Palestinian Stories of Joy
A Palestinian flag being waved on WWU’s campus in Red square. Kaeson Warnes // Wavelength
Shifting our focus on Palestinian experiences and stories, we not only want to bring attention to the on-going hardships that Palestinians are currently facing, but also the joys that come with their perseverance. Read and understand these stories of Palestinian resistance and resilience through the individuals that are a part of this history and culture.
Taybeh Brewing Company
TAYBEH, WEST BANK – FEBRUARY 9: Palestinian Christian brewer Nadim Khoury shows a prototype green label (L) for an alcohol-free beer, along with his current products of Golden, Lager and Dark beers, February 9, 2006 named after his home village of Taybeh in the West Bank. Khoury has said he is worried that since Hamas won the recent Palestinian elections, his decade-old business could face sanctions from fundamentalist Muslims, and has already begun working on an Islamic-friendly alcohol-free beer. (Photo by David Silverman/Getty Images)
By: Abbey Raynes
This is Taybeh Brewing Company, a Palestinian owned brewery in the Ramallah District of Palestine that is the first of its kind since 1994. Created by Nadim Khoury (and family), it is considered to be the first Palestinian made microbrewery in the entire Middle East, and continually makes significant impact on its community and local economy today.
Despite their challenges under Israeli occupation, the Khoury family has remained resilient through facing constant export checkpoints, bans on their alcohol, and lack of electricity and water. Their story and upbringing via the past 42 years, is rooted within peaceful resistance through community building and the determination for peace between all people.
Their website/Instagram: https://taybehbeer.com/, @taybehbeer
Adam Rouhana – A Different View of Palestinian Life
A Palestinian boy eating watermelon by Adam Rouhana from the series, ‘Before Freedom’. (Adam Rouhana/2022-ongoing)
By: Kaeson Warnes
Adam Rouhana is a Palestinian American photographer who has been documenting the joys and realities of Palestinian life since he was 12 years old. Mr. Rouhana explains that Western society only sees the violent and/or suffering side of Palestine, creating conflict between his photography and the mainstream portrayals of Palestinian life. The emphasis on suffering in recent Palestinian photography ignores the complex histories and individual lives of Palestinians, furthering the erasure of Palestine and those in Gaza.
Visiting Palestine yearly, Mr. Rouhana documents the experience of the clash between the everyday beauties of life and strain of colonization under Israeli occupation. Mr. Rouhana prioritizes sharing images of love, frustrations, history, and connection that Palestinian life manifests to subdue the common preconceptions that exist in Western society.
At the same time, Mr. Rouhana recognizes the importance of shedding light on the images created through war, as Palestinian life in Gaza has become overwhelmed with this reality. Since the attack on Gaza on October 7th, 108 journalists have been killed, with many others injured. The ability to share images of the violence unfolding in Gaza is a priority to inform those that can make change.
Palestinian Author Basim Khandaqji
By: Tim Donahue
Palestinian Basim Khandaqji won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction for his novel “A Mask, the Colour of the Sky” which was published by Dar Al-Adab in 2023. Khandaqji, who was born and raised in Nablus, Palestine, has lived in an Israeli prison since he was 21. “A Mask, the Colour of the Sky” is Khandaqi’s fourth novel, the others being “The Narcissus of Isolation (2017),” “The Eclipse of Badr al-Din (2019),” and “The Breath of a Woman Let Down (2020).”
Basim Khandaqji’s writing explores themes of identity, family fragmentation, displacement, genocide and racism. He works in a balance of contemporary and mythological writing, and comes out with what Nabil Suleiman, a Syrian writer who chaired the 2024 prize, calls “Compassion in the face of dehumanization, both at an individual and societal level.”