Upstream - Palestine Pt. 9: Palestine 2031 w/ Nadia Zanghari

Episode Date: April 2, 2024

The revolutionary practice of dreaming, imagining, or simply hoping for a better world is an exercise whose importance is often overlooked. Not only are these practices crucial to keeping the embers warm in an increasingly dark age of capitalism and imperialism, but they can often serve as an instruction manual or roadmap leading to the world that we want to see. A kind of thru-topian exercise of envisioning. Living solely in the realm of utopian imagination can certainly devolved into a form of navel gazing which can potentially untether one from the realities of day-to-day living, but also, to quote Oscar Wilde, “A map of the world that does not include Utopia is not worth even glancing at…” And one of the most rich and potent spaces for this kind of imagination is in the world of artistic creation—particularly fiction writing. In this very special and unique Patreon episode, we're going to share a beautiful piece of fiction that invites us to imagine and dream—and also learn.  Nadia Zangari is a diaspora Palestinian whose grandparents were survivors of the Nakba. She recently wrote a piece titled “Palestine 2031” in which she tells a fictionalized account of traveling to what has become a free Palestine seven years from now. Interspersed between inspirational vignettes and powerful prose, Nadia tackles some very interesting and open questions about what a free Palestine could look like and how we might get there. From cross-country hitchhiking adventures to volunteer-led reconstruction efforts, to the question of reparations, Nadia’s piece, which she will be reading for us today, is a masterful exercise of astute imagination.  So we invite you to settle in, feel your feet on the ground or the wind in your hair or your hands on the steering wheel if you're driving—or however you're listening to this, we invite you to slow down and feel your breath as Robert introduces Nadia and as she reads “Palestine 2031”. Further resources: Palestine 2031, by Nadia Zanghari Upstream: How We Show Up w/ Mia Birdsong Upstream is a labor of love — we couldn't keep this project going without the generosity of our listeners and fans. Subscribe to our Patreon at patreon.com/upstreampodcast or please consider chipping in a one-time or recurring donation at www.upstreampodcast.org/support If your organization wants to sponsor one of our upcoming documentaries, we have a number of sponsorship packages available. Find out more at  upstreampodcast.org/sponsorship For more from Upstream, visit www.upstreampodcast.org and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Bluesky. You can also subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts.

A quick note before we jump into this Patreon episode. Thank you to all of our Patreon subscribers for making Upstream possible. We genuinely couldn't do this without you. Your support allows us to create bonus content like this and provide most of our content for free so we can continue to offer political education media to the public and build our movement. Thank you comrades. We hope you enjoy this episode. Aum. I needed to write this piece to counter the absolute, you know, desperation I've been feeling witnessing this genocide. I also don't want to give the impression that I've been fine, you know,

I don't think any of us are fine or well, you know, that's very far away. But in the process of writing it, I started to believe it. And it was this, you know, for hours on end, I would sit there and I would, it became real. It became real. And I felt like I'm in a, you know, for hours on end, I would sit there and I would, it became real. It became real. And I felt like I'm in a, you know, liberated Palestine, and this is going to happen. You're listening to Upstream. Upstream. Upstream. Upstream. A podcast of documentaries and conversations that invites you to unlearn everything you thought you knew about economics. I'm Della Duncan. And I'm Robert Raymond. The revolutionary practice of dreaming, imagining, or simply

hoping for a better world is an exercise whose importance is often overlooked. Not only are these practices crucial to keeping the embers warm in an increasingly dark age of capitalism and imperialism, but they can often serve as an instruction manual or roadmap leading to the world we want to see, a kind of through utopian exercise of envisioning. Living solely in the realm of utopian imagination can certainly devolve into a form of navelgazing, which can potentially untether one from the realities of day-to-day living. But also, to quote Oscar Wilde, a map of the world that does not include utopia is not

worth even glancing at, and one of the most rich and potent spaces for this kind of imagination is the world of artistic creation, particularly fiction writing. In this very special and unique Patreon episode, we're going to share a beautiful piece of fiction that invites us to imagine and dream and also learn. Nadia Zangari is a diaspora Palestinian whose grandparents were survivors of the Nakba. She recently wrote this piece titled Palestine 2031 in which she tells a fictionalized account of traveling to what has become a free Palestine seven years from now. Interspersed between inspirational vignettes and powerful prose, Nadia tackles some very interesting and open questions about what a free Palestine could look like and how we

might get there. From cross-country hitchhiking adventures to volunteer-led reconstruction efforts to the question of reparations, Nadia's piece which she will be reading for us today is a masterful exercise of astute imagination. We invite you to settle in, feel your feet on the ground, or the wind in your hair, or your hands on the steering wheel if you're driving, or however you're listening to this we invite you to slow down and feel your self-breathing as Robert introduces Nadia and as she reads Palestine 2031. Nadia, it's a pleasure to have you on.

