“Al‑Umm Bitlim”
A Life Source and Life Force Amid Grief,
Loss, and Death
Hana R. Masud
Al‑umm bitlim—“the mother gathers”—speaks to the vital role mothers play in holding families and communities together. Yet, for Palestinian mothers and daughters, this act of gathering, of nurturing and sustaining life, takes place against a backdrop of profound loss and ongoing oppression.
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The settler colonial project, with its relentless violence and dispossession, inflicts wounds that run deep, impacting not only individual lives but also the very fabric of Palestinian society. This pain is not abstract; it is etched into the bodies and souls of Palestinian women. It manifests as the chronic ache of displacement, the gnawing anxiety of living under constant threat, the gut‑wrenching fear for their children’s safety.
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