Poems for Palestine — Christmas joy must birth solidarity

Listen to — or read along in the episode transcript — Jewish, Christian, and Muslim poems by Palestinians and their supporters. Poetry empowers us to imagine liberation that we can then work towards, together. Some pieces explore the Nativity story through this lens: Christmas joy must break bread with pain, birthing solidarity with all oppressed peoples. Talking Points: (0:00) Ross Gay on mixing pain and joy to birth solidarity; poetry as resistance (7:11) Aurora Levins Morales on the history of antisemitism + envisioning solidarity & interdependence in “Red Sea” (12:30) Najah Hussein Musa dispelling anti-Palestinian myths in “Bethlehem” (14:42) Avery Arden — “Christ is Barred from Bethlehem”  (17:48) Basman Derawi — memorializing a fun-loving friend killed in an airstrike in ”His Name Was Essa” (19:52) Hiba Abu Nada, killed in an airstrike, longs for safety in “I Grant You Refuge” (23:30) Rev. Munther Isaac & Avery Arden — Christ born into rubble (28:10) Refaat Alareer & Ibtisam Barakat — poetry helps us imagine the liberation we can then fight for (33:36) Avery Arden & Ainsley Herrick — “O Come O Come Emmanuel” rewritten for Palestine’s plight Visit the episode transcript for all links to the various poems; here are some key resources: Rev. Munther Isaac's sermon "God Is under the Rubble in Gaza" Aurora Levins Morales' article "Latin@s, Israel and Palestine: Understanding Antisemitism" Fady Joudah's article "A Palestinian Meditation in a Time of Annihilation" The "We Are Not Numbers" project Refaat Alareer's lecture on poetry For shareable versions of my poems / song, visit binarybreakingworship.com. This show's theme song is "Aetherium" by Leah Horn. Find more episodes & resources at blessedarethebinarybreakers.com.