大象传媒

Nasreen Abd Elal vividly remembers a time when the Palestinian struggle against the state of Israel was not widely recognized as resistance to settler colonialism and genocide. Now a graphic designer, Elal first became active in the movement as a Columbia University student in 2016. 鈥淭he language the student movement uses has shifted tremendously [since then],鈥� she says. 鈥淎s Palestinians within the movement, we have understood and had this analysis for decades. It seemed so far off that people would accept this framework.鈥� 

Now, more than one year since the world started watching the genocide in Gaza鈥攁 reality Palestinian journalists have been trying to broadcast for generations鈥攖he general public is finally sharing in the Palestinian resistance. People around the globe have , , rallied despite , and orchestrated . 鈥淚srael can no longer coast on this idea of being this beacon of democracy in the Middle East,鈥� Elal says. 鈥淧eople understand intuitively [that] this is a colonial situation.鈥澛�

But as solidarity with Palestinians grows, so too does repression. In the United States, lawmakers have tried , while university administrators have , , and . Mainstream media outlets publish , while politicians  

Yet as those in power continue to attempt to crush the Free Palestine Movement, artists, writers, and other cultural workers are using creative practices to resist. They鈥檝e organized to fight censorship, exposed the propagandist nature of mainstream media, and asserted Palestinians鈥� rights to their land and lives. They鈥檝e refused to accept genocide and colonialism as normal. 鈥淭hat, I think, is actually what preserves your humanity and your sanity,鈥� Elal says. 鈥淭he fate of Palestinians is bound up in your own, whether you like it or not.鈥� 

Narrative Resistance

Since Israel鈥檚 inception 76 years ago, government and media institutions have continuously worked to control the public鈥檚 collective memory of Palestine. In 1969, Israel鈥檚 prime minister denied that Palestinians existed before . After Hamas carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Flood in October 2023, tearing down walls that helped make Gaza an , media outlets described the attack as When Israel鈥檚 defense minister announced its food and water blockade on Gaza days later, he called it a fight against further dehumanizing Palestinians and their resistance against occupation. 

鈥淣arratives are used to justify systems of domination,鈥� Elal says. 鈥淧alestinians want liberation, freedom, the right to live in their homes and return to their homes, just like any other people. It requires this enormous apparatus of narrative to dehumanize and delegitimize Palestinian claims to the right of return, sovereignty, living free from violence, on a land where they aren鈥檛 second-class citizens subjected to genocide.鈥� 

But now that Israel has , according to the Gaza Health Ministry (scholars estimate 鈥攁ttempts to rationalize the Israeli government鈥檚 murderous impulse are proving ineffective. Polls across the West show that an increasing number of people , and young people in the U.S. are . 鈥淭his didn鈥檛 start last October,鈥� says Elal. 鈥淭he roots of what we鈥檙e seeing now with this genocide are structural, historical, and political.鈥� 

Since 2021, Elal has worked as the information designer for , an organization founded in 2012 that uses data imagery to communicate the experiences of Palestinians and disrupt colonial narratives. The organization鈥檚 infographics, interactive visuals, and posters have been circulated all over the world, published by major media outlets, posted on subway billboards, and translated into multiple languages. 

鈥淲e see our role in the movement in terms of how we can intervene in narrative and media discourse around Palestine,鈥� says Elal. 鈥淓specially since the start of the genocide, we鈥檝e seen how rampant this dehumanization is, how distorted the Palestinian narrative is, how there鈥檚 not a lot of grappling with the deep history of the legacy of colonialism in Palestine.鈥� 

Visualizing Palestine works with partner organizations, including some in Palestine, to turn research reports into accessible visual resources. For instance, its presents side-by-side images from the and the current genocide in Gaza to show how the latter is an extension of the previous catastrophe. Another project called 鈥溾�� demonstrates how Israel uses artificial intelligence programs to surveil and kill Palestinians. 

Other visuals aim to expand the documentation of Israel鈥檚 brutality beyond statistics, including its impact on those who survive. 鈥溾�� takes the form of a child development chart that illustrates how children born in Gaza in 2007 have lived through four wars before turning 18, suffering compounded trauma. 鈥溾�� memorializes Palestinians who survived the 1948 Nakba to later be killed by Israel in 2023. 鈥淭hese people are older than the state that is killing them,鈥� Elal explains. 鈥淸Palestinians] aren鈥檛 numbers. Each one of these people who has been killed [is] an entire world.鈥� 

The collective鈥檚 new book, , spotlights more than 200 visuals created in the past decade, alongside essays on humanizing data and provoking narrative change. Elal believes putting this resource in people鈥檚 hands can help organizers, advocates, and educators 鈥渂uild the kind of people power we need.鈥� 

