Bread in Palestine: Wheat Began Where My Blood Began

Sunday, April 14th, 2024

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM EST

With Amanny Ahmad

Bread is sacred, bread is holy, bread is life. In Palestine, and in Islamic society in general, bread is treated with reverence. Much of the world’s population relies upon wheat as a core element of their diets, and so, throughout history, many horrors have been linked to wheat and more specifically,  bread. This has significant global implications as wheat fields occupy more land than any other food crop; life or death waits for whichever population is given access to or deprived of it. The most recent ongoing “Israeli” campaign against Gazan civilians has included the systematic targeting and destruction of all of Gaza’s bakeries, mills, farmland, and the UNRWA food storage facilities that provide 2 out of every 3 bags of flour, and has extended to include at least 6 official “Flour Massacres” of civilians murdered as they have been waiting to receive aid. The now eradicated bread infrastructure was previously the backbone of sustenance and life for the 2.2 million people who have lived under a siege and blockade by “Israel” for almost 2 decades. In this knowledge share, we will learn about the history of wheat in the Levant, its connection to current global food systems, and the use of  land and food as a weapon against colonized peoples. We will learn how people have shaped the wheat, and in turn the wheat shaped the dough, the land and the people, far beyond the imaginary borders imposed by colonizers.