Children’s Alphabet Book ‘P Is For Palestine’ Includes ‘I Is For Intifada’
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
By Aiden Pink November 19, 2017
A is for argument, which has been started
About a new kids’ book that only just charted.
It’s called “P is For Palestine,” and it’s been bought coast-to-coast
To the anger of Jewish moms found by the Post.
B is for book talk on the Upper West Side,
Which scribe Golbarg Bashi attempted with pride.
She posted on Facebook where she’d be appearing
But the book’s inside contents left many moms sneering.
“Omg. Crazy,” wrote someone who was mad.
Wrote another: “A children’s book on Palestine that doesn’t recognized the state of Israel…is very sad.”
Bashi wrote it for Palestinians who don’t have kids’ books of their own,
To help them take pride in their culture and feel less alone.
C is for crowdfunding, which got Bashi $15k
To publish her book in her own unique way.
“P is For Palestine” has endorsements, to be sure
From Rashid Khalidi and Linda Sarsour.
D is for drama, which we were bound to enter
Considering this entry in the book’s center:
“I is for Intifada, Intifada is Arabic for rising up
For what is right, if you are a kid or grownup!”
E is for error, which might here be a thing
Considering how many died in those two uprisings.
Though antipