Cafe Palestine 25 was chaired by Chaired by Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Occupied East Jerusalem.

The Café laid bare the harsh realities of those witnessing settler colonial state violence through an alternative way of knowing, building on a critical Palestinian perspective that insists on its refusal to erase memories of past and present brutalities. The first of a series of meetings exposed the brutality of the Zionist state’s constant debilitations and attempts at dispossession, while evidencing Palestinians’ power to open new alternatives of liveability, against oppression and the assault on hope. In bearing witness, we refuse the attempt to nullify Palestinian lives and to silence Palestinian voices. Testimonies from Palestine Part 1 featured colleagues and activists from Gaza narrating the latest assault on our Gazan community.

The Cafe featured:
– Serena Awad, a young activist;
– Dr. Mohammed Omran Abu Shawish, Clinical Psychologist, Mental Health Directorate, Ministry of Health, Lecturer at Clinical Psychology Department, El- Esraa University;- Sofyan Bader, Director of the Markaz Rusul, Community Center; and
– Basma Abu Amra, Psychologist GazaCommunity Mental Health Programme.

The Cafe started with live music on violin by Shaden Nahra (https://www.shadenahra.com/)