The Role of the Artist

When Israel began bombing Gaza in October 2023, Hannah Priscilla Craig was among the group of artists who decided to launch , a movement using art and culture as 鈥� in the struggle for sovereignty, dignity, and self-determination.鈥� They released a solidarity statement, which received more than 8,000 signatures in the first few days. Soon after, Artists Against Apartheid transformed into a network that encourages artists to embed themselves in organizing and activism. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just we as individuals [who] are dedicating ourselves to Palestine,鈥� Craig explains. 鈥淚t鈥檚 actually a recognition of the practice of the artwork as part of the overall strategy toward liberation.鈥� 

Craig, who serves as the director of arts, culture, and communications for the 鈥攖he community space in New York City where Artists Against Apartheid originated鈥攕ees how integral cultural production is to raising awareness about the plight of Palestinians. 鈥淧eople are consuming culture almost every moment of every day 鈥� whether we consciously realize it or not,鈥� she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important for us, on the side of justice [and] liberation, to take up that tool鈥攁nd take it more seriously than our enemies.鈥� 

Artists Against Apartheid offers to help artists create banner drops, public art installations, film screenings, street theater, and more to bring the Palestinian liberation movement into their communities. the (theatrical testimonies written by Palestinian youth), of President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the annual , and developed more than 6,000 poster designs. Craig says the posters have been pasted around Barcelona, Spain; exhibited in galleries in Arizona; and made into stickers circulated throughout the U.S. 

People are consuming culture almost every moment of every day. 鈥� It鈥檚 important for us, on the side of justice [and] liberation, to take up that tool鈥攁nd take it more seriously than our enemies.鈥� 鈥擧annah Priscilla Craig

Artists Against Apartheid draws inspiration from the , a group of cultural workers who in the 1970s and later inspired an international boycott that helped undo apartheid policies. Craig also highlights the , which were first formed in 1929 by artists, writers, and journalists to advocate for better working conditions during the Great Depression. 

鈥淭hose histories are often ignored, forgotten, and left out of the history books because they are so dangerous to the ruling class,鈥� Craig says. Artists Against Apartheid works to 鈥渞einvigorate and bring back to the forefront the way that artists and cultural workers are part of political [and liberation] movements.鈥� 

The number of signatories on Artists Against Apartheid鈥檚 statement has nearly doubled in the year since it was released, with prominent musicians including , , and Noname signing on and using their art to . 鈥淢usicians are ready to take on the charge and the task of speaking clearly and with conviction about the need to take seriously the political situation in the world,鈥� Craig says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really showing that these cultural spaces, these social spaces, are also spaces of political struggle.鈥� 

Ultimately, Artists Against Apartheid calls on artists of all media to use creative intervention as a strategy for mobilization. 鈥淭he reality is that struggle happens everywhere,鈥� she explains. 鈥淲e have to fight back in all of the spaces that are available to us.鈥� 

Do Not Consent

While artists continue to envision an end to the U.S.-backed genocide, Writers Against the War on Gaza (WAWOG) are disrupting the media apparatus that defends it. After releasing an , the coalition of media, cultural, and academic workers has engaged in a series of actions to call out national media outlets over their coverage of Israel and Palestine, including The New York Times. 

鈥淸The Times] is considered the paper of record in the U.S. [and] in the West,鈥� says Nour, a writer and member of WAWOG. (Nour requested to be identified by first name only and emphasized that the coalition acts as a collective.) But The Times has been 鈥渕anufacturing consent for a genocide.鈥� 

Some writers at The Times after it cracked down on its own journalists for publicly supporting Palestine. Others, including Nour, in November 2023 to protest its coverage, carrying agitprop newspapers titled . 鈥�The Times is equivalent to an arms manufacturer, but in the cultural space,鈥� says Naib, a journalist and writer who is also part of WAWOG and has asked to be identified by first name only out of concern for retaliation. The paper represents, in theory, 鈥渂oth objectivity [and] the high-minded, liberal elite of America.鈥� 

Following the protest, the coalition evolved the agitprop into a , debunking the false notion of objectivity and critiquing and analyzing The Times鈥� coverage of Israel. In the article 鈥�,鈥� the paper provides a style guide demonstrating how The Times鈥� word choice, syntax, and passive voice push the narrative that Israel is fighting a 鈥渏ust war.鈥� Another revealed that The Times quoted Israeli and American sources following Oct. 7, 2023, more than three times as often as Palestinian sources, and U.S. officials more than all of its Palestinian sources combined. The New York Times did not respond to a request for comment. 

