Nada is a Palestinian-American author, teacher and mother. She was six years old when her mother kidnapped her from Kuwait, at the time when Iraq invaded Kuwait. They went to the United States where her uncle lived in Rhode Island. She did not yet realize that it was not a holiday but they were going to stay. Her debut book All Water Has a Perfect Memory is a memoir that takes readers from the author’s ancestral origins- the coast of Yaffa, Palestine, to her birthplace of Kuwait, eventually l...

Recently the kids and I watched the film 'A house in Jerusalem' by filmmaker Muayad Elayyan who happens to be a far cousin and friend of my husband Tariq. Although he told me that he had a small role as an extra in this film, which he's had in all Muayad's films, I did NOT recognize him. Turns out the policeman in the scene when Rebecca wanders off from the summer school activity in Jerusalem and ends up with the Palestinian puppeteer, is MY husband!! We only realized at the end of the film w...

On a Friday evening in September I attended a beautiful concert of the Amwaj children's choir in Bethlehem. I had tears rolling down my eyes. Not only did the choir sound so beautiful, but also did I realize what Palestinian children in the Westbank are suffering through. And how their peers in Gaza are losing everything, their houses, their beloved ones, their schools, their chances, their future, their hope...I decided to interview Michele Cantoni, an Italian musician (violinist) who establ...

The Makhrour valley is situated between Beit Jala and Battir and the larger part of this valley has been designated as part of a world heritage site registered by UNESCO as 'Palestine, land of olives and vines' The slopes of hills on either side of the Makhrour valley have terraces that date back to at least the Roman era. These agricultural terraces are farmed by Palestinian farmers from Beit Jala and Battir.On a hot September morning I walked with my friend Dee down the valley to visit...

This is interview with Yousef Khoury, a Christian Palestinian theologian originally from Gaza, currently living in Bethlehem, was conducted in April 2024. The content of this interview was used for the book: "Daybreak in Gaza, stories of Palestinian lives and culture". In this interview Yousef shares with us his memories of Gaza before the destruction that happened since 7 October 2023.The book was edited by Mahmoud Muna and Matthew Teller, with Juliette Touma and Jayyab Abusafia. Published b...

After almost a year of radio silence, I am back to producing new episodes! Last year was very intense for everyone and I was unable to continue the podcast. In this first introduction to the new season, I am trying to explain what happened. I can not go into the details but hopefully you will accept my apologies for disappearing just like that. I am also back on social media and you can find me and the Ko-fi page for donations towards producing the podcast through this link: https://link...

This is the third and last part of a trilogy that I made for Pax Palestine Podcast about the 'Civil Society for Dignity' project, a project by MEND, PCR, PCPD and PAX for Peace, supported by the European Union. This project aims to bridge the gap between the Palestinian civil society and the local governments. In this last episode Anwaar, who works for MEND and is the media and outreach coordinator for this project and journalist Hayat Hamdan tell us more about an important part of the Civil...

This is the second part of a trilogy I made for Pax Palestine Podcast about the 'Civil Society for Dignity' project, a project by MEND, PCR, PCPD and PAX for Peace, supported by the European Union. This project aims to bridge the gap between the Palestinian civil society and the local governments. In this episode you will learn more about the project 'Civil Society for Dignity' itself. Muna Rishmawi, the project manager, talks about the aims of the project, the cooperation between the...

 This is the first part of a trilogy that I made for Pax Palestine Podcast about the 'Civil Society for Dignity' project, a project by MEND, PCR, PCPD and PAX for Peace, supported by the European Union. This project aims to bridge the gap between the Palestinian civil society and the local governments. In this first episode you will learn more about the political reality for Palestinians under military rule and the civil society landscape of Palestine, in an interview with George Rishmawi,...

Beit Shean or Beisan as it is called by Palestinians because before 1948 it was called Beisan and it had a population of 6000 people, is mainly known for the excavation of the ancient city and it is sometimes compared to Pompeii that was preserved so well because of the volcanic eruption, in this case the remains of Roman and Byzantine Beit Shean were preserved after a major earthquake. The ruins remained undisturbed and are now part of an archaeological park.  The history of Beit Shean goes...

In a previous episode with Apo Sahagian,  we talked about the Armenian community in Jerusalem. This episode is a deeper dive into the history of the Armenians and their presence in the holy land in general and in Jerusalem in particular. The newly renovated Edward and Helen Mardigian Armenian Museum of Jerusalem offers a wealth of stories about the Armenians of Jerusalem. A key attraction is the sixth century mosaic floor that was found in the Musrara neighborhood while a Palestinian family...

The Palestinians call it Akka, in English they say Acre, which goes back to how the Crusaders called the city, today we hear people referring to it as Akko and the root letters AK go back to the Egyptian execration texts in hieroglyphic script that mention AK already in the 19th century BC.  Today we can talk about three parts of Akka: the old city inside the Ottoman walls on a peninsula in the Mediterranean Sea, the ancient city that dates back to early and middle bronze age on the Tel east...

