Episode 025: Free Library Censors Palestinian Children‘s Book with Rifk Ebeid

This week we talk to the brilliant Palestinian-American author Rifk Ebeid whose children’s book “Baba What Does My Name Mean?” was recently censored by the “Free” Library of Philadelphia (yes it's really called that) in online anti-racist blog posts created by a librarian for the library’s social media connecting the Palestinian struggle to the struggle for Black liberation in the US. Lara goes line by line to deconstruct and rebut the painfully anti-Palestinian, contradictory and incoherent statement issued by the so-called "Free" Library to support its decision to censor this and other Palestinian content on its social media platforms. Michael shows us how the Free Library statement supporting censorship, in equating support for the Zionist Organization of America as a rejection of anti-semitism, is actually a statement of anti-Semitism itself. Rifk recalls other instances of censorship she has faced for producing Palestinian content at the hands of allegedly liberal organizations. On a related note, the Palestine Pod also discusses the York, Pennsylvania diversity book ban which has recently been reversed due to outcry from black and brown communities following the taping of this episode. Lara and Michael recall the importance of unlearning the mainstream white supremacist narrative that many young Americans are indoctrinated with in middle and high schools across the country.

To consult the sources used in the preparation of this episode, please see:

Books/Videos

1. "Baba, What Does My Name Mean?" by Rifk Ebeid

2. Palestinian Stories in Literature for Young People (Free Library of Philadelphia blog)

3. A Space for Civic Dialogue (Free Library of Philadelphia's statement)

4. "Sitti's Secrets", by Naomi Shihab Nye

5. "P is for Palestine", by Dr. Golbarg Bashi

Articles:

1. Israel’s refusal to grant Palestinian refugees the right to return has fuelled seven decades of suffering (Amnesty International)

2. Philadelphia librarians hit for indoctrinating children with anti-Israel propaganda assault (The Jewish Star)

3. Palestine Refugees (UNRWA)

4. The Forgotten History of the Jewish, Anti-Zionist Left (Jacobin)

5. Students fight back against a book ban that has a Pennsylvania community divided (The Philadelphia Tribune)

6. Inside Germany’s Fraternities (Inside Higher Ed)

7. Elite German Police Unit Disbanded Over Far-Right Group Chat (New York Times)

8. Hasbara Handbook - Promoting Israel On Campus (Palestine Poster Project)

9. What is the Nakba? Day of catastrophe for Palestinians explained (Middle East Eye)