Writer. Forthcoming, Let It Be a Tale: Palestinian Journalists on Survival and Resistance. Author Eyeliner: A Cultural History; Editor Our Women on the Ground
Hi all, I’m about to begin my most important project to date, an anthology of essays by Palestinian reporters – Let It Be a Tale: Palestinian Journalists on Survival and Resistance. The title is the last line in the late Palestinian poet Refaat Al-Areer’s poem, If I Must Die.
immigration officer to me at JFK today: Why do you live in America?
me to immigration officer: Frankly that's a question I ask myself every day
Immigration officer (straight face): No I don’t mean existentially, I’m asking what you do here in the United States
me: oh
Friends! After 2 yrs of pandemic travel (to 6 locations, incl Chad, Jordan, India & Japan), multiple illnesses (incl Covid in Kerala & post-covid complications in NY) & at least 4 panic attacks, I've finished the draft for EYELINER: A CULTURAL HISTORY (publication due next year!)
I was invited by
#Women20
#W20
#SaudiArabia
(an official
#G20
engagement group) to moderate its summit in October. I have declined as I stand in solidarity with women's rights defenders in Saudi Arabia & beyond, including
#LoujainAlhathloul
, who remains in prison in the country.
Today I think of my grandparents who were exiled from Palestine to Sidon in 1948. They lost everything & lived in poverty. Only recently did I learn that as a child, dad regularly ate mouldy bread. He still recalls the hunger. It took him decades to speak of this trauma
#Nakba74
THREAD. Some of you have been asking how you can help people in
#Lebanon
🇱🇧 during this brutal economic crisis.
I've put together a thread of resources and organisations to donate to
Please do look them up before donating/contributing
Suggestions welcome, esp local charities:
Thrilled to share the cover of OUR WOMEN ON THE GROUND, a collection of essays by 19 Arab & Mideastern women journalists who reflect on what it’s like to report on the region.The book is available for PREORDER! Our foreword is by the indomitable
@CAmanpour
My father is a doctor in Saida (Sidon,
#Lebanon
) who mostly treats
#Syrian
and
#Palestinian
refugees. Yesterday he told me that for the first time patients have been coming to him to say they are hungry and simply can not bear the hunger.
Been waiting for this take,
@zeinakaram
delivered: protests "waned even before the outbreak, a combination of fear & fatigue giving way to resignation...coronavirus has...given authorities a means to further suppress protests.But the movements aren't over"
Conflicted about sharing this during a pandemic but excited to say I’m working with Penguin on my 2nd book: a feminist history of eyeliner from Nefertiti to Amy Winehouse. I’ll study the impact kohl has had on conceptions of beauty, power & gender, focusing on nonWestern cultures
@iamcaspermonroe
@SpencerAlthouse
And she would have been completely delirious, probably drunk, and gripped by fear and a sense of urgency. Actually thought this was the perfect way for her to die
Baba refuses to leave Lebanon, come what may. But his sister who he is closest to informed the family yesterday that she is emigrating to the UAE to join her sons & age in dignity. He is quietly heartbroken. Sitting in silence. The damage this country is doing, it’s immeasurable
I wrote about a dilemma many Lebanese face — to leave or to stay — a decision often rooted in desperation & despair. I also touch on watching
#Lebanon
unravel from afar & the guilt & privilege associated with living abroad. But really, this is about Bassem
Ya ilahi these pics of
#Fairouz
are incredible. Cropped Macron out so we can focus on what’s really important. I particularly appreciate that she is wearing a face shield vs a mask
Indeed - can’t stress enough the importance of recognising the bravery of local journalists in Palestine at this time - particularly local women journalists, who are risking so much to report the news despite the personal toll the situation inevitably takes on them
And she is back to work in the morning!