Thank you so much for having me, Robert. It's my pleasure. And I'd love to start with maybe an introduction. Could you introduce yourself and maybe tell us a little bit about yourself for our listeners? Sure. My name is Nadia. I am a diaspora Palestinian on my father's side and my grandparents were survivors of the Nakba. I think unlike many of your guests I have a pretty conventional job and you can say I've just been a concerned citizen over the past half a year. But I am trying and intending to live more radically and more authentically.

And as part of that, before this latest aggression on the Palestinian people, I went back to doing things I loved as a child. And so one of them was dancing and one of them, the other was writing. And I started working on something writing wise before October of last year. But then obviously since October, there was only one viable subject matter that I wanted to talk about or write about rather, and that was Palestine. Thank you so much for that.

And yeah, so we brought you on today because you're going to read a piece that you wrote recently. And yeah, I'm really looking forward to that. And we'll get to your reading in just a few minutes. But I'm wondering just to start before we have you read your piece, if there's anything that you would like to say in way of introducing it or if you'd like to share anything that you'd like us to sort of keep in mind and carry along as you read to us? Yes. So the piece that I will be reading to you all is a vision for Palestine in the year

2031. It's not only my vision. I interviewed several diaspora Palestinians before commencing writing it. And I would like to ask our listeners to just play along with me for a second and try to imagine that it's the year 2031 and a friend of yours sent you an article to read and you're feeling a little bit lazy. to read and you're feeling a little bit lazy and so you've decided to listen instead. So yeah that's my request for our listeners. I love that. Perfect. All right sweet. Well I guess without further ado let's let's jump into it. So here is Nadia reading from her piece, Palestine 2031. Landing. As we touch down at the newly constructed Hassan Qanafani International Airport in Gaza City, I hold my breath. Time does that strange thing it does during life's most remarkable moments. It melts, it stretches, it expands, it slows down until it stops altogether. I am in no time. Through my tear-filled eyes I observe the faces of the passengers around me. I behold

the face of an old woman, instantaneously invigorated by the physical connection to her indigenous land, criminally denied to her for most of her life, her face transforms. Light floods the lines and crevices on her face. Her wrinkles illuminate and, for a split second, she is a woman in her spring again. I see Joy overtake the face of a young man. He clutches the hand of his beloved and showers her face with kisses. I see relief wash over the face of an ancient grandfather.

An overwhelming relief that his organs, that his body, supported him long enough for him to make the journey to Palestine so that he may die here, in peace. Across the faces in my view, I see remnants of pain, I see euphoria, I see hope, and disbelief. Yes, disbelief. Seven years ago, when the situation was so dire, so utterly desperate, had you tried to imagine the outcome the world has come to witness, you would have been dubbed a mad optimist at best. At least in the West.

Palestinians never truly surrendered their dream of a free Palestine. Time solidifies, it contracts, it accelerates, it snaps back. I am in time again. Captain Faisal Al-Khatib announces, Ladies and gentlemen and dear children, we have just landed at Hassan Qanafani International Airport. It is 3.30 p.m. local time and the temperature is 21 degrees Celsius. Please remain seated until the seatbelt sign has been switched off. On behalf of Palestine Liberty Air and our cabin crew, welcome to Gaza City, Palestine. The plane erupts with uncontrollable tears, laughter, full body hugs, roars of liberation.

Then clapping, copious amounts of clapping. I always liked clapping on planes, I think to myself. I never understood why it fell out of fashion. Is not each time we soar like birds and land safely back on ground a miracle worthy of a jovial display? Spontaneous celebration upon landing has never felt more appropriate. First Impressions I am a granddaughter of the Nakba, a daughter of a refugee and a Palestinian of the diaspora. I am one living example of Zionism's failure to erase Palestine.

I am white passing and of mixed background. In theory, I could have leaned into my mother's Czech heritage and bypassed the many challenges that stem from being Palestinian. But I never did. Because being Palestinian is far more than living on the land from the river to the sea. It is a set of values, virtues, and vices. It is an outlook on life. It is a spiritual connection to our ancestors and future descendants. To be Palestinian is a state of being. at least one bonus episode a month, usually two or three, as well as early access to certain episodes and other benefits like stickers and bumper stickers depending on which tier you subscribe to. But you'll also be helping keep Upstream sustainable and allowing us to keep this project going. Find out more at patreon.com forward slash upstream podcast

or at upstreampodcast.org forward slash support. Thank you.