Today I spoke with Natalie Abou Shakra, a self-described child of war and boycot divestment sanctions (BDS) activist. Ms. Abou Shakra grew up in Lebanon during the Israeli invasions of her country in the 1980s. She believes in the power of an opposition media maintained by the people in resisting the dominant narratives of many conventional media sources. Her first experience in alternative media began during the 2006 Israeli war with Hezbollah, at which time she was inspired by several activists in Lebanon to form a stronger civil society and to document the toll of the conflict. She subsequently became part of the Free Gaza Movement and was aboard an aid boat which was sent to the coastal territory. She was living in Gaza during the 2009 Israeli war with Hamas when she began to write on her blog, Ghazzawiyya. Our conversation covers Ms. Abou Shakra's strong belief in the virtue of resistance and resilience as well as the power of civil society to oppose the entrenched political naratives surrounding Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, and Egypt.
Image: http://gaza08.blogspot.com
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