On September 8th last, Academics for Palestine and our colleagues in the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign were honoured to host the amazing Palestinian academic, author and activist Ghada Karmi in Dublin. Taking time out of a conference in Trinity College Dublin, Ghada launched her latest book ‘Return: A Palestinian Memoir’ in Wynn’s Hotel to a large and rapt audience. Gahda was in conversation with well-known academic and journalist Harry Browne, who is also a member of AFP, and took questions from the audience.

The IPSC has kindly made a recording of the evening available for those who couldn’t make it along, via their wonderful Palestine Podcast series. Please click here to listen to the recording.

Below we are pleased to link to an essay from Dr. Anaheed Al-Hardan, author of the new book Palestinians in Syria: Nakba Memories of Shattered Communities, taken from the Columbia University Press website. Dr. Al-Hardan launched her book at an event sponsored by Academics for Palestine in association with the Department of Sociology in Trinity College Dublin on Thursday 20th October 2016.

You can buy copies of the book here (Colombia University Press) and here (Amazon).

LISTEN: While she was in Ireland, Dr. Al-Hardan was also interviewed on Dublin South FM. You can listen to the full interview by clicking here (audio courtesy of DSFM).

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The Catastrophes of Today and the Catastrophe of 1948 in Syria

Yarmouk Camp in Damascus is today unrecognizable even to those who knew the camp’s every alleyway and corner. The rubble, the ruins of bombed buildings, tired and hungry people, and haunted alleyways and streets are the painful remains of a shattered community. Yarmouk is not the only Palestinian locality in Syria, of course, but it was in many ways the Palestinians’ social, cultural, political, and even symbolic heart. It has therefore become emblematic of the catastrophe of the Palestinians in Syria whose communities may neither survive nor heal.

• Read the full essay on the Columbia University Press website here.