This weekend, over 700 people attended “A Walk Through Palestine,” an interactive pop-up exhibit on the history and culture of Palestine, from Roman occupation until the present day hosted at the Islamic Center of Nashville.
The exhibit, organized by 615 Youth for Palestine, began with a timeline of the region’s history, including posters on the Ottoman occupation, the origins of the Zionist movement and a short video on the Nakba, or “catastrophe,” which refers to the violent displacement of more than 700,000 Palestinian people during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The timeline continued through 1967, the first and second intifadas and all the way to the current war in Gaza.
After that, the bulk of the pop-up was dedicated to celebrating Palestinian clothing, music, poetry, food and art. There were stations where visitors could try on thobes with traditional tatreez embroidery, sample fare from the local restaurant Jerusalem Reebar and scan QR codes to watch music videos and people dancing dabke.
Rose Gilbert WPLN News Visitors consider trying on thobes with traditional tatreez embroidery.
The goal was to create an interactive visual and sensory experience, explained Sara Ali, who is one of the founders of 615 Youth for Palestine.
“We live in Music City, and we know that culture, art, music, clothing, food resonates with people here,” she said, “It creates that connection between the Nashville Palestinian diaspora and the Nashville community at large.”
“The goal of this event was really to humanize Palestinians,” she added.
On Oct. 7, Hamas attacked Israel, killing 1,139 people and taking over 200 hostages, according to the Israeli government. Israel retaliated with heavy airstrikes and a ground invasion, killing over 22,000 people, according to the Gazan Ministry of Health. Airstrikes and the ongoing blockade of the Gaza Strip have crippled the local medical system and led to widespread disease and starvation, according to the World Food Program and the United Nations.
For months, many people’s social media feeds have been full of brutal images and videos of suffering in Gaza. This pop-up was designed to contextualize what’s happening now, but also showcase the beauty and resilience of Palestinian art and culture, explained co-founder Amira Ayesh.
“We want people to look beyond the tragedy of the Palestinians,” she said,” We want people to understand that we, at our core, are human and as people we love, we laugh, we write, we sing, we dance. We express ourselves through poetry, we express ourselves through film.”
Ali and Ayesh said that 615 Youth for Palestine hopes to organize similar events in the future. The Islamic Center of Nashville is also scheduled to host “Palestine 101: Past & Present,” a presentation on Palestinian history at 11 a.m. on Jan 20th.
Rose Gilbert WPLN News Amira Ayesh (left) and Sara Ali (right) are co-founders of 615 Youth for Palestine.
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