"If I Must Die": Samah Jabr & Mays Imad

Recorded live at a SAND Community Gathering (Feb 2026) Dr. Samah Jabr, a Palestinian psychiatrist and author of Radiance in Pain and Resilience, joins Dr. Mays Imad (with questions from the audience chat) for a conversation about what it means to stay human when the structures meant to protect people are the ones doing the harm. Drawing on decades of clinical work inside the occupation, Dr. Jabr moves past the “sanitized” versions of trauma to speak directly to the heart of colonial harm in Palestine. Central to this dialogue is an exploration of the deep ontological differences between Western psychiatric models and Palestinian lived experience. While Western frameworks often pathologize the individual through the lens of PTSD, Dr. Jabr introduces the concept of iptila—viewing tribulations through a framework of agency, faith, and collective endurance. She challenges the frequent romanticization of sumud (steadfastness), reframing it not as a poetic trope, but as a grueling relational practice and an ethical refusal to disappear when everything conspires toward Palestinian erasure. In a reality where the harm never ends, memory becomes a battlefield, grief a form of testimony, bearing witness an active refusal to normalize the unacceptable, and storytelling a vital survival infrastructure against the assassination of memory.Join Dr. Samah Jabr · March 1, 8, 15 & 22, 2026 • 9:00 – 11:00am PSTDecolonial Mental Health Practice: Clinical and Ethical Insights from PalestineA four-part webinar presented by SAND Topics 00:00 Welcome & Why We Need a New Framework for Trauma and Justice 02:15 “If I Must Die”: Carrying Memory, Refusing Normalization 03:13 Introducing Dr. Samah Jabr’s Work: Pain, Power, and a Counter-Narrative 07:55 A Childhood Lesson in Naming: Robinson Crusoe and Colonial Language 10:10 Clinic Stories: When Political Reality Shapes Symptoms 14:14 Beyond Western Psychiatry: Language, Resilience, and Context as the ‘Pathology’ 17:19 The ‘Fear of Dogs’ Case: History, Colonial Violence, and Clinical Meaning 20:40 When Systems Collapse: Gaza’s Crushed Mental-Health Response & Organic Community Care 25:04 Collective Healing & the Kite Intervention: Building Agency and Connection 29:31 From Mobilization to Organization: Global Solidarity and Liberation 34:31 How to Keep Working: Hope, Spirituality, and Protecting Health Workers 41:58 Meaning-Making in Crisis: The Palm Tree Story and Spiritual Grounding 45:22 Spirituality as Resilience: Listening for What Helps Each Person 47:13 Scaling Mental Health Support in Palestine: Training Community Helpers 49:00 Creating “Healing Spaces”: Group Support for Journalists, Youth & Displaced Women 53:22 Reporting Gaza From Afar: Citizen Journalism, Narrative Control & Ethical Witnessing 59:44 How to Support Palestine Sustainably: Remote Mental Health, Publishing & Advocacy 01:05:37 Colonialism, Patriarchy & Horizontal Violence: When Trauma Damages the Social Fabric 01:10:03 Meaning-Making Under Protracted Trauma: Tila, Agency & Shattered Belief Systems 01:15:16 Diaspora Palestinians: From Helping Family to Leading Global Political Solidarity 01:21:55 Closing Charge: Being Human After Mass Violence + Upcoming Webinars & Films Resources   Dr. Samah Jabr’s book Art by Fernando Martí and Jess X. Snow, inspired by Huda Suboh’s quote: “In the heart of Gaza, where the echoes of war reverberate through the streets… each day, glimmers of hope that dance across the sky—kites.” — Rafah, 2024 Support this conversation by donating to Sumud Network for Mental Health and Healing for Gaza   Where Olive Trees Weep (Film by SAND on Palestine (2024) with more Resources and a course on Palestine)