ROY, Arpan; SALAHALDEEN, Noura (eds.)
Naseej. Life-Weavings of Palestine

Naseej, meaning “tapestry” in Arabic, is a book about diverse forms of life, communities, histories and continuities in Palestine. It compiles essays, short stories, poetry, interviews, and visual art to tell an aspect of the Palestinian story that has not been told: the severing of Palestinians from vast and ancient regional histories.

Palestine has always been a precious patchwork of languages, ethnicities, cultures, religions and practices, weaved into the fabric of an Arab and Islamic civilization that was itself a culmination of centuries of interchange and experimentation. Arriving at a moment of utter devastation – one of the most difficult in Palestinian history – this vibrant collection celebrates the diversity of life in Palestine. From the trajectories of Romani groups to the formations of religious communities like Ahmadiyya Muslims in Haifa, to the political experience of Black Palestinians and much more, Naseej asks what kind of threads remain of this tapestry after some 150 years of modernity and colonialism.

[publishers’ note]

Contents:

PART I: ITINERARIES
1. Identity Card, by Najwan Darwish
2. Tales and Imaginaries from a Traveling City, by Noura Salahaldeen
3. The Story of Romanies in Palestine Is a Microcosm of the Palestinian Story, by Arpan Roy
4. Life in the Armenian Quarter: Dr. Gaby Kevorkian on the Genocide, Nakba, Naksa, and the Armenian Palestinians, by Antranik Cassem
5. Ibn Battuta in Gaza, by Intimaa Alsdudi and Hadeel Assali

PART II: DIRECTIONS OF PRAYER
6. The Indians of Ottoman Jerusalem, by Tyler Kynn
7. To and from Sufi Jerusalem, by Dalal Odeh and Eman Alyan
8. An “Air Smelling Event”: The Metamorphosis of Simon the Just and His Shrine, by Salim Tamari
9. The Ahmadiyya of the Carmel, by Amir Odeh

PART III: TOPOGRAPHIES
10. Géographie Ethnologique du Djolan: Adib Souleiman Bagh, the Golan’s Last Geographer, by Aamer Ibraheem
11. Similar but Not the Same: The Heritage Question in Palestine, by Khaldun Bshara
12. The Herzegovinian Muslim Colony in Caesarea, Palestine, by Nina Seferović
13. On the Use and Misuse of Music: A Conversation about Jumana Manna’s A Magical Substance Flows into Me, by Jumana Manna and Saleem al-Bahloly

PART IV: FAMILIAR PLACES
14. Umm Kulthum’s Intercessor, by Sheikha Hussein Helawy
15. Saber’s Dungeon, by Maisan Hamdan
16. The Theater of Life and Death, by Radi Shehadeh
17. The Circassians in Kafr Kama: Beautiful Homeland Gives Way to Traumatic Dispersal, by Hawa Batwash
18. They Tell Me This Is Jerusalem: Grammars of Belonging in Palestine, by Julia Elyachar

Published by Pluto Press, 2025
Sex / Anthologies / Cultural Studies / Postcolonial Studies / Politics / Material Culture