On the Mediterranean coast you can find the ruins of a city that first became a large sized city during the Canaanite period. Of this period the oldest brick wall and arched gate have been excavated and can now be visited. You can even pass through the gate! The National Park in which the ruins of Asqalan can be visited has some very interesting sites: the biggest Roman basilica found in the area,  a Phoenician dog cemetery, an antilia (water wheel) that brought fresh water up from above the...

I have not been able to record new episodes recently because I am so busy with the Israeli tour guide course. Many people have asked me how that is going so I decided to record an episode about my experience in the first four months of this course. In the meantime I got my tour guide license by the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism and I have taken the first small group into the Church of Nativity as a licensed tour guide. That was an amazing moment, especially because it took me almost 4...

In the previous episode you could learn more about the history of the Church of Nativity, built over the birth cave of Jesus. In this episode I am taking you on a tour inside the Church to explain you some of its most interesting features. You can use this audio guide when you visit the church in Bethlehem but you can also listen to it from the comfort of your home or while you are walking, cleaning or commuting. If you want to visit the Church of Nativity in Bethlehem with a real tour...

The most visited site in Bethlehem is the Church of Nativity on Manger Square. It is the oldest church in the world that is still in use by the local community and that is visited by over two million pilgrims every year. The Church of Nativity is on the UNESCO world heritage list together with the pilgrimage route that passes through today's Star Street. This is the road that Mary and Joseph would have taken to reach Bethlehem where they had to go because of the Roman census organized by...

Mohamad Saleh grew up as a city boy. He never worked in a garden or grew his own food until he had an opportunity to travel to Turkey to be close to his partner and live for some time in a WWOOF project where he learned all about Permaculture. When he came back to Palestine he decided to start working on bringing the concepts of permaculture closer to the community and he established 'Mostadam' He emphasizes the importance of healing of individuals in general in order to be able to feel...

In this episode you can hear Bassam, the host of the podcast: "PreOccupation: A not so brief history of Palestine." Bassam emphasizes the importance of telling the Palestinian story and the futility of trying to counter hasbara (a term in Hebrew that refers to the advocacy for Israel,  a form of propaganda). He explains that we should distinguish between the shaping of the Palestinian identity, the collective consciousness, and the Palestinian national project. When and where did these...

In this episode I speak with Yousef Khoury, which translates to Joseph the priest, a Christian Palestinian originally from Gaza, who now lives in Bethlehem. He is the 43rd generation in his family of which 36 generations were priests in the Orthodox priesthood. He studied biblical studies at the Bethlehem Bible College, he has a masters of divinity in theology and mission from the US and is currently working on his doctorate at the University of Amsterdam. We talk about the history of...

Where did the name Palestine come from and for how long has it been in use? After reading the book "Palestine a four thousand year history" by Nur Masalha, a Palestinian historian and academic, it became clear that the name Palestine has been used since the 13th century BC until today. Only in the last decades did the use of the name Palestine become estranged, with the establishment of the State of Israel and the vilification of the Palestinian people. Many people doubt whether they can...

During this episode I will take you on an audio tour to the Sea of Galilee where we will visit Bethsaida, Chorazin, Capernaum, Tabgha and the Mount of Beatitudes. These are pilgrimage locations related to places where according to tradition Jesus lived, spoke to his followers, visited synagogues and did miracles. Disclaimer: I am a trained tour guide at the Bethlehem Bible College, I am not a theologian and I do not belong to any religion. I am telling the stories the way they were told and...

Apo Sahagian is a singer and works in different artistic related projects in Jerusalem. He is also the host of the podcast 'Apo and the city'. He grew up in the old city of Jerusalem in the Armenian quarter. His family came to Jerusalem in the 1920s when many Armenians fled from the genocide committed by the Ottoman empire. In this episode Apo gives us more insight into the Armenian community in Palestine. The Armenians came in three waves. As the first Christian nation in the world, King...

In this episode you can hear an interview with Colette Ghunim about the film 'Traces of Home' that she has been working on for the past years. The film brings her parents back to Mexico and Palestine from where they respectively were forced to leave due to different circumstances. Colette grew up in a suburb of Chicago and was never really exposed to her roots as her parents were trying to move beyond their trauma and focused on raising their children in the American society. When Colette...

In the previous episode you could hear an introduction to the history of the Holy Sepulchre Church in Jerusalem. This episode can be used as an audio tour when you are visiting the Church. Start on the square in front of the main entrance. If you are listening from elsewhere you can follow the description and use your imagination! There are lots of photos online as well as YouTube videos.  Here is a 20 minutes documentary by AlJazeera English that gives an idea about the church and the...