Shout out to Samar, Mariam & all the brave local journalists in
#Gaza
who are reporting what’s happening despite living through the horror! ✊🏽
I met Elie Halabi shortly after the Beirut blast. He lost his sister-in-law & home that day, and every day since then he struggled immensely to rebuild his life. At the end of 2020, he contracted COVID-19. Four hours ago, he passed away from a stroke.
“exile is strangely compelling to think about but terrible to experience. It is the unhealable rift forced between a human being & a native place, between the self & its true home: its essential sadness can never be surmounted” - Edward Said, who died 17 years ago today
A v different type of content: two species of sea turtles that breed in south
#Lebanon
(the green 🐢 & loggerhead 🐢) are classed as endangered & vulnerable. Conservationists in Saida have been caring for eggs by hand & they released a batch of baby turtles into the sea today 💕
Elie Halabi, an elderly man who has lived in Mdawar (near Karantina) his entire life, lost his sister-in-law & home in the
#BeirutBlast
. He is now homeless & asked me to tell his story. I was so moved by his words that I've written them all up here:
my mum has a WhatsApp group with a bunch of Lebanese mamas and they plan on making moghrabiyeh tomorrow to support Morocco in the World Cup lmao (moghrabiyeh is the Lebanese take on Morocco’s culinary staple, couscous)
She still made us so proud <3 Still the first Arab player to make it this far at
#Wimbledon
, even though she won't be taking the title home. 🇹🇳🎾🎉. Mabrouk Ons Jabeur, mabrouk Tunisia
LBC is reporting on women migrant workers who are helping with the clean-up operation at Down Town
#Beirut
. Absolutely incredible and heartwarming to see these women speak so fondly of
#Lebanon
given how the kafala system discriminates against them ❤️ 💔
#LebanonExplosion
Mama spent hrs trying to fill the car with gas in
#Lebanon
this morning before giving up. Baba is back at work after recovering from COVID & made $2 today: people can’t afford to see a Dr or avoid it entirely. He was feeling low. “It’s the humiliation,” he said, of being Lebanese
PUBLICATION DAY KLAXON!
It’s 6am in NY & I’m bleary-eyed but still so ready to officially start celebrating
#OurWomenOnTheGround
after 2 yrs of hard work that have resulted in 19 inspiring essays by Arab & ME women reporters, packaged with mad 💕 into 1
@PenguinBooks
anthology
It’s a grim, rainy eve in London but I just saw
@KathyBurke
emerge from the crowd on New Oxford Street like the vision that she is, carrying a tropical-patterned brolly, wearing diamond-patterned trousers, & very clearly giving no f*cks at all. Was too starstruck to say anything
#TeacherAppreciation
🧵
I just got the most AMAZING email from Mrs W, my English teacher from when we lived in the UK in the 80s/90s(my parents left Lebanon during the war)
I was 7
She's now 72
She sent a pic of my workbooks, which she kept for 25 yrs, w
#OurWomenOnTheGround
#MyNakbaStory
thread: 1/ In June 1947, my grandpa Abu Adel secured a building permit from the Government of
#Palestine
for a home in Balad al-Shaykh, a village on the outskirts of
#Haifa
. For yrs, he'd been selling ful medammes (favabean stew) & hummus from the back of a donkey—
A
#Lebanese
woman who fell into a coma following the
#BeirutBlast
a month ago woke up today. She has two gorgeous children who have been waiting for her. Thinking of Samo, who
@lynnkchaya
and I met a week ago. He had no hope at the time. God bless ♥️
I'm beyond thrilled to share the cover of EYELINER: A CULTURAL HISTORY, designed beautifully by Lynn Buckley. The book will be published in 9 months, on November 14, by
@PenguinBooks
US and
@HarvillSecker
+
@vintagebooks
UK. Preorder here:
The embroidered Arabic lettering on Al-Kateab’s dress reads “We dared to dream and we will not regret dignity."
