Creating through Conflict

By: Nadia Abuelezam

How do you create creative material during periods of conflict? This is a question I've been asking myself quite a bit lately. There's been quite a bit distracting us from creating and producing here at Palestinians Podcast. Between all the harrowing news coming out of Gaza, the violence in United States' schools and public places, and general life chaos, it's been hard to get the work done. That's why you'll notice we're a bit behind on releasing episodes. But it's through conversations with our guests that we gain motivation and strength. Our episode with Tariq Luthun is an example of one of those motivating and exhilarating conversations. 

Tariq is a fantastic poet and spoken word performer who manages to produce creative work despite a busy work and life schedule. His dedication to his craft and his ability to get his creative work done is admirable. He performs across the country and is invited to do so by groups and other organizations who recognize his talent. We can't wait to see where Tariq's creative work takes him. We are grateful for his time!

Also featured in this week's episode is the Typo Band (Khata'a Mattbaie), a band from Gaza city. Their ability to perform and create music, despite living in the largest open air prison in the world is beyond anything we could ever imagine. We're obsessed with their song Ehlam Bl Nour! You can check out their music and find more information about them on their Facebook and Instagram sites. 

We also had our first ever live episode on Facebook and Instagram live on April 15th with Yasmeen Mjalli of Baby Fist. Despite being born and raised in the United States, Yasmeen and her family moved to Palestine where she established her clothing business which aims to raise awareness to the sexual harassment that takes place on the streets in Palestine and throughout the Arab world. During our interview, Yasmeen discussed the importance of not waiting until conflict is over to address social issues in society. You can watch out episode here. 

So how do you create during periods of conflict? It seems that the best way is to just keep going, to keep trekking, to keep creating. Because, as Tariq states in this month's episode, we should always be telling our stories and fighting against the powers that are aiming to erase our history and our existence. By telling stories during conflict, we say: "we are here and will remain here!" Do you have strategies for how you continue creating creatively during times of distress and conflict?  Comment below if so, we'd love to hear from you!

We hope you'll continue to support the podcast by telling others about it, writing a review on iTunes, and spreading the word through social media. We are so thankful to have supportive listeners. Thank you for listening!