As Palestinians came together last year under the banner of the Unity Intifada, forming a collective front against Israel’s ongoing colonisation, we witnessed some critical shifts in the conversation on Palestine. This shared moment highlighted the inaccuracy of the mainstream narrative and the international community’s refusal to acknowledge the lived experience of Palestinians or the realities of Israel’s apartheid and settler colonial regime. As a result, the usual mantra of a conflict between two equal sides was increasingly being called into question. Yet, while a more grounded understanding of Israel’s policies and practices is starting to enter the mainstream, much work remains to fully reclaim the narrative to one that upholds freedom, justice and equality for all.

In this talk, novelist and human rights activist Susan Abulhawa will join with Alaa Tartir of Al-Shabaka, Aline Batarseh of Visualizing Palestine and Aimee Shalan of Makan, to discuss the history and context of the changing perceptions of the Palestinian struggle, what happens when the concept of ‘neutrality’ is disputed, why narrative shifts matter, and how – in an increasingly loveless world – they feed into the wider liberation movement.

Reclaiming Narratives in A Loveless World