Easily the best-dressed at the
#Oscars
#syria
@forsamafilm
#forsama
😍
Is there a limit to the amount of emotional anguish one person can handle? Mariam, 64, who lost her Karantina home, says yes. She survived the Lebanese civil war, poverty & breast cancer. But the
#BeirutBlast
has broken her, she says
Her story, her words
Saudi Arabia deplorably sentences Loujain alHathloul to almost 6 yrs in jail. The court suspended some of her sentence & backdated the start of her term, meaning she should have 3 mos left to serve. Thinking of her family today, especially
@LinaAlhathloul
Of all the economic explainers on the catastrophic situation in
#Lebanon
rn this is by far my favourite
The guy at the beginning says "guys, does anyone have change for two dollars?"
Absolutely love the random slipper and cake at the end
For
@TeenVogue
I profiled the Palestinian-Chilean singer, Elyanna. We spoke about the keffiyeh, Palestine & more:
“No matter where I am — it could be the biggest stage, it could be the biggest platform — I’m always going to talk about Palestine”
My latest piece is about the brave Palestinian journalists who are reporting on Israel’s bombardment of Gaza despite the many risks involved & the emotional toll of the work. This is the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ started tracking the data
My 11yo half-Lebanese half-British nephew just said he'd choose a drop of hummus over a chocolate bar in a heartbeat and now my work as an Arab auntie is done peace out
I'm so proud of EYELINER & I'm so thankful to all the incredible people I met around the world who shared with me surprising, profound & delightful stories about eyeliner, kohl, kajal & sormeh, etc. I'd hoped, but never imagined, that I would learn so much from just this 1 object
"The determined daughter of a family of modest means, she had managed to break into the nearly all-male world of the Beirut Fire Brigade, devoting herself to public service & making plans to build a family of her own"
Thank you for writing this
@Abihabib
I've met & interviewed drag queens, geisha, chicanas, cholas, bedouins, makeup artists, influencers, dancers, actors, you name it. I can't wait to share my journey with you. I genuinely never thought that I could pull this off, but mama told me to keep going & mama's always right
We delayed publicising the UK
@vintagebooks
edition of Our Women on the Ground last week given the tragic events in
#Lebanon
. But today I would like to bring attention to the importance of seeking out local voices on the ground in
#Beirut
during this very difficult time. 1/
Now, more than ever due to tragic developments in
#Lebanon
, we are reminded why we should seek out local voices during times of conflict and uncertainty.
#OurWomenOntheGround
is an essay collection feat. 19 Arab women journalists, ed. by
@ZahraHankir
👇
“
#Beirut
I hate you so much for making me leave...I hate you for everything you’ve taken from my mother. I hate you so much for finding a way to punish me when I’m not even there. Beirut I hate you as much as I hate myself for still belonging to you” - Hamed Sinno via FB 💔 🖤 🇱🇧
"Netflix is a cinematic rummage sale: some authentic treasures gleam enticingly atop a pile of junk within which rarer gems lurk—but it requires some digging. Reader, I dug—& found that Netflix is offering a batch of Lebanese films from the past 50 yrs"
This piece filled with infographics really puts into visual perspective how dire the situation is in
#Lebanon
Attached, what 10,000 lira can get you today (a liter of milk) vs in 2019 (a liter of milk + vegetables + fruit + rice + chicken)
@AJEnglish
In photos: Snippets from
#Karantina
, a poor Beirut neighbourhood that was devastated by the
#BeirutBlast
. The residents I photographed asked that I share these photos widely ‘so everyone can see what happened here.’ The area has received less attention & aid than others, they say
Lebanon keeps "hurtling towards collapse," similar to how it's perpetually been "on the brink."
When do we say it's collapsed, and that the "brink" is behind us? Where's the line exactly?
