A People’s History of Palestine
Presentation and book launch featuring Dr. Ramzy Baroud
Monday, March 5 (7:00 – 9:00 pm)
Edmonton Clinic Health Academy (ECHA) Room 1-182
Corner of 114 St & 87 Ave, University of Alberta (map)
Invite your friends and RSVP on the Facebook event page.
Gaza-born Palestinian author and journalist Ramzy Baroud will discuss the themes of his new book, The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story, and what the history of the Palestinian struggle can teach us about the current situation and prospects for justice in Palestine.
The Last Earth is a non-fictional narrative of modern Palestinian history. It is a unique rendition of people’s history – an account of how major historic events in Palestine and the greater Middle East impacted ordinary people, as well as how that mass of people, in their tenacity, and even in their dispossession, represent a force that determines history.
This is a history of modern Palestine like no other: built from the testimony of people who have lived through it. Ramzy Baroud gathers accounts from countless Palestinians from all walks of life, and from throughout the decades, to tell the story of the nation and its struggle for independence and security.
Challenging both academic and popular takes on Palestinian history, Baroud unearths the deep commonalities within the story of Palestine, ones that draw the people together despite political divisions, geographical barriers and walls, factionalism, occupation, and exile. Through these firsthand reports—by turns inspiring and terrifying, triumphant and troubled—we see Palestine in all its complexity and contradictions, ever vibrant in the memories of the people who have fought, physically and otherwise, for its future.
This is a free event. Copies of The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story will be available for purchase.
PSN is a working group of the Alberta Public Interest Research Group (APIRG), and their support has made this event possible.
This event is taking place on Treaty 6 Territory. We would like to acknowledge and thank the diverse Indigenous peoples whose footsteps have marked this territory for centuries, and whose histories, languages, and cultures continue to influence our community.
About Ramzy Baroud
Ramzy Baroud is a journalist, media consultant, author and editor of the Palestine Chronicle. He is a Non-Resident Scholar at Orfalea Center for Global and International Studies, University of California Santa Barbara. He is the author of My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story (Pluto, 2009), and The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story (Pluto, 2018), among others books. He has a PhD in Palestine Studies from the University of Exeter. His website is ramzybaroud.net.
Praise for The Last Earth
“In the finest tradition of people’s history, these sensitive, painful and evocative pieces provide a human face to the painful saga of Palestinian torment and the remarkable courage and resilience of the victims.”
– Noam Chomsky
“This moving and perceptive book is a journey to the heart of the evils of occupation and colonization suffered by the Palestinians on the ground. It allows the people themselves to narrate authentically and with all the complexities their aspirations, suffering and struggles. Ramzy Baroud knows how to listen, contextualize and convey an inhumanity that has gone for too long and it is hoped that books like this would contribute to its end.”
– Ilan Pappe
“A powerful tool to revive and record the human history of al Nakba, a must read for all those who want to see the concealed human dimension of the Palestinian life and suffering.”
– Salman Abu Sitta, author of Mapping my Return and Atlas of Palestine
“Engaging, unforgettable, complex and unique. The Last Earth provides a unique way of tackling the problem of writing history. Reading it is like walking around a gallery of old master paintings, each telling its own harrowing and often beautiful story about the same episode in human history.”
– Baronesse Jenny Tonge, UK House of Lords
Getting There
The Edmonton Clinic Health Academy (ECHA) is located on the southwest corner of 87 Avenue and 114 Street on the University of Alberta campus (map). ECHA is adjacent to the Jubilee Auditorium.
The building’s north entrance is closest to Room 1-182.
ECHA is a fully accessible building.
Parking
Parking is available at the Jubilee car park (map) and just across the street on the northeast corner of 87 Avenue and 114 Street the Education car park (map).
Transit
Take the LRT to the Health Sciences Centre Station, which is located just south of ECHA.
Take Edmonton transit to the 114 Street and 89 Avenue stop of the University of Alberta bus loop (map) and walk just south to ECHA.
Cycling
Ample bicycle parking is located near the north entrance of ECHA.
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