Dr. Des Saad Amira
Al Quds Bard College, Palestine
Drawing on six years of ethnographic research in the highlands of the West Bank, this presentation will explore a central question: Can Palestinians articulate their own environmental history? Such a question arises from the settler colonial condition in Palestine and the resulting absence of a sovereign Palestinian polity. In a context dominated by the environmental and epistemic violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers, soldiers, rangers, the space for Palestinian voices within the environmental discourse diminishes. Under these circumstances, the significance of Palestinian oral histories, family photo albums, and personal diaries becomes crucial. By presenting excerpts of these environmental histories related to several villages in the Salfit district, I aim to challenge prevailing environmental narratives and highlight an indigenous environmental history from below.
This will be a virtual event with a presentation by Dr.Des Saad Amira followed by a conversation moderated by Professor Samer Alatout and a Q&A.
Sponsors: Department of Geography and the Palestinian Landscapes and Liberatory Ecologies workshop of the Center for Culture History and Environment (CHE)