LITERATURE FESTIVAL
PALESTINE WRITES
REPORT OF THE 2020
Short Narrative Originally conceived to take place in New York City in March 2020, Palestine Writes was set to be the first Palestinian literature festival in North America. However, we were forced to cancel the originally scheduled festival due to the COVID-19 pandemic. When it became clear that we could not reschedule a physical festival in 2020, we decided to create a global virtual experience, the likes of which hadn’t yet been done. We are happy to report that we achieved this goal, and the festival was a resounding success by all accounts, which are summarized in this report.
Organizers The festival was over two years in the making and the organizers changed over that time due to the long commitment. There was a core group, however, that remained throughout.
In the end, our organizing
committee spanned several time zones and included members from Gaza, Ramallah, Jerusalem, and several US states from the east to west coasts. They are susan abulhawa (co-chair), Bill Mullen (co-chair), Jacqueline Berry (project coordinator), Susan Muaddi Darraj, Ayah elFahmawi, Ahmed Mansour, Lama Amr, Zaha Hassan, Andrew Ross, David Palumbo Liu, Faisal Saleh, Malini Johar Schueller, Adam Miyashiro, Rima Najjar, Anas Herzallah, Mohammad alHaj, Aya al-Zinati, Neena Beena, and Daoud Ghannam.
Sponsors
Statistics T H E
F E S T I V A L S E V E N
S U M M A R Y ( 2 7 )
I N
T W E N T Y-
N U M B E R S
1. Five (5) Days
Dec 2
Dec 3
Dec 4
Dec 5
Dec 6
2. Fifty-Five (55) Sessions 3. Ten thousand thirty-seven (10,037) session attendees
4. One hundred six (106) speakers
5.Three thousand one hundred thirty-two (3,132) registrants 6.Seventy-nine (79) countries represented
7. Three hundred twenty books (320) sold (that we know of)
8. Several media articles
Booths 9. Forty-five (45) Vendor, Sponsor, and Partner Booths 10. Five thousand five hundred eleven (5511) booth visits 11. Two thousand three hundred five (2305) unique booth visits 12. Two thousand six hundred six (2606) booth document views 13. Five thousand seven hundred seventy-four (5774) booth video views Breakdown for specific booths further in document
Social Media
(November & December 2020 only)
14. One million eight hundred thousand (1,800,000) impressions 15. Twenty-five thousand three hundred ninety (25,390) reactions 16. One thousand two hundred sixty five (1,265) comments 17. Two thousand seven hundred five (2,705) shares
(November & December 2020 only)
18. One million, one hundred ninety-two thousand (1,192,000) Impressions 19. Twenty-seven thousand two hundred forty-four (27,244) Profile Visits 20. Nine hundred sixty-nine (969) Mentions 21. Three thousand four hundred five (3405) Likes 22. One thousand one hundred ninety-two (1192) Retweets 23. One hundred seventy-five (175) Replies
(November & December 2020 only)
Instagram (November & December only)
24. Six hundred eighty-one thousand, fourteen (681,014) Impressions 25. Nine thousand two hundred sixty-one (9,261) Profile Visits 26. Seven thousand seven hundred fortythree (7743) likes 27. Two hundred twenty (220) comments
The Venue A N I M AT E D A ( N ) LO B B Y
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V I R T U A L
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B U I L D I N G
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LO U N G E
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L E C T U R E
D E S K
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S E T
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J E R U S A L E M ,
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B O A S T I N G |
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I N F O R M AT I O N
E X H I B I T
1. Hajje Um Mhammad Upon arrival (login) at the festival, attendees were greeted by an animated host, Hajje Um Mhammad. Speaking in a fallahi Palestinian dialect of Arabic, she gave each attendee a brief tour of the festival spaces and events upon login. (English subtitles)
2. Exterior The festival exterior boasted animated avatars walking around, sitting, or conversing outside the festival building, situated in Jerusalem, Palestine, with an animated fluttering Palestinian flag.
3. Lobby Attendees landed in the lobby upon entering the building. Guests could access all aspects of the festival by clicking on relevant doors, signs, and more. Similar to the exterior, animated avatars walked around the lobby. Of note, our avatars were meant to mirror our expected audience, with many having darker skin tones, some in hijab, and some wearing kuffiyehs.
4, 5. Halls & Lounge Children’s programming took place in The Tent. All other sessions occurred in Haifa Hall, Nazareth Hall, or Jericho Hall. Attendees were also welcome to network, chat with friends via text or video conference on the platform, or post to the festivals Graffiti Wall from the Jerusalem Lounge.
