I cannot remember the details of the first of several COVID-19 lockdowns in Palestine. As time under the weight of the pandemic has bled into itself, it has become harder to recall a linear story. A global pandemic and settler occupation meant that lockdown was like a button the Israeli army could push to stop life. I remember walking through the empty streets of Ramallah and coaxing myself to look up to the sky. The open sky was an aberration from the realities of settler violence on the ground beneath. But the sky connects us to the world, and this was happening to everyone (Darwish). Could the pandemic disrupt the oppressive world order that prevented promise through domination? Could there be something extraordinary about looking up—learning to see beyond and imagine openings and connections?
“Before” and “after” do not entirely serve as markers in Palestinian imaginaries. Temporal interruption...
