DICTIONARY
A dictionary of words often used in relation to Palestine. Sources credit and link you to where the organisations who have defined them
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AVATAR ACTVISM
Bil'in is a village in the centre of the West Bank. In 2005, the Israeli government began constructing the security barrier in the Bil’in area, and since then approximately 55 percent of Bil’in’s former land has been used for the construction of the Modi’in Illit settlement. In response, each Friday, colleges joined by those in solidarity demonstrate, making the village a symbol of resistance.
As part of the march in September 2010 activists painted themselves blue to resemble the Na’vi from the film Avatar. The Israeli military used tear gas and sound bombs on the protestors, who wore traditional keffiyehs with their Na’vi costumes. Footage of the protest was juxtaposed with the film and the character’s lines: “We will show the Sky People that they can not take whatever they want! This, this is our land!”
Photos and this footage was shared bring global attention to what was happening in Bil'in.
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CARTOONS
Cartoons serve as a powerful form of resistance in Palestine, offering a creative and impactful medium to critique occupation, express national identity, and inspire resilience. Through humour and satire, Palestinian cartoonists highlight social and political issues, challenge oppression, and mobilize both local and international support. These visual narratives resonate widely, transcending language barriers and providing an accessible platform for voicing dissent and fostering solidarity.
Naji al-Ali was a renowned Palestinian cartoonist best known for his creation of Handala, a barefoot 10-year-old boy symbolizing Palestinian defiance and the plight of refugees. Through his powerful and provocative cartoons, al-Ali critiqued political corruption, oppression, and the right of return of Palestinian refugees His fearless work made him a target, and on July 22, 1987, he was shot in London and succumb to his injuries on August 29, 1987. Whilst it was never confirmed, it is suspected to be a Mossad assassination.
Mohammed Saba’aneh is of Palestinian most well-know cartoonists today. He was arrested and imprisoned in 2013. Inside his cell, he continued to draw, smuggling his work out of prison. Later this work was presented in an exhibition and published in the book Black & White.
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CHILDREN'S MARCH IN NABI SALIH >>
GREAT MARCH OF RETURN
On February 7th 2018, Muthana al- Najjar a Palestinian journalist posted a video on Facebook showing a tent five hundred meters away from the Israeli border fence. In an eleven-minute live broadcast al-Najjar spoke from his tent: "This is the tent of return with (which) we convey the message of the refugees. It paves the way for our return to our towns and villages."
This act was one of multiple events that sparked a series of protests known as the Great Return March that began in Gaza on March 30th, coinciding with Land Day.
Consequently, each Friday, thousands of Palestinians march towards the fence, demanding recognition of their right to return to their ancestral homes and an end to the blockade, which at that moment had been ongoing for 12 years. During the rest of the week, different cultural events took place in the area.
Protesters set up tents in buffer-zone for their families in what became called “The Return Camps”. Banners on the tents had the name of the families and the villages they were forced to flee from in 1948.
Between the first protest and the last on December 27th 2019, Israel killed 266 people and injured 35,600.
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PROTEST CAMPS
For decades, families and activists have united against the evictions carried out by Israel in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem.
On February 8, 2013, a protest tent was set up in front of the Shamasne family's home, the latest family ordered to leave so Israeli settlers could replace them. Jerusalem police responded by dismantling the tent twice. Undeterred, residents reerected the tent and continued weekly demonstrations every Friday, striving to end the eviction campaign.
In 2021, as Israelis intensified forced displacement, families set up a tent village and protest camp. Palestinian youth leveraged social media, poetry, and documentation to share their stories, sparking action across Palestine. As Israeli violence escalated, so did solidarity, both in Palestine and globally.
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SHEIKH JARRAH PROTEST CAMP IN 2013 >>
RAISING THE PALESTINIAN FLAG
The Palestinian flag has represents "a symbol of Palestinian nationalism, unity and resistance to Israel’s unlawful occupation. The British Mandate and then Israel have tried continually tried to suppress the use of the flag.
