Determined to Stay: Part II

by Jody Sokolower
This nonfiction text details native populations' struggles against the brutal injustices of colonization by focusing primarily on the history of Silwan, a village in Palestine that has been controlled by the Roman and Ottoman Empires, England, Jordan, and Israel.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV–Afterword
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. indigenous
    originating where it is found
    When I saw what Israeli settlers were doing to the Indigenous people and their land in Palestine, I had to rethink those romantic stories about US settlers on the Conestoga wagons heading west—stories from the Little House on the Prairie books of my childhood, the Oregon Trail computer game of Ericka’s childhood, and the US history books I taught each year.
  2. reciprocity
    a relation of mutual dependence or action or influence
    Anything that you see on top of the land now has only occurred in the last 200 years. My ancestors lived in reciprocity with the land in such a way that they left a very small footprint.
  3. graze
    feed as in a meadow or pasture
    The Spanish brought animals—horses, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, and donkeys—that grazed all our natural foods down to the roots, and many of our medicinal and nutritious plants disappeared altogether.
  4. swath
    a path or strip (also figurative)
    Then Mexico took huge swaths of the mission lands from the Catholic Church and gave land grants to military officers like Vallejo, Bernal, and Peralta.
  5. servitude
    the state of being required to labor for someone else
    But you could, on a Sunday with a bunch of buddies, get on horses and go into villages and kill off Native adults and sell the children into servitude back in town.
  6. assimilation
    the process of absorbing one cultural group into another
    Although they were born in Oakland, California, she, my aunt, and my uncle were sent to Chemawa Boarding School in Oregon. The priority wasn’t academics, it was assimilation. They forced the children to speak English, taught them basic skills, and sent them to work.
  7. pillage
    steal goods; take as spoils
    The shellmound wasn’t in good shape. Even before the parking lot, it had been raided by white settlers for shells to pulverize into cement, pillaged by pot-hunters to fertilize their yards, and excavated by archeologists.
  8. commission
    a special group delegated to consider some matter
    We went to the zoning board, the landmarks commission, the developers, doing everything we could to save the West Berkeley Shellmound.
  9. decolonize
    grant independence to a former dependency
    To decolonize is to tell the truth. And to work with Indigenous people is to give the land back.
  10. reparation
    something done or paid in expiation of a wrong
    They told me that colonial conquest only ends when the colonizers recognize what they’re doing, stop doing it, take responsibility, and work with the Indigenous people on reparations for the harm.
  11. foundation
    lowest support of a structure
    The hastily formed Committee of Descendants of the Afrikan Ancestral Burial Ground protested by forming a blockade around the site to keep the GSA from pouring the foundation of the building.
  12. inter
    place in a grave or tomb
    In 2003, some 3,000 participants in a “Rites of Ancestral Return” helped re- inter the ancestral remains (each in a wooden coffin hand-carved in Ghana) at the site, which now includes a museum about the history of slavery in New York City.
  13. perseverance
    persistent determination
    The backhoe destroying African American history in New York reminded me of the reckless excavation at the Givati Parking Lot in Silwan, destroying layer after layer of civilization. And the perseverance of the African Americans in claiming and honoring their history reminded me of the resilience of the people of Silwan.
  14. caste
    social status conferred by a system based on class
    Israel has a caste system, too. Palestinians have special ID cards that mean they can’t travel without Israeli permission, they can’t use the same roads as Israelis, they have a different legal system, they go to segregated schools, the list goes on and on.
  15. conquest
    the act of defeating and taking control of
    These startling similarities bring us back to the same issue that Corrina raised: What does it take to end colonial conquest? The US government has never taken responsibility for the impact of white settlers on the Indigenous people who lived on the land that got “settled,” or for the impact of slavery, Jim Crow, and mass incarceration on African Americans.
  16. substantive
    having a firm basis in reality and therefore important
    There have been no substantive apologies and there have been no reparations—no efforts to heal the damage done over 500 years.
  17. periodic
    happening or recurring at regular intervals
    Since 2007, Israel has blockaded Gaza, severely restricting access to food, medical supplies, and building materials, and subjected Gazans to periodic invasions and bombing attacks.
  18. rendition
    a performance of a musical composition or a dramatic role
    This night Omar’s lullaby is Israel’s rendition of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries, with F-16s forming the ground-pounding percussion, Hellfire missiles leading the wind instruments, and drones representing the string section.
