Ajyal Foundation

Mahmoud Darwish, who died in 2008, is a major literary figure in Palestinian literature and is widely regarded as the ‘country’s national poet’. Comprised of two of Mahmoud Darwish’s later poems – ‘Mural’ and ‘The Dice Player’ (the latter of which Darwish read in Ramallah a month before his death) – his book, Mural, explores themes of the pain and grief of dispossession, and exile, focusing on ‘watan’ (Arabic for ‘homeland’). Translated and published posthumously, Mural serves as a testimony from the Palestinian author and poet who wrote the Palestinian Declaration of Independence.

Ajyal is proud to announce the release today of the first single from an album that features the renowned Lebanese singer, Omaima Al Khalil. Called “The war planes must fall silent”, the album is thematically built around the poetry of Palestinian poet, Marwan Makhoul, and is a collaboration between Al Khalil and Palestinian composer, Habib Shehada Hanna, and also features a choir from Haifa. The first song from the 7-track album is called ‘Al Yatima’ (‘The Orphan’) and is released today, with more to be released over the coming weeks. Watch this space for more details.

This unique artistic collaboration is supported by Ajyal Foundation, and is part of our cultural programme.

This non-fiction children’s book is a celebration of Palestinian heritage, exploring the rich history of everything from food to tatreez embroidery, the history of old cities to dabke folk dance. Young readers are able to learn about the breadth of culture and traditions in Palestine through the captivating writing of Reem Kassis and beautiful illustrations by Noha Eilouti, making it an excellent book for parents, educators, and caregivers to introduce children to Palestinian life.

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Emily Jacir’s work “Memorial to 418 Palestinian Villages Which Were Destroyed, Depopulated, and Occupied by Israel in 1948” (2001) is a reminder of the extensive reach of the Nakba not only to the villages that were destroyed and depopulated whose names are embroidered on the side of the tent erected in Jacir’s studio, but those forced to leave and the generations following them. It holds the importance of remembering, to recount and preserve this history.

It calls us to to ask ourselves: how can we acknowledge and remember these villages and communities that were destroyed and occupied during the Nakba?

Image source: Collection National Museum of Contemporary Art Athens (EMST), ANTIDORON exhibition, Fridericianum, Kassel; photo: Mathias Völzke

This work is a culmination of extensive research and field work to precisely and extensively detail the more than 400 villages that were destroyed or depopulated during the 1948 war. Ranging from statistical data to geographic records to narrative presentations, this body of work is collated from a plethora of Arab, Western, and Israeli sources to illuminate the history of each village before 1948, the military operations that led to the destruction or occupation of each village, and the current status of the site. Comprised of the efforts of more than thirty participants and edited by Walid Khalidi, this work details the extensive and devastating destruction across Palestine in 1948. 
 
We highlight this book today to remember the Nakba— the ethnic cleansing of Palestine and systematic destruction of Palestinian society in 1948. By engaging with works like this, we share knowledge to recount and preserve history in Palestine in solidarity and remembrance.

This Palestinian memoir follows Hussein Barghouti’s journey as he returns to the countryside of Ramallah after living as an expatriate. Upon receiving a diagnosis of lymphoma, he returns for treatment after thirty years, during which he chooses to build a house in which he could live with his wife and son.

Processing the finality of this diagnosis, Bargouhti weaves together reflective memories of his childhood and home with the narrative of his return and the progress of the disease. In this memoir, he grapples with death, nature, life in Palestine under Israeli oppression, and, ultimately, the possibility of a return to live— “to the earth, where he would be buried among the almond trees.”

Published posthumously in 2004 and translated to English in 2022, this memoir was the 2023 winner of the Palestine Book Awards and is a powerful and sweet memoir from Barghouthi written through a poetic and reflective lens.

(Source: Abe Books)

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“Being with the children gives me the sense that I still own something of my normal life.”
- Grade 4 mathematics teacher at a community-led educational initiative in Gaza.

Ajyal has supported education in Gaza through community-led initiatives across 17 locations in Gaza. This support has not only enabled continued educational opportunities to displaced children in Gaza, but has supported teachers and community-members as well, providing a sense of normalcy and continuity to communities amidst the ongoing genocide. Parents and guardians of students in these initiatives have described them as more than just substitutes for formal schooling, but as vital spaces of stability, healing, and hope.

Thank you to all our incredible supporters who make this work possible!

Written by historian Rashid Khalidi, this book responds to the denial of Palestinian statehood, nationhood, and history, providing insight into the history of the struggle in Palestine from the experiences and voices of Palestinians.

Spanning a century from 1917-2017, the book has been described by political scientist Lisa Anderson in Foreign Affairs as “the most cogent, comprehensive, and compelling account of this struggle from the Palestinian vantage point,” and Khalidi received the Palestine Book Award for this work in 2020. The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine is a work that examines both the global political landscape surrounding the past century in Palestine, and the personal experiences of the Palestinian people.

You Can Be the Last Leaf: Selected Poems by Maya Abu Al-Hayyat, translated to English by Fady Joudah is a selection of poetry that illuminates moments of life under Israeli occupation—ordinary and profound, filled with preoccupations and imagination, loss, violence, and hope, and the inseparable nature of public and private realms.

A Finalist for the 2022 National Book Critics Circle Award in Translation and Finalist for the 2024 Sarah Maguire Prize, Abu Al-Hayyat explores the significance of “what you’re thinking now / as you coerce your kids to sleep / in the middle of shelling,” portraying the richness and complexity of Palestinian culture and inner life across two decades of her work.