A Presentation by Palestinian-American Author Ibtisam Barakat

Award-winning, Palestinian-American author, poet, translator, artist and educator, Ibtisam Barakat (Arabic spelling: ابتسام بركات ) was born in Jerusalem, and grew up in Ramallah, Palestine. 

“As people seek to understand more about Palestine and Palestinians, it's important to understand more about the culture and the language that is the olive skin of all this body of culture: Arabic holds and unites the elements of the culture such as music, dance, calligraphy, embroidery, food, faith, humor, all embedded in the Arabic language, and all purposed toward the journey of freedom Palestinians are on. 

Language is an essential element for freeing the mind and for communicating with others, and for changing perspective. There are layers that must be understood to the language and what freedom really means in Arabic for a Palestinians. The word freedom in Arabic acknowledges that one who stays in one place is not free, because their viewpoint will be limited. And one who stays in one language is not free, one who stays in one perspective is not free.”