A NOTE FROM THE EDITORS
“Passport of Witness is dedicated to the unwavering spirit of Palestine and its people, for even in exile and diaspora, the land and the people are one. Handcrafted every step of the way with enormous love, this anthology is meant to both mirror and subvert the concept of the passport. It’s a small, yet potent portal to the homeland that exists in memory, blood, and dream.

Dreamt, curated, edited, and assembled over seven months, this collection contains far more than its humble size would suggest. Through poetry, testimony, and family history, each page is an unfolding narrative of identity and survival. As you hold this small passport in your hands, remember that you hold much more than a book; this is a living document — a prayer of hope, a cry for freedom, a song that cannot be stamped out.

When you open the front cover of the book, you will find a photocopy of the pre-1948 Palestinian passport belonging to the grandfather of Palestinian-American artist and writer Ren Allathkani. Into this, they have inscribed a poem that speaks to the estrangement of belonging to a homeland that cannot be returned to. Inside the back cover, Allathkani’s tatreez-poem responds to this estrangement by inviting us to imagine a return to homeland: Meet me at the port in Jaffa…

Printed as backgrounds on the interior pages are photographs by Jordanian-Palestinian artist Baha Suleimon. Unable to step foot on his own homeland, Suleimon captured these images of Palestine from a distance, across borders of water and land that deny his return. Yet, the gaze of the heart knows no bounds, crossing any border it chooses — a poignant reminder that while a person can be ejected from their homeland, their homeland remains with them.

This project emerged from a shared vision of creating an artist’s book as an act of resistance against genocide — an anchor of hope and community against such total devastation. It is our wish that you hold the voices in these pages close to your heart as we uphold the dream of freedom for one another.

In solidarity, Stephanie Adams-Santos & Sun Young Kang June 2024″

CONTRIBUTORS:
Amira Alghoul
Aya Abu Ghazaleh
Dana Samhouri
Ibrahim Silwany
Jaye Nasir
Judy Saafein
Leila Haseba Shaban
Lisa Suhair Majaj
Mandy Shunnarah
Melba Silwany
Mohamed Shalabi
Muyassar Yousef Kurdi
Natasha Abu-Fadel
Noor Abuzahriyeh
Paige Austin
Rachel Wilkinson
Reem Assaf Tabet
Ren Allathkani
Rhonda Jarrar
Saham Al Khayyat
Samaher Abuzahriyeh
Yasmin Keating
Younis Abu Ghazaleh
Zahi Alzaher
Zaynab Mohammed

INTERIOR PHOTOGRAPHS: Baha Suleimon
HAND-BINDING: Sun Young King
EDITED BY: Stephanie Adams-Santos