sumud صمود: the soul of the palestinian people
Palestinians were asked “what does sumud mean to you?” Here is how they responded:
“Sumud means telling my story even when I am afraid to speak.”
“As Palestinian mothers, sumud is the hope we have for our children. Our determination to make a better life for them.”
“It is my work with the choir. It makes me happy that even in a time of so much ugliness, I can help the women to make this beautiful music. It reminds us that we are beautiful – all children of God.”
“It is my strength to go on.”
“Sumud is older than the word resilience, if we read some of the poetry that was written in resistance to the british mandate and the brutality in the 30s, sumud was commonly used by Palestinians. Sumud looks like resilience, perseverance, endurance, but also it has a collective aspect, it’s not only an individual thing. We make sumud together. Sumud is not only a state of mind and coming back to the situation where you were before the trauma. It’s about action. It’s about doing things in defiance to and in resistance of the oppressing power.” -Dr. Samah Jabr
“For many Palestinians, sumud is as homely and familiar as morning coffee: it is a quality to be lived rather than something to be spoken about.” - Toine Van Teeffelen
Sources
We are grateful to the work of Dr. Samah Jabr (live lecture) and Toine Van Teeffelen (author of Sumud: Soul of the Palestinian People Reflections and Experiences, direct excerpts of which informed the content for this blog post.
