Birzeit University in the West Bank. Photo: Nalmimi, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The New Year began in a deepening world disorder. While Israel – despite the ceasefire – continues its bombardment of the  Gaza Strip, further worsening the catastrophic conditions in which Palestinian civilians live, international politics is increasingly being shaped openly by imperial power, military force, and the logic of conflict.

As global attention shifts ever more toward other flashpoints of geopolitical ambition, Palestine is increasingly fading from view. In addition to the ongoing catastrophe in Gaza, the escalation of violence in the occupied West Bank is also passing largely under the radar.

According to UN data, last year saw a record number of attacks by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, with more than 1,800 documented violent incidents. Already in the first days of the year, the Israeli army carried out a raid at Birzeit University in the occupied West Bank, injuring eleven Palestinian students.

It is from Birzeit University, where both work as professors, that leading Palestinian philosopher Abdaljawad Omar and anthropologist Basil Farraj are coming to Croatia for the first time.

Under the title Palestine: Life Is Resistance, the two speakers will share their personal testimonies, present the situation in the occupied West Bank, and deepen understanding of both the possibilities and the limits of Palestinian resistance – on Thursday, February 26, from 6 PM at Filodrammatica, Rijeka.

They will be joined in discussion by writer and political scientist Saša Savanović, theorist and translator Stipe Ćurković, as well as the Rijeka audience. The event is organized by Drugo more, ISSA – School of Autonomy, and the Center for Theoretical and Critical Research of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Rijeka.

* Admission is free. The talk will be held in English 

Abdaljawad Omar & Basil Farraj

MORE ABOUT THE GUESTS:

Abdaljawad Omar is a Palestinian writer,based in Ramallah, Palestine. He serves as an Assistant/Adjunct Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Studies at Birzeit University, where he teaches and conducts research on political theory, decolonial thought, and the intellectual history of Palestinian resistance. Omar regularly publishes essays and articles in outlets such as Mondoweiss and contributes to international discussions on colonialism, resistance, and Middle Eastern politics.

Basil Farraj is the Director of the Ibrahim Abu Lughod Institute of International Studies, and an assistant professor at the Department of Philosophy and Cultural studies, Birzeit University. Basil’s research addresses the intersections of memory, resistance, and art by prisoners and others at the receiving end of violence. Basil has conducted research in several countries including Chile, Colombia, and Palestine.

Saša Savanović is a novelist, essayist and non-fiction author. She has published two critically acclaimed novels (Deseti život, 2018 and Novo Sada, 2022), along with a wide range of articles, essays, research studies and popular commentary. She lives in Komiža and Rijeka.

Stipe Ćurković is a translator and a member of the Program Committee of the Subversive Forum, the theoretical and discursive segment of the Subversive Festival. He lives and works in Zagreb.