want to live. And just want to be given basic rights as not only refugees (either internal or displaced), but as Palestinians. They want to go home, they want to raise their families without the devastatingly heavy cloud of ethinic cleansing and devastation being sewed into the fabrics of their family histories…in other words, they want recognition that they are, indeed, human. And humans have basic human rights, which, for Palestinians, have been taken away from them systematically, against their will, for centuries. The narratives shared in this collection are raw, emotional, powerful, and serve as a testament that Palestinians do in fact exist. This book is powerful, and truly a masterpiece from cover to cover. Unlearning Zionism can be a challenge, but this book (among all of Dr. Baroud’s and Dr. Pappe’s other books and writings, all of which I personally highly recommend) is a good resource. The Palestinian narrative has been thrown into the darkness, again and again. Baroud and Pappe change this and make this unfair and unjust reality no more. By threading together narratives from Palestinian’s themselves on what the concept of liberation means from an everyday Palestinian perspective (NOT a “leadership” or “representative one,” rather a truly grassroots one), Baroud and Pappe bring another valuable piece to the puzzle that is Palestinian history and narratives that very likely could have otherwise been permanently lost.
This book is deeply moving, and I highly recommend it.
10/10!
This book is deeply moving, and I highly recommend it.
10/10!
August 21, 2022
Excellent series of testimonials about the Palestinian experience, both at home and in exile
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 9, 2025
Essential reading for anyone. Palestinians tell their stories and the story of Palestine with such sincerity, dignity and steadfastness. The injustice perpetuated by the Zi0nist entity is impossible to ignore here, as it blazes through the lives of these dedicated authors, their families, their history, their land, and right onto the page. So much potent insight into the workings of violence, power, language, and struggle from their most delicate to their most blatant forms. Anyone whose heart aches at injustice and strives for an ethic of dignity and love must have Palestine in the center. This book was published before the gen0cide we are witnessing from afar and does not take up the question of armed resistance or current events, yet it washes one with grief because it so aptly frames the love and life that pours through Palestine and the steadfast Palestinian people, the very love and life whose attempted destruction we now bear witness to daily. There is grief for every life extinguished, maimed, destroyed, and debilitated through the Zi0nist aggression that seeks to wipe out not only Palestinian bodies, but Palestinian history, culture, and memory. Because of this the role of collective memory and international solidarity is emphasized by many authors in this book, and it is because of this that I consider the cultivation of such awareness, memory, and solidarity a duty for all in the face of continued and escalating eradication and violence.
December 25, 2024
This book enhanced my understanding of the ongoing plight of the Palestinian people but also demonstrated the many paths to liberation that exist. Chapters are written by a diverse range of thinkers, from artists, to lawyers, to politicians, and all highlight not only the transgressions by the Zionist entity against human dignity and rights, but the methods in which Palestinians, both on the ground and in the diaspora, are coming together to rail against such transgressions. An essential read for those wishing to learn more about resistance against occupation in the words of Palestinians themselves.
December 20, 2024
A Beautiful Mosaic
An extremely thought-provoking and enlightening read. Listen to Palestinians themselves, telling us about their experiences and their vision of freedom.
An extremely thought-provoking and enlightening read. Listen to Palestinians themselves, telling us about their experiences and their vision of freedom.
January 14, 2025
One of the best books I’ve ever read.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews