Sumud - Contemporary References and Applications

Contemporary References and Applications

A photography exhibition, The Spirit of Sumud, composed by James Prineas and supported by the Arab-Educational Institute and the Artas Folklore Center in Bethlehem and Palestine-Family.net, defines sumud today as, "the non-violent resistance of the Palestinians against land confiscation and ethnic cleansing. Like an old olive tree deeply rooted to the ground, those practicing sumud refuse to move-away despite political, economic and physical injustices committed against them."

Michael Oliphant, a South African Ecumenical Accompanier based in Bethlehem as part of a program coordinated by the World Council of Churches (WCC), discusses the importance of sumud to Palestinian life in withstanding economic and political hardships. In a March 2007 report describing his experiences in the West Bank, he writes that sumud "describes the Palestinian spirit or geist. Regardless of the situation, Sumud kicks in and regulates the response to the threat or danger and humanity kicks in and lifts the communal spirit and makes coping possible - coping at all costs. This has the effect of presenting a deception that all is okay. More importantly it also engenders sharing widely amongst family members: better to have 20 families sharing 3000 shekels than 19 families going hungry." Oliphant also likened sumud to the traditional Southern African concept of ubuntu.

Toine van Teeffelen of the Arab Educational Institute in Bethlehem defines the sumud concept as, on the one hand, relating "to a vertical dimension of Palestinian life, 'standing strong' on the land, having deep roots." On the other hand sumud "indicates a horizontal time dimension – an attitude of patience and persistence, of not giving up, despite the odds." Motivated by the need to find sources of hope in the present Palestinian context, the Arab Educational Institute recently developed pedagogical applications of the sumud concept, taking it outside strictly political boundaries. The following values are stressed as constitutive of sumud: its democratic or participative character, openness to many different life stories, agency or willpower, an aesthetic perspective, and the possibility of connecting sumud with wider human values and circles of community.