Upstream

Before 1948, the land of Palestine was dotted with olive groves along rolling hills between mountains and the Mediterranean sea. Palestinians, Arabs, Muslims, Jews, and Christians all lived alongside one another in relative harmony, practicing agriculture and embroidery, or working in factories or along the coast in thriving port villages. Not to romanticize it too much, but in comparison to what was to come, this region was thriving.  If you’ve been paying any attention to the news lately, you’ll know that an image of harmony is no longer the case in this region. In 1948, the state of Israel was founded, and the campaign leading up to, during, and following the founding of this ethno-state threw this region into a turmoil that has produced one of the most subjugated and immiserated populations in the world — a population that has been subjected to ongoing ethnic cleansing and a campaign of genocide aimed at replacing Palestinians and their towns, villages, and cities, with Israeli settlements.  In this episo