  19. drone
    an aircraft without a pilot and operated by remote control
    This night Omar’s lullaby is Israel’s rendition of Wagner’s Ride of the Valkyries, with F-16s forming the ground-pounding percussion, Hellfire missiles leading the wind instruments, and drones representing the string section.
  20. shrapnel
    shell containing lead pellets that explodes in flight
    Shrapnel zings off buildings and cars as another missile finds its mark, landing on another home.
  21. artillery
    large but transportable armament
    Children were killed in their homes by Israeli missiles, while sheltering in schools by high-explosive Israeli artillery shells, and in the streets by Israeli drone-fired missiles and artillery shells as they attempted to escape the onslaught with their families.
  22. onslaught
    an offensive against an enemy
    Children were killed in their homes by Israeli missiles, while sheltering in schools by high-explosive Israeli artillery shells, and in the streets by Israeli drone-fired missiles and artillery shells as they attempted to escape the onslaught with their families.
  23. render
    cause to become
    More than 1,000 children suffered injuries that rendered them permanently disabled.
  24. resounding
    unmistakable; clearly revealed to the mind or judgment
    For the children who managed to escape physical injury, the psychological effects of this latest operation have been severe and resounding. Many have lost one or both parents, or other family members. Some have lost their entire extended families. All have experienced violence, fear, and instability at close quarters.
  25. unanimous
    in complete agreement
    For those of us who care about Palestine, the news bulletins and videos of what was happening in Gaza were horrifying. Also infuriating were President Obama’s support for the attack and the news that Congress gave Israel an additional $225 million in a near- unanimous show of support.
  26. progressive
    favoring or promoting change, often by government action
    Progressive people all over the world were holding protests, answering the urgent request from Palestinians to pressure Israel to stop the assault.
  27. coalition
    an organization of people involved in a pact or treaty
    I got an email from Lara Kiswani, executive director of the Arab Resource and Organizing Center in San Francisco (AROC), telling me about a local protest, a plan to block a ZIM ship from docking at the port of Oakland. Would I like to join the coalition planning the action?
  28. integrated
    formed or united into a whole
    Lara explained that ZIM Integrated Shipping Service is Israel’s biggest cargo shipping company; it’s partly owned by the Israeli government.
  29. logistics
    supplying an operation with labor and materials as needed
    Another group worked on the logistics of our demonstration. We needed security teams to keep everyone safe, tactical leaders to make decisions, a medical team, chant leaders, a program for the rally at the dock.
  30. genocide
    systematic killing of a racial or cultural group
    “Our actions today,” said Reem Assil, our media spokesperson, “show that genocide and apartheid do not pay in Palestine, do not pay in Oakland, do not pay anywhere!”
  31. suppression
    forceful prevention; putting down by power or authority
    Late the following summer, demonstrations broke out all over Palestine, and the suppression by Israeli forces was brutal.
  32. civic
    of or relating or belonging to a city
    Zakaria is executive director of the Civic Coalition of East Jerusalem and Yacoub’s younger brother.
  33. implement
    pursue to a conclusion or bring to a successful issue
    This is the result of all the policies that Israel has been implementing over many years of occupation: land confiscation, house demolitions, settlements, revocation of Palestinian residency in East Jerusalem, constant arrests of our children.
  34. revocation
    the act of annulling something previously done
    This is the result of all the policies that Israel has been implementing over many years of occupation: land confiscation, house demolitions, settlements, revocation of Palestinian residency in East Jerusalem, constant arrests of our children.
  35. demonstrator
    someone participating in a public display of group feeling
    For example, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave instructions to the police to use live ammunition against demonstrators and against the children who they claim are throwing stones at Israeli soldiers or settlers.
  36. execution
    putting a condemned person to death
    After that, we have seen a lot of deliberate killing. In Jerusalem especially it is deliberate execution that has been taking place against Palestinians.
  37. confront
    oppose, as in hostility or a competition
    From the beginning, children have been a target for detention and arrest. The Israelis are confronting any peaceful demonstration, even cultural and sports activities.
  38. parliament
    a legislative assembly in certain countries
    In 2015, the Israeli parliament made throwing stones a felony, with a maximum penalty of twenty years in prison.
  39. deterrent
    something immaterial that interferes with action or progress
    “A stone-thrower is a terrorist and only a fitting punishment can serve as a deterrent and just punishment,” Israel’s Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked said.
  40. internalize
    incorporate within oneself; make subjective or personal
    Our choice was to act against segregation, or to internalize the message that we deserved less, that we were less than human.
Created on Thu Aug 08 09:45:17 EDT 2024 (updated Thu Aug 08 16:51:01 EDT 2024)

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