Dialogues of Liberation: Solidarity and Culture, from Ireland to Palestine

What does solidarity mean in practice, and how can we best link up struggles against occupation and imperialism today?

What is the role of cultural expression in movements for national liberation? “Who, against the backdrop of a civil society wounded by criminalization, corruption, and scant resources,” asks Mohammed El-Kurd in a recent article “can provide the tools necessary for a revolutionary renaissance?”

In this recording of their conversation on Friday, Oct 6th Mohammed El-Kurd, award-winning poet, writer, journalist, and organizer from occupied Palestine, and Laurence McKeown take up these questions will be examined in the context of Irish-Palestinian solidarity, and lessons from the struggle for Palestinian liberation.

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Speakers

Mohammed El-Kurd is an internationally touring and award-winning poet, writer, journalist, and organizer from Jerusalem, occupied Palestine. In 2021, He was named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME Magazine. He is best known for his role as a co-founder of the #SaveSheikhJarrah movement. His work has been featured in numerous international outlets and he has appeared repeatedly as a commentator on major TV networks. Currently, El-Kurd serves as the first-ever Palestine Correspondent for The Nation. His first published essay in this role, “A Night with Palestine’s Defenders of the Mountain,” was shortlisted for the 2022 One World Media Print Award. RIFQA, his debut collection of poetry, was published by Haymarket Books in October 2021 was later released in Italian by Fandango Libre. RIFQA was named “a masterpiece” by The New Arab and a “remarkable debut” by the Los Angeles Review of Books, it was one of Middle East Eye’s “Best Books of 2021" and was shortlisted for the 2022 Forward Prize for “Best First Collection.” El-Kurd holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Brooklyn College (CUNY) and a BFA in Writing from Atlanta’s Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD). He is the recipient of numerous honors and awards, including the Arab American Civil Council’s “Truth in Media” Award (2022), as well as the Cultural Freedom Fellowship from the Lannan Foundation (2023). He is currently a Civic Media Fellow at the Annenberg Innovation Lab at the University of Southern California. El-Kurd has lectured and performed around the world including as the keynote for the 18th Annual Edward Said Memorial Lecture at Princeton University, at the Internazionale literary festival in Ferrara, Italy, and most recently at Adelaide Writers’ Week in Australia.

Laurence McKeown is a former Republican prisoner (North of Ireland 1976-1992). During that time, he took part in the protests for the return of political status and spent 70 days on hunger strike in 1981. In later years he was heavily involved in the development and delivery of the prisoners’ own educational programme and from 1997-1999, was in charge of it. It was during that time he co-founded the prisoners’ magazine, An Glór Gafa/The Captive Voice and subsequently, Nor Meekly Serve My Time, a book clandestinely written within the prison that contained accounts from 28 prisoners about the five years of prison protest, 1976-1981, which culminated in the hunger strikes. Since his release, Laurence has written extensively about the carceral experience – in a doctoral thesis (published in 2002 titled “Out of Time”), a feature film (H3), a play (The Laughter of our Children), and numerous articles and book chapters. His recent prison memoir, Time Shadows (2021), covers the first five years of his imprisonment detailing his experiences on the blanket protest and hunger strike. In December 2018 Salmon Poetry published Laurence’s debut collection of poetry titled Threads. Over the past 15 years, Laurence has collaborated with Kabosh Theatre, Belfast who have produced several of his plays including “Green And Blue” (which is due to tour again soon, taking in venues in Ireland, Britain, the US and Canada). The play is based on an oral archive of serving RUC and An Garda Síochána officers and explores the realities faced by the individuals who patrolled the border during the height of the conflict. The play has previously been performed in Dresden, Paris, and London, as well as several tours in Ireland. Laurence’s previous plays with Kabosh include “Those You Pass on the Street,” which toured to almost 50 venues across Ireland and in July 2016 was selected as part of the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown – the largest and oldest arts festival in South Africa. It was the only play selected from Ireland. Laurence co-founded the Belfast Film Festival in 1995 when it began as the West Belfast Film Festival before expanding to become city-wide in 2001. He remains a member of its board of management