Naib says mainstream reporters use other rhetorical tools to 鈥渃reate empathy amongst American audiences for Israel and not for Palestine.鈥� For example, when a story describes occupational violence against Palestinians, it doesn鈥檛 specify that it was done by Israel or the Israeli military. 鈥淚t鈥檚 鈥榓 strike killed Palestinians,鈥� not 鈥榓n Israeli strike,鈥欌�� he explains, referencing coverage of the ongoing air strikes. 鈥淚n almost all media, any discussion of Palestine will always come with, 鈥楾hese events started on October 7.鈥� 鈥� We always have to acknowledge what happened on October 7, [but never what happened] before October 7.鈥澛�

WAWOG is also committed to shining a light on the humanity of Palestinians. Through more than a dozen issues of The New York War Crimes, the coalition has published the words of and ; spotlighted , , and solidarity; and uplifted the voices of those (uprising). They鈥檝e also inspired the birth of similar publications such as . 

The coalition also encourages audiences to collectively hold establishment media accountable. 鈥淲e think so much about what is happening in the writing itself, but being an observer, a reader, [or] in the audience is not a passive activity,鈥� Naib says. 鈥淵ou are actively legitimizing the organization by consuming what they鈥檙e producing.鈥� 

Nour adds that audiences can 鈥渞efuse to be part of the New York Times narrative鈥� by boycotting publications complicit in their coverage of Palestine, while motivating media workers to organize within their workplaces. 鈥淚f we refuse to write the way they want us to write, we can actually do something,鈥� she says. 

The network鈥檚 plan to build a 鈥溾�� also includes a that covers organizing history in both Palestine and the U.S., touching on the Black Panther Party as well as movements formed during the Vietnam War and the AIDS crisis. 鈥淐ulture is oftentimes the strongest tool in maintaining the status quo,鈥� Naib says. 鈥淥ur role as cultural workers isn鈥檛 only to produce culture; it鈥檚 to take action.鈥� 

A Dance for Palestine

鈥淚t is the right of children in Gaza to be joyful,鈥� says Bashar Al-Bilbisi, a 24-year-old Palestinian dancer, theater artist, pharmacist, and head of the . Since 2016, the troupe of young people has performed and trained others throughout Gaza in , a traditional and Indigenous Palestinian dance. 

When Al-Fursan first launched, Al-Bilbisi used dance to address issues such as COVID-19, gender-based violence, and youth emigration. The group performed at the Palestine International Festival and toured around France. Their performances even contributed to the registering of dabke as 鈥渋ntangible heritage鈥� . 

But everything changed when Israel began relentlessly bombing Gaza and destroying theaters and cultural spaces. Now, Al-Bilbisi and his fellow dancers mainly teach dabke to children in displacement camps across the region. 鈥淲e face lots of trauma, lots of wars, and we need a tool such as dance to get that out,鈥� says Al-Bilbisi, whose responses have been translated from Arabic to English. 

Sometimes that means encouraging children to 鈥渇orget about the external world and to enjoy themselves鈥� during training. Other times, it鈥檚 leaving space for them to grieve. During one exercise, a young girl suddenly began to cry. Her two brothers had been taken by Israeli forces, and she no longer knew where they were or if they were alive. 鈥淚 left her alone to cry as much as she wanted,鈥� Al-Bilbisi says. Afterward, she began talking more openly about her brothers鈥� capture and became more involved with the group. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why I would work on the training of dabke. It helps them express themselves,鈥� he adds. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about movement or choreography; it鈥檚 what鈥檚 beyond the performance.鈥� 

Al-Fursan trainers are located throughout the Gaza Strip, including in heated war zones where, Al-Bilbisi says, 鈥渢he only thing between them and death is a coincidence.鈥� Two trainers were bombed by Israel at the Church of Saint Porphyrius; another in North Gaza trained children whose parents were killed in yet another Israeli bombing, Al-Bilbisi says. 鈥淲henever we go to train children, there is always somebody targeted and killed as we go.鈥� 

At the time of this writing, Al-Bilbisi is based in a supposed safe zone. He plans to continue the work, saying, 鈥淭he risks are enormous 鈥� but we believe in a mission and a vision, and we would like to fulfill it.鈥� 

Though the genocide has yet to end, he is firm in the role the ensemble will play in rebuilding Gaza and all of Palestine. 鈥淚f houses are demolished, they can be rebuilt,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 more difficult is to rebuild people psychologically and to rebuild humanity.鈥� 

That鈥檚 why the ensemble also works to deepen the world鈥檚 understanding and awareness of what it鈥檚 like to be a Palestinian in Gaza. In 2023 the group released , an directed by Al-Bilbisi that focuses on how artists鈥� lives changed throughout the last year of occupation. It has been shown at across the world. 鈥淭he message鈥攁s a group, as an ensemble, as trainers, as artists, as children whom we work with, and as a community in Gaza鈥攊s that we would like war to stop and that we love life,鈥� Al-Bilbisi says. 

Underneath it all, he believes it is his duty to create not only artists, but human beings who belong to their land. 鈥淲hen we are in one line, holding each other鈥檚 hands, it gives the sense of solidarity, that we are all together,鈥� he continues. 鈥淚t also shows how rooted we are, touching the land or the floor. We鈥檙e there, strongly. We鈥檙e there.鈥