Dear Reader,

How does it feel to be a Palestinian American at this time? What are the implications of the ceasefire for Palestinians here and in the Middle East?

Join me tomorrow at noon on Midday with Tom Hall, WYPR-Baltimore, 88.1 FM or online.

You can also catch me in person Saturday at the Palestine Youth Movement’s fundraiser picnic, ‘Gaza is the Compass’ (Arlington, VA). I will be tabling, so it’s a good opportunity to pick up your signed copy of Fugitive Dreams.

In this newsletter, I share a spontaneous and unedited poem that I wrote last Thursday, upon hearing of Trump’s “peace plan”. I also share an essay about our role as witnesses.

We are all witnesses. As witnesses, we cannot be expected to pretend nothing has happened and go on with our lives. We cannot unsee what we saw. We cannot un-remember. We have to see accountability to stop feeling like accomplices. As witnesses, we owe Gaza that accountability. Gaza’s immediate and overwhelming need for relief does not over-shadow this demand.

Accountability is bigger than prosecuting war criminals. A “peace deal” that doesn’t recognize Palestinian freedom, self-determination, and the lives lost, will not hold.

This month, I finally picked up the romantic novel I started writing the summer of 2023. I also picked up a short story that I last edited in Palestine on Oct. 6, 2023, and now continued on Oct. 7, 2025 (submitted yesterday). (Out of all topics, it’s on the question, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”, addressing our responsibility towards our neighbors, and the need to dismantle walls!)

That’s where Palestinians are at this moment, whether in Gaza or abroad …

… picking up the pieces!

With love,
Ramsey Hanhan

EVENTS

Midday with Tom Hall Friday Oct. 17, 2025 at Noon WYPR-Baltimore 88.1 FM or LISTEN LIVE

‘Gaza is the Compass’ Picnic Saturday Oct. 18, 2025 Noon Barcroft Park, Arlington, VA ​ Buy Tickets

POETRY

Twenty-One-Line Plan A Palestinian responds to Trump’s “peace plan” Read Poem

ESSAYS

Witness We are all witnesses. As witnesses, we owe Gaza accountability. ​ Read Essay

Ramsey Hanhan is the author of two books on Palestine: an autobiographical novel, Fugitive Dreams, and a book of poetry and essays on Gaza (coming soon). His short stories and poetry appear in The Harvard Advocate, Fikra magazine, and elsewhere. He also speaks publicly about Palestine, literature, nature, spirituality, and healing. Ramsey was formerly a physics professor noted for his computer models that describe and predict complexity in nature. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and resides near Baltimore, Maryland. ​​​​​

Fugitive Dreams. “Tell me more about the Israelis,” whispers five-year-old Ksenya to her dad on a visit to her grandparents in Palestine. Sameer immediately feels a weight descend upon his shoulders. How to tell her the truth without “its bloodied shadow staining the course of her life?” Join Sameer on a personal journey through the last five decades of the Palestinian experience. https://fugitivedreams.us