For homesick Palestinians, the sights and sounds of home can feel quite distant from the bustling streets of İstanbul, so the Palestinian community created a little piece of home right here in Turkey. Now they’re inviting community members and their supporters to visit.
Beyt Filastin or Palestine House opened in Beyoğlu this past January and serves as the home and unofficial embassy for the Palestinian diaspora of Turkey. The house offers monthly film screenings and book discussions, as well as classes in Arabic language, dabke, tatreez embroidery and oud. The center also sells Palestinian books, jewelry, kufiyahs and other items for the public.
Most recently, about a dozen community members gathered at Beyt Filastin this Sunday for a discussion led by Palestine and Levant politics scholar Dr. Selim Sezer on historian Ilan Pappe’s book “10 myths about Israel.” Sezer explained Pappe’s major arguments and offered the audience an opportunity to ask questions and share their thoughts afterwards.
According to Sezer, the event was so successful that it even inspired several attendees to read the book in full.
Although most popular in the United States and the West, many of the myths cited by Pappe still exist in Turkey, making these sorts of events essential, Sezer explained. They also offer an opportunity to connect academics, activists and community members.
“The academic works made for Palestine and the political activism should not be separated from each other and they should contribute to each other — activists should be more interested towards Palestinian history and the academics, the scholars, should be more involved in the reality of the Palestinian issue,” Sezer said.
Deepening knowledge about Palestine
Beyt Filastin association member Nicola Saafin hopes these sorts of educational events will continue to deepen the public’s knowledge about Palestine.
“Maintaining the culture of Palestine, the memory, the history of Palestine” is essential, Saafin added.
Saafin, who is also a co-founder of BDS Turkey, has long dreamed of having a center like Beyt Filastin, providing them an avenue to both organize Palestinians and share culture.
“The Palestinian house is a place we would like to make Palestine alive in the diaspora until we return back to … our real houses in Palestine where we can continue the life of the Palestinian community,” Saafin said.
Political science PhD student and researcher Emir Aydoğan was one of the audience members who attended Sunday’s discussion. As a researcher on the Palestine solidarity movement in Turkey, he believes it's important to offer his support. He also hopes more similar events will be held in Turkey.
“[Palestine house] will play a crucial role in increasing these ideas in Turkey and these kinds of events,” Aydoğan said.
According to Saafin, the Palestinian community is generally treated well in Turkey due to a deep solidarity shared by the people there. However, they do face some bureaucratic and legal barriers, specifically access to legal residency, which in turn impacts education and healthcare.
“It makes a burden on the Palestinian community … when they struggle with all those tiny living things, the availability of Palestinians to struggle on their issue [freedom from Israel] is less,” he said.
Beyt Filastin also represents a reprieve from these daily struggles where Palestinians can simply exist in community together. Some attendees spent their Sunday evening after the event chatting, breaking bread, sharing tea, coffee and mezes, like hummus, labneh and za'atar with olive oil.
Saafin made sure to show non-Palestinian friends the correct way to hold their bread when scooping hummus.
“This is the house of all those who love Palestine, who would like to support Palestine as well,” Saafin said. “We need to build our communities … which is why we call the people to come and join us, sometimes with Palestinian food, sometimes with the music … sometimes just by saying Palestine will be free from the river to the sea.” (İK/VK)