The design of the Palestinian flag originated from the flag of the 1916 Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Empire. During the Great Arab Revolt of 1936, Palestinian groups used various versions of the flag, based on the original design. Adding different inscriptions and symbols, one photograph from 1938, showed a cross combined with a crescent in the red triangle - representing national unity across religions.
In 1967 Israel banned the Palestinian flag, a law which remained until the early 1990s. The watermelon, which has the same colours was used to defy these restrictions. However in 1980, Israel introduced a law which banned artwork composed of red, black, green and white. During the First Intifada in 1987, suppression escalated with increased attacks and arrests.
Since the 90’s and despite the Olso accords the flag has continued to be confiscated by Israel. Then, once again, in January 2023 Minister of National Security Itamar Ben-Gvir announced the banning of the flag in public spaces.
In May 2021, a photo of a Palestinian raising the flag from a lamppost in Lydda (renamed Lod after Israel took control of the city in 1948) went viral. This act continues to inspire young people around the world to climb lampposts and raise the flag.
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HISTORY OF BANNING THE PALESTINIAN FLAG >>
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NIGHT CONFUSIONS
Night confusions began during the Great March Of Return in Gaza in 2018. Just before sunset, Palestinians used incendiary devices attached to helium-filled balloons, which would blow across the border fence into Israel. When it was dark they would begin to let off fireworks.
The aim was to damage Israeli agriculture so the farmers would put pressure on their government as well as confuse and alarm Israelis who lived near the fence.
This inspired other Palestinians including those in the West Bank town of Beita. Using powerful light, laser beams and flares, they would disturb settlers and confuse the Israeli army who were in an outpost on the top of Mount Sbeih.
Gaining local and international attention, a group of Palestinian women volunteered to prepare food and drinks for the participants.
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TAX REVOLTS
In 1989, Beit Sahur, a middle-class community of 12,000 people, protested the Israeli occupation by resisting every form of Israeli taxation.
In response, Israeli officials, and Defense Minister Yitzhak Rabin vowed to “teach them a lesson.” Israeli authorities banned outsiders from entering, intercepted supplies of food, cut telephone lines, arrested dozens of tax resisters whilst also threatening to freeze the bank accounts of all residents.
Despite raids on homes day and intense pressure to work out some sort of deal with the authorities, almost no one paid.
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SPERM SMUGGLING
Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails have managed to smuggle sperm out of prison to conceive children, as a means to overcome the restrictions and separations imposed by their imprisonment.
Perhaps most famous is the prisoner Walid Daqqa who managed to have a child after his sperm was smuggled out of prison. A writer held for 38 years, he married Sanaa Salameh, a lawyer in 1999, while in prison after he obtained a rare permission for the wedding, and for photos of the ceremony to be taken. Whilst he was not allowed to spend time with his wife in conjugal visits, they managed to have a daughter in 2020, called Milad, Arabic for birth.
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THE RED CARPET
The first edition of the Red Carpet Human Rights Film Festival in Gaza took place in May 2015, amid the rubble of Gaza City's Shijaiyah district, an area devastated by heavy bombardment by Israel in 2014. A striking 60-meter-long red carpet was rolled out, welcoming audiences of all ages.
This festival, with a powerful focus on human rights films from around the world, presents short and long feature films, documentaries, and animation films that illuminate both local and global issues. In addition to these impactful screenings, the festival features musical concerts. They are set to continue their annual festival in Gaza in 2024.
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GENERAL STRIKES
One of the first occasions that Palestinians came together in a national strike was the Land Day General Strike on March 30th 1976.
The strike was to protest the Galilee Development Plan, which set about to confiscate about 2000 acres of Palestinian land and hand them over for the construction of the Israeli settlement Carmiel and fifty smaller settlements. That day, Israel shot and killed six Palestinians and wounded one hundred more.
Since then Land Day became a widely observed symbol of the Palestinian people and their connection to the land.
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HUNGER STRIKES
​Hunger strikes by Palestinian prisoners have been recorded as far back as 1968, after Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza & East Jerusalem.
