Malu Halasa and Jordan Elgrably present SUMUD at NYU, with Lina Mounzer and Mosab Abu Tohal. (NYC)

Wednesday, February 5, 2025, 5:00pm - 7:00pm EST

NYU Journalism - Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute
20 Cooper Square, Room 7C
New York, NY 10003

RSVP REQUIRED: https://events.nyu.edu/event/beforeandaftergaza

A reading for Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader featuring Malu Halasa, Jordan Elgrably, Lina Mounzer, and special guest Mosab Abu Tohal. Moderated by Mohamad Bazzi.

SUMŪD: A New Palestinian Reader is an anthology that celebrates the power of culture in Palestinian resistance, with selections of memoir, short stories, essays, book reviews, personal narrative, poetry, and art from the Markaz Review.

The Arabic word sumūd is often loosely translated as “steadfastness” or “standing fast.” It is, above all, a Palestinian cultural value of everyday perseverance in the face of Israeli occupation. Sumūd is both a personal and collective commitment; people determine their own lives, despite the environment of constant oppressions imposed upon them. 
In times of devastation, poetry, literature, and art are the mediums through which oppressed peoples reveal cherished aspects of their existences and remain defiant in the fight for self-determination. Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader honors the Palestinian spirit and its power in the face of dispossession and war. When governments around the world enable the genocide of a people and the dilapidation of a sacred homeland, the Palestinian people stand fast and resist. The fifty-eight contributions in this collection remind readers that just as love perseveres, so do the Palestinians, and their struggles and triumphs.
This anthology spans the 20th and 21st centuries of Palestinian cultural history, and highlights writing from 2021–2024. The essays, stories, poetry, art and personal narrative collected in Sumūd: A New Palestinian Reader is a rich riposte to those who would denigrate Palestinians’ aspirations for a homeland. It also serves as a timely reminder of culture’s power and importance during occupation and war.