On
#WorldRefugeeDay
I honor my grandparents who became refugees in Lebanon in 1948 when they were expelled from their newly built home in Haifa, Palestine & forced to join the Nakba—losing their livelihood but never their determination. We still have the land papers. Never forget
LOVE this piece on "immigrant" or "ethnic" blankets by
@Maya__Salam
.
literally just spent 6 weeks in lockdown in Lebanon wrapped in one
can attest to this: "you’ll never unknow the feeling"
This adorable Lebanese girl's singing-in-quarantine is so lovely & light & very Fairuzesque. A rough translation from Arabic of the 1st bit: Corona oh corona / In your name [we're exhausted] / our loved ones & relatives / can't visit us anymore / Oh corona
I often turn to Palestinian journalist Asmaa al-Ghoul's essay in my book, Our Women on the Ground. Her words hit hard today in particular: "I wanted to gather the pain of the war’s wounds into my arms so it could join my old wounds, but the war had burned the air in my chest"
My dear uncle Nabil passed away in Saida, Lebanon, this morning. He was 76. Per Islamic tradition, he was meant to be buried today. But the men who perform burials here all have COVID-19, so the family has had to postpone putting him to rest. Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'un.
#ThePresent
, a short film which tells the story of a Palestinian man's struggles to buy his wife a wedding anniversary gift in the West Bank, left me breathless. It's on Netflix now: watch it
Mabrouk to
@farah_nabulsi
&
@Hindoisms
for such an incredible film & the Oscar nom 🇵🇸🎬
Today I grieve for Elie. All he wanted was four walls, to live in dignity, to be surrounded by loved ones, to be listened to. Lebanon took that away from him.
RIP Elie. I’m so sorry your life ended this way. You wanted peace and it is now yours, for eternity.
Yesterday, we extubated an ICU patient who has been intubated for about a month due to COVID. Today, being on BiPAP, there was only one thing he needed to express, through writing:
"Chicken Shawarma".
I’d been pushing to get dad a vaccine appointment in Lebanon. He should’ve been booked in a while ago as he’s an elderly practising doctor with comorbidities. He finally got an appointment slotted in for next week. Except now he has COVID & is in hospital. Inshallah he’ll recover
During the
#BeirutBlast
, Ghassan, a 68-yr-old Syrian labor worker, was working at a building in which several ppl died. "All I could see was death," he says. The tragedy has deepened his feelings of grief: 2 of his sons were killed in Syria during the war
Supermarkets in Saida/Sidon (
#Lebanon
) are now disposing of / giving away frozen goods as they can no longer keep freezers on (no doubt this is happening all over the country). Mum doesn’t buy anything that requires freezing anyway due to the power cuts.
Congratulations to
@khalafroula
, who's just been appointed editor of
@FT
, after decades of tireless & trailblazing work covering the Middle East & beyond. This makes her the first woman and Arab to hold the post
Hundreds of
#Lebanese
in
#London
are standing in solidarity with protesters back home in front of the Lebanese Embassy on this glorious day: these two girls are my absolute favourite 😍💪🏽🇱🇧
#LebanonProtests
#Lebanon
#ثورة
Omg -
#ThePresent
, a short film which tells the story of a Palestinian man's struggles to buy his wife a wedding anniversary gift in the West Bank, just won a
#BAFTA
! 🇵🇸
Mabrouk to
@farah_nabulsi
&
@Hindoisms
, this is tremendous news and so well-deserved


Happy 85th Birthday to
#Fayrouz
(
@FayrouzOfficial
), queen of all queens, who graced us with these pics* when
#Lebanon
most needed them ❤️ 🇱🇧 👑
*cropped out Macron
Sharing some visuals from my book research in Chad & Jordan, where different ethnic groups use kohl in different & fascinating ways. This one is of a member of the Wodaabe ethnic group. All pictures taken and shared with permission
#eyeliner
#eyelinerbook
excited to share that my 2nd book, EYELINER: A CULTURAL HISTORY, has found a UK home! it will be published by
@HarvillSecker
&
@vintagebooks
Harvill Secker snaps up 'ingenious' cultural history of eyeliner by Hankir