Abdul Qader Abu al-Fahm became the first Palestinian to die during a hunger strike in 1970, after the Israelis killed him by inserting a nasal feeding tube into his lungs instead of his stomach.
One of the most well-known Palestinian hunger strikers is Khader Adnan. He was first taken as student in 1999 and consequently held in prison 12 times, adding up to a total of eight years.
In late 2011, he began a 66-day hunger strike, the longest undertaken by a Palestinian prisoner at that time. He stopped once the Israelis agreed to his release.
After being taken in 2014, he began a 56-day hunger strike that once again achieved his release.
Arrested again in February 2023 Adnan began his 6th and final hunger strike. It lasted 87 days until he died on May 2nd.
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HUNGER STRIKES IN PALESTINE >>
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KITE FLYING
Flying kites have long been a symbol of defiance and hope in Palestine. In 2011, 15,000 children in Gaza broke the world record for the largest number of kites flown simultaneously. During the Great March of Return in 2018 children flew kites in solidarity with prisoners at the Gaza border.
During the 1st Intifada 1987, when the Palestinian flag and consequently its colours were banned from being used, Palestinians would paint kites with the national colours, facing arrests and suppression for doing so.
On the 7th of December, writer, academic and poet Dr Refaat Alareer was murdered in a targeted attack. His last poem, “If I Die, You Must Live to Tell My Story,” used the image of a white kite. Since then, white kites have been used as a symbol of solidarity in protests globally.​
THE POWER OF KITES IN PALESTINE >>
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PRAY-INS
Pray-ins serve as a powerful form of nonviolent resistance, asserting Palestinian rights and presence, and drawing attention to their struggle for justice and sovereignty. By combining spiritual devotion with political activism, these demonstrations highlight the deep cultural and religious ties Palestinians have to their land and underscore their demands for freedom and peace.
At the end of 2023 when Israeli authorities barred Palestinians from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem for the 12th consecutive Friday, Hundreds of people performed Friday prayers in the streets near the Old City. Israeli forces sprayed “skunk water” and used tear gas canisters against worshippers.​
PROTECTING OLIVE TREES
Olive trees have been cultivated in Palestine for thousands of years, making them an integral part of Palestinian heritage and identity. Mentioned in religious texts, they are symbols of life and continuity. Olive trees help prevent soil erosion and desertification, maintaining the fertility of the land and protecting the environment. Olive farming is a core part of the economy and community, with the olive harvest or "jalya" a major event, involving entire villages.
Protecting olive trees has become a form of resistance against land confiscation and settler violence. The destruction of olive groves by Israeli settlers and military forces is seen as an attack on Palestinian identity and livelihood. Palestinians replant and protect these trees as a symbol of their resistance and right to their land.
Organisations and activists worldwide recognize the significance of these trees and advocate for their protection as part of broader human rights efforts in Palestine.
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CHILDREN MARCHES
Nabi Salih is a small village in the central West Bank, located 20 kilometers northwest of Ramallah with a population of roughly 522 people.
The village has been organising weekly demonstrations against the theft of the natural spring and the occupation since December 2009. Young people regularly participated in the protests, including on Palestinian Children’s Day on April 5th 2013, when they led the march. Holding banners and balloons, they chanted for their rights to a childhood free of oppression and occupation.
The Israeli forces, as they have regularly done, suppressed the demonstration, shooting skunk water trucks and tear gas canisters at the protesters.
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PRAY-INS
Pray-ins serve as a powerful form of nonviolent resistance, asserting Palestinian rights and presence, and drawing attention to their struggle for justice and sovereignty. By combining spiritual devotion with political activism, these demonstrations highlight the deep cultural and religious ties Palestinians have to their land and underscore their demands for freedom and peace.
At the end of 2023 when Israeli authorities barred Palestinians from entering the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem for the 12th consecutive Friday, Hundreds of people performed Friday prayers in the streets near the Old City. Israeli forces sprayed “skunk water” and used tear gas canisters against worshippers.​