What does it mean to envision a Palestinian feminist future? How might such a vision be found in or restored by looking to Palestinian collective histories? Can such a practice also hold the power to suture Palestinians in the homeland to those of us in the global shatat (diaspora)? How does a vision of a Palestinian feminist future restore power, freedom, and dignity to all of us and open new paths toward liberation? Reflecting on and in response to these questions, the Palestinian Feminist Collective (PFC) presents the 2023 Palestinian Feminist Futures Calendar and Program as an embodied feminist grammar and poetics of land, life, love, and liberation. This calendar shares thirteen principles that ground our anti-colonial and life-affirming decolonial vision and practice. We offer this project as an invitation to our communities to consider the power of Palestinian feminism.

The Calendar reflects a feminist tradition of collective creation from concept and development to its final form. We mark anniversaries in Palestinian history and draw out crucial lessons from our ancestors, elders, past movements, land, and traditions. This practice reminds us that the past and present are tethered to one another and are central to making a liberated future. Featuring the artwork of fifteen Palestinian women artists from across historic Palestine and throughout the diaspora, including Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, England, Canada, and the United States, the Calendar represents a continuity of Palestinian land and people, wherever we may reside. Centering creativity, the Calendar illustrates how art and culture remain enduring vehicles for Palestinian expression and hold restorative power toward the re-creation of life and resistance beyond ruin.

Throughout the Calendar, we name anniversaries and commemorations in Palestinian history that we hold close. While the list is not exhaustive, the dates we feature offer diverse moments in Palestinian feminist, political, resistance, and mourning traditions. Some dates commemorate violences enacted by colonial and imperial powers, while others signify tragic betrayals on the part of Palestinian and Arab leaders. Many others honor our collective histories of resistance, steadfastness, and perseverance. The dates we include recount a history which is simultaneously and unavoidably colored by both immense despair and profound resilience.

The Calendar also features the names of fifty Palestinian women whose lives, contributions, and legacies we value. While there are so many people who we were not able to honor in this project, the women we do feature represent a breadth of generations, geographies, and a diversity of contributions to our people and struggle. The concluding section of the Calendar provides a chronology of Palestinian women’s and feminist collective organizing from 1893–2020.

Beginning in December 2022 and throughout 2023, the PFC will host an anniversary activity each month to center the principle featured. These activities will honor the generative lessons of our past and offer an honest appraisal of our history that enables us to contend with uncomfortable truths. 

The PFC extends a heartfelt invitation to all our communities and co-strugglers to join our activities.