Rev Left Radio From Palestine: Suffering, Dignity, & Resistance
May 6, 2026
Mohanad Alsayed, Palestinian author of Scars and Medals who grew up under occupation and exile. He recounts family stories, Nakba trauma, and a missing uncle turned to armed resistance. The conversation covers life at checkpoints, childhood scars, the meanings of resistance, regional politics, and why he wrote his memoir.
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Searching For Uncle Ghazi
- The search for Mohanad's missing uncle Ghazi structures the memoir: Ghazi left at 18 for armed resistance and later lived in Europe.
- Mohanad tracks him down years later, forcing a hesitant reunion that reveals Ghazi's clandestine missions and sacrifices.
Stones As Symbolic Resistance
- In Palestinian communities, anyone able to 'break the cage' of occupation — from stone-throwers to armed resistors — is celebrated as a hero.
- Mohanad stresses stones in the first Intifada were an asymmetric but meaningful weapon because pistols were absent.
Occupation As Ongoing Psychological Warfare
- Occupation operates as sustained psychological warfare designed to push Palestinians to a breaking point and force them to leave.
- Mohanad describes curfews, checkpoint humiliation, night raids, and cumulative trauma that children bottle up until later post-traumatic reckoning.