6. Information Desk From the information desk, attendees could flip through the program book, get tech support or other help through immediate chat. They could enter the art exhibit, festival market, graffiti wall in the lounge area, or browse the festival bookstore.
7. Akka Showroom BOOTH NAME TOTAL VISITS
UNIQUE VISITS
PLAYGROUNDS FOR PALESTINE 240
146
PLUTO PRESS 117
HAYMARKET BOOKS 159
98
INTERLINK PUBLISHING 69
180
112
EVERGREEN 93
JUST WORLD BOOKS 56
TAMER INSTITUTE 69
104
67
EXISTENCE IS RESISTANCE, EIR 37
332
186
HABIBI SOCKS 265
PALESTINE ANIMAL LEAGUE, PAL 152
INSIDE ARABIA 57
59
37
INSTITUTE FOR MIDDLE EAST UNDERSTANDING
31
62
37
BUILD PALESTINE 65
SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY PRESS 33
VISUALIZING PALESTINE 74
47
85
56
INSTITUTE FOR PALESTINE STUDIES 108
71
PALESTINE FOUNDATION 54
33
AMERICAN NEAR EAST REFUGEE AID 64
LIFTA 68
33
JUXTA PRESS 36
76
49
DECOLONIZE THIS PLACE 73
42
PALESTINE YOUTH MOVEMENT 48
30
OR BOOKS 64
42
NYU CINEMA STUDIES 56
36
US ACADEMIC & CULTURAL BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL
46
28
HAGOP KEVORKIAN CENTER FOR NEAR EASTERN STUDIES
54
SJP SWARTHMORE 46
26
24
MIZNA 46
28
ARAB CULTURE ASSOCIATION 59
35
A. M. QATTAN FOUNDATION 74
43
PAMENAR PRESS 70
43
ISLAMIC RELIEF, USA 61
32
PIPD PALESTINE VIRTUAL REALITY 51
29
AL-AWDA 65
NEW GENERATION FOR PALESTINE 61
32
34
SAMIDOUN 55
27
ARABELLA 277
PALESTINE MUSEUM 157
51
PACES 53
27
R.M. LINGO 30
40
23
OFFICIAL FESTIVAL BOOKSTORE 109
65
TAAWON ASSOCIATION 72
34
OLIVE PRESS EATERY 209
147
Schedule F R O M
W E D N E S D AY,
S U N D AY, T O O K O F
D E C E M B E R
P L A C E T I M E
T I M E
D E C E M B E R
T O
W I T H I N
6 A
T H
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A S
S P E C I F I C
M U C H
N D
T O
S C H E D U L I N G
A C C O M M O D AT E
Z O N E S
2
A S
W I N D O W
M U LT I P L E P O S S I B L E
Wednesday & Thursday
Friday & Saturday
Sunday
Sessions 1 .
PA N E L B O O K S
D I S C U S S I O N S F E A T U R E S
P R O G R A M M I N G |
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4 .
W O R K S H O P S
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2 . C O F F E E
C H I L D R E N ’ S
F E A T U R E D |
6 .
&
I N T E R V I E W S
P E R F O R M A N C E S
This festival is meant to cross the borders that separate us—linguistic, geographic, and cultural borders…to expand Palestine’s cultural footprint in the world, as those with extraordinary political, military and economic power shrink the physical land beneath us and use their might to silence us. This festival is for the water protectors; for the rangers and warriors who’ve dedicated their lives to protect life from profit. It is for the stone throwers, the street marchers, the agitators and disruptors. It is for the kite flyers, the hunger strikers, the political prisoners.
This festival is how we meet each other on the grounds of memory bequeathed to us by our foremothers and forefathers. It is where the rhythms of language can hold us steady so we can walk together through a land that was pulled from under our feet. We aim to imagine the world we want. A world that does not know Racial Theory, Ayn Rand, Zionism, or a White Jesus. Our program over the next five days will reflect the decidedly radical, anti-zionist, anti-racist, internationalist, post-colonial nature of the Palestine Writes Literature Festival. We believe that highest forms of literature and art are necessarily emancipatory. They are necessarily disruptive and dangerous. This is what we want to amplify here. Language: English | Attendance: 803
Opening Remarks Excerpts
Literature is the audit trail of our presence in the world. It forms the spiritual landscape of our common trauma and our expanding generational wounds. It is the repository our joy and creativity; our scandals; our weddings, our embroidery and lazy days by the Jordan or elAuja rivers; by The Dead Sea, the Galilee, and Mediterranean, cordoned off to us as they are now by a foreign colonial power.
