Welcome to Sumud!

Dear Friends,

Welcome to the “Sumud” Quaker Study! Sumud is the Arabic word for determination, perseverance, and resilience. This is an apt theme given the determination Palestinian people demonstrate in asserting their right to self-determination. I am so excited to discuss the history of Israel/Palestine with you and reflect together on matters of Peace and Justice in this land and in our own.

We’ll be meeting every Thursday evening at 7:00 p.m. ET, starting next week on November 7, and continuing through January 2. We will take off November 28 for Thanksgiving and December 26 for Christmas & Hanukkah.

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to get a copy of Prof. Rashid Khalidi’s book, The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine. It is a wonderful (and relatively concise!) historical account, and it is the core content of our Sumud study. We’ll be discussing Chapter 1 in our first session next week.

If you are not a big reader, or time is too tight to get through all the pages, not to worry! The format of our study is a teach-in, meaning we will cover the main historical points together in each session. All are encouraged to participate in the discussion.

Our website and home base is www.quakersumud.org — check it out! It contains:

• Toolkits for each session with all of our materials, including: reading assignment, slides for the teach-in, and documentaries and films you can watch before the session.
• Forum where you are encouraged to post (anonymously or first name only, if you like) any reflections or questions you have before our session. You can also post after the session.
• Resources on topics you may want to dig more into.
• Events coming up online or in-person to stay engaged.

This site is brand new, and we’re still working on building it out. So if a page is looking a little sparse, stay tuned as we work to populate it. Your feedback on ways to make the site better is appreciated.

So to recap — grab a copy of the book if you’d like, check out the toolkit for our first session next Thursday, and pop any thoughts or questions in the forum for that session. See you soon!