Vol. 20 No. 42 (2024): World Tensions - Extraordinary Edition: Genocide of the Palestinian People

In this special edition of the World Tensions publication, titled Genocide of the Palestinian People, we focus on a grave historical moment; one which requires immediate global attention. We live in times in which the Palestinian resistance transcends the borders of its territory, becoming an appeal to the defence of life, of self-determination, and the survival of its people. This edition not only answers to this appeal, but also ponders the fundamental role of academia and scientific critical thinking in the articulation of the world’s public opinion and in the conflict of ideas.

Artist of this Edition: HEBA ZAGOUT

Heba Zagout was born in 1984, in the Al Burejj refugee camp, in the Gaza Strip. She descended from a Nakba refugee family. From a very early age, she found in art a way to express her feelings and dreams of freedom. She studied design at the Gaza Learning Center and studied fine arts at Al-Aqsa University. She was an arts education teacher at a Gaza primary school and served as an educator at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. The vibrantly colored paintings, rich in details and endowed with poignant symbolism, portrayed the landscapes, customs, everyday scenes, traditions and cultural symbols of their people. Her works are a visual and documentary record of the history of Palestinian resistance as a way of confronting the cultural erasure imposed by the Israeli occupation, in addition to keeping memory alive through art. Heba Zagout and two of her four children were murdered on October 13, 2023 in an Israeli Armed Forces aerial bombardment that destroyed their home in Gaza.