1. Panel Discussions
Attendance: 605 Original Language: Arabic
Attendance: 227 Original Language: English
Attendance: 317 Original Language: English
Two Palestinian literary giants spoke about what it means to write Palestinian stories as Palestine is actively being erased from the maps and from history by her colonizers.
Four well known academics who have organized for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel discussed their experiences promoting boycott on US campuses and in cultural spheres.
Young Palestinian writers discussed their work and Palestinian cultural productions in general. This session also included awarding the first PW Emerging Writer Prize.
Attendance: 411 Original Language: English
Attendance: 301 Original Language: English
Panelists explored the capacities of the genre to excavate loss and bend time, to engage and reject lived dystopias while imagining alternative possibilities. Moving personal testimonies captured the audience.
A lively and often heated discussion about the ways in which Palestinians can achieve food self-sufficiency. Participants disagreed on whether to boycott or buy cheap food products from Israel.
Attendance: 250 Original Language: English
Renowned memoirists and family biographers spoke of their processes and motivations, the significance of biography and memoir in literature, reader responses to their specific works, and more.
Attendance: 491 Original Language: English
Attendance: 128 Original Language: English
Attendance: 184 Original Language: English
This panel spoke of the phenomenon of writing one’s identity and culture in a language and/or land that are foreign to that culture.
Panelists explored representation in literature aimed at young audiences: what it means to raise children amidst popular cultural images that do not speak to their realities.
A discussion on the queer representation in Palestinian literature: the importance, beauties, pitfalls, challenges, and examples of writing Palestinian queerness.
Attendance: 246 Original Language: English
Attendance: 264 Original Language: English
Attendance: 183 Original Language: English
Panelists examined the ways in which women have transformed, enriched and revolutionized literature, and what that has meant to readers and our perception of the world.
A unique discussion on the ways in which nature is—and has been— altered under settler colonialism. Presenters spoke of their work on issues of water, wild zaatar foraging, hiking trails and more.
Panelists explored the scarcity of translations of Arab writers, talked about distribution and sales, and discussed the social, political, and literary roadblocks for anglophile Palestinian literature.
Attendance: 432 Original Language: Arabic & English
Attendance: 390 Original Language: English
This unique and captivating session explored the ways in which the lives and works of Ghassan Kanafani and James Baldwin took parallel paths that impacted each other and the world in similar ways
Panelists talked about the personal and professional costs paid by those who advocate for justice in Palestine, and what it means to choose a life in service of justice and others.
Attendance: 228 Original Language: English
Indigenous voices discussed theft of culture.
The Keynote panel featured Drs Hanan Ashrawi, Angela Davis, and Richard Falk, speaking about literature and internationalism. In addition to the platform attendance, this session was streamed across several social media pages, garnering many more hundreds of viewers. Language: English | Attendance: 1,174
Keynote Panel
2. Coffee & Books
thank you a lot for this conversation. I am definitely going to read this book. jerikoroom
Combined attendance for all Coffee & Books sessions:
1,682 Languages: English & Arabic
3. Featured Interviews
Attendance: 250 Original Language: English
Attendance: 261 Original Language: English
Attendance: 332 Original Language: English
Famed artist Samia Halaby discussed her research—both visual and oral—on the Kufr Qasem massacre, her sketching techniques and her success in capturing the affect and pain of the survivors.
Acclaimed Palestinian filmmaker, Mai Masri, and award-winning journalist Victoria Brittain discussed Masri’s work in the context of cinematic artistic expression, the unforgettable characters in her films, and Palestinian cinema in general.
Rachel Holmes spoke with susan abulhawa about her most recent book, a vivid and powerful biography of one of the most extraordinary women of the 20th century, Sylvia Pankhurst.
4. Children’s Programming
Songs, Crafts, Books The Children's Tent was a vibrant spot throughout the Palestine Writes Festival. Attendees participated in a combination of readings, workshops, and craft activities. Laila Taji’s ArabishWay crafts were a huge hit. Language: English & Arabic | Attendance: 130 children
"How wonderful to have a space for our children to celebrate with us..." Language: English & Arabic | Attendance: 136 children
"Mayaar reading along with author Susan Muaddi Darraj at #PalestineWrites festival. How cool is that?� —Huwaida Arraf Language: English | Attendance: 53 children
Attendance: 30 kids
Attendance: 73 kids
Language: Arabic
Attendance: 86 kids Language: English
Language: English & Arabic
Attendance: 17 kids Language: Arabic
5. Workshops
Attendance: 143 Original Language: English
A vegan mahshi dish was demonstrated followed by a discussion about the inspiring origins of Migrant Kitchen
Attendance: 219 Original Language: English & Arabic
Attendance: 128 Original Language: English & Arabic
Amer Zahr teamed up with his mother Anan to prepare a delicious vegan dish of Bamieh, with a side of comedy and stories from Akka and family life before the Nakba
This 2-hour virtual workshop taught the basics techniques and history of tatreez, with origins in Palestine since the 16th century and iconographical significance dating back to Chinese symbols found around 5000 BC.
