Tag: Palestine

Queen Eileen and the Twisted Knickers of Feminism

Posted on by asitoughttobemagazine

As soon as I read Susan Faludi’s essay American Electra: Feminism’s Ritual Matricide (Harpers Oct 2010) I felt a little uncomfortable bunching in my undergarments. Faludi tells a lamentable tale concerning the history of the feminist movement where every succeeding generation denounces those that went before. Her premise is that there have been three significant “waves” of feminist activity and thought: the First Wave who were truly hardcore and suffered incarceration, force-feeding and widespread derision to win the vote for women: the Second Wave who emerged in the ‘60s and ‘70s and worked to establish sexual equality, sexual liberation and rights for women and children: finally the Third Wave who have championed gender issues and delved into race, gender and pop culture studies and scandalized their predessessors by proclaiming  Lady Gaga as the future of feminism. READ MORE

“Palestine is Open for Business” by Tala Abu Rahmeh

Posted on by asitoughttobemagazine


I’m reading a book about Columbine.

The school nurse, then 33, hid in a cupboard in the library,

crawled against the measurements of her body

wrote a goodbye note on the skin of the door.

“I loved you more than anything. Take care of the dogs.”

I think of the time I scrambled for breath

clutching my mother’s frame as the tank

warmed its oil right outside my window.

Sometimes I wish it was all a big high school shooting,

one, monstrous mountain of tragedy

where you have the rest of your life to grieve.

Next Friday though, things will be different;

Ramallah, wiping itself of the residue of recent compassion,

is throwing itself a party.

For 30 bucks you get a free drink,

one mask to cover some of who you are,

and sit in the front row of a fashion show.

I see small murders in my dreams;

models peeling the front lobes of their hearts with acrylic nails,

jokers planting welcome signs to imaginary cities,

children bathing in the world’s largest hummus plate,

my mother begging an Israeli doctor for her life,

a girl, now 73, holding a key to her locker in Yaffa.

Welcome to our great estates.

Author Bio

Tala Abu Rahmeh’s identity issues began one night, at 3:00 am, in Adams Morgan, a party neighborhood of Washington DC, when she was being hit on (unknowingly) by an African-American guy. When she stared blankly (due to near intoxication and complete social inadequacy), he said “are you scared of me because I’m black?” to which she replied “I’m brown.” When she realized how unimpressive that sounded, she added “I’m ARAB.” That turned some heads (and not in a good way).

After getting an MFA in poetry, and remaining moderately confused about her identity, she returned to her hometown of Ramallah, Palestine, thinking she will be accepted with open arms, but…