As part of a powerful exhibition at UCL East called ‘Palestinian Childhoods: Solidarity and Sumud,’ SWANA Forum for Social Justice was honoured to host a webinar [see recording] on the 12^th September highlighting Palestinian educators and students’ thoughts on Sumud. We heard from Dr Bashar I. J. Farra (PhD Candidate at Al-Aqsa University, Gaza), Dr Saida Affouneh (Professor at An-Najah University, West Bank) and Dr Fadel Alsawayfe (Professor at Bethlehem University, West Bank) who spoke about their and their students’ experiences of Sumud.

The conversation with our guests helped us think through what it means to show solidarity with Palestinians beyond sympathy. They told us that solidarity with them is remembering and speaking about and to their children and to Palestinians in general, who somehow hold on to hope, to a future, to a better version of humanity. Dr Saida explored with us her idea of a Pedagogy of Sumud, when teachers and students learn how to survive and live and dream in the past, present and future; Dr Bashar and Dr Fadel spoke to us about Sumud being part of Palestinian identity and everyday life from birth, even before this genocidal moment in time. Dr Fadel wondered if this is now an era of post-sumud. We, at SWANA-FSJ, ask if this post-sumud, is perhaps a widening and deepening of the sumud already so familiar and sustaining to Palestinians. Is this post-sumud an entanglement with a wider global awakening to systemic injustice everywhere? In our thousands, in our millions, we are all Palestinians!