Palestine's Children
Palestine was always at the heart of Dar al-Fata’s endeavor. Dar al-Fata addressed Palestine in two major ways. The first was an attempt to fill a gap in children’s historical knowledge about Palestine through well researched facts. Publications under this rubric included a set of three wall posters narrating the history of Palestine over 300 years, in addition to other historical material (featured in above section on Building political Consciousness). The second was an emotional approach meant to touch a reader's heart and state the question of Palestine as an ethical as much as a political question by appealing to basic human emotions and needs e.g. one's basic rootedness in a home, as an embodiment of one's childhood, one's memories and love for one's parents as formative of one's self. Publications under this rubric combined love for one’s homeland and sadness over losing it with a sense of defiance and rebellion against the ongoing injustice. Many of the books directly addressing the Question of Palestine and the plight of the Palestinians count as some of the most powerful items produced by Dar al-Fata. Of particular interest, are the two small square books featured here, Heya (She) and al-Bayt (the Home), both of which tell stories of longing and dispersion, as well as of the basic and most resilient love humans can have for their homeland. These two works, in their powerful simplicity and directness, became icons of both Dar al-Fata and of the historical moment to which it belonged.