Attendance: 605 | Original Language: English
Attendance: 605 | Original Language: English Attendance: 118 Original Language: English
A riveting workshop on guerilla political art and Advertising For the People that disrupts and/or subvert mainstream culture and deceptive messaging to support movements.
Attendance: 180 Original Language: English
Palestinian graphic novelists and comic artists spoke of challenges in their genres and the power of visuals in stories within movements and liberation struggles.
6. Performances
Palestine in Parallel One of our most popular sessions was this brilliant line up of poets who performed their poetry in varied styles, in both English and Arabic.
Attendance: 597 Original Language: Arabic & English
Exclusive film screening An inspiring documentary of love, faith and persistence, Odyssey of Hope tells the story of a Palestinian family trying to reunite in the US after seven years of forced separation as a result of the Israeli offensive against Gaza in 2014. Life in Gaza under occupation as well as working with US immigration laws come into focus in this brilliant film about a family that never gave up hope. Attendance: 245 Original Language: Arabic & English
Two brilliant concerts by talented women who’ve dedicated their gifts to promoting justice and compassion in our world. Attendance: 386
Feedback S U R V E Y C O M M E N T S
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Survey Results
SENT OUT A SATISFACTION SURVEY AFTER THE FESTIVAL TO 2357
OPENED BY 59% OF RECIPIENTS
77 RESPONSES TOTAL RESPONSES
SCALE FROM 1 (WORST) TO 5 (BEST)
Survey, cont.
1. Overall Satisfaction 5 = Wonderful | 1 = Terrible
Survey, cont.
5 = Wonderful | 1 = Terrible
5 = Very easy | 1 = Very difficult
2. Virtual Platform
Survey, cont.
3. How can we do better next year? ﻛﯿﻒ ﯾﻤﻜﻦ أن ﻧﺆدي أﻓﻀﻞ اﻟﺴﻨﺔ اﻟﻘﺎدﻣﺔ؟
Open Ended Question, the common themes are summarized here: v Respondents hope that we can do a hybrid inperson/virtual festival so that it is accessible to all v Scheduling/navigation of the Vfairs platform should be made clearer v Allow more audience participation—ie: more workshops, opportunities for open-mics, cameraon events for guests
Survey, cont.
4. Next Time! v First question was a checkbox answer, all respondents interested in joining again! v All respondents are likely to recommend PW to friends next year!
"Palestine Writes was a historic gathering of hearts and minds and constituted a rare vital space for Palestinians to make sense of our experience through literature and art, and for our friends to join us. I hope it will continue for years to come, and it can only get richer and better as a lovingly cultivated soil does. Bravo to the organizers and
Selected Testimonials
the thousands of participants who brought so much love this momentous convening!� "A remarkable project, in punctuality, coordination, panels and panelists... successful from beginning to end. Very impressed with the high technology this project used to put it together. The whole idea of ‘Palestine Writes’ is brilliant and much needed in our time and age. Bless all the organizers and participants. Looking forward to next year Inshallah." - Najat El-Taji El-Khairy. "I am very happy that the festival broke down the borderline."
Selected Testimonials, Cont.
"Enjoyable, informative, perfectly organized, thoughtprovoking and illuminating. This festival is what the Palestinian issue really needs, it is a real production of knowledge, it is a significant influential platform for the Palestinian discourse that perfectly counter the Israeli colonial discourse."- Nagwa Dawoud "This was probably the most moving, meaningful, and informative conference i've ever attended -- online or in "real" life. Whoever designed your website is ... fantastic. What an uplifting combination of art, heart, and ferocity -- do it AGAIN!" - Susie Day “i am so happy to be your FB friend -- especially after having "attended" Palestine Writes. That was just about the best conference i've ever gone to, virtually or bodily. Such beautiful spirit, insight, purpose, camaraderie. So anyhow. Thank you.�
Selected Notes on Graffiti Wall
Click here to see the full wall of messages
Selected Twitter Comments
Selected Twitter Comments, cont.
..,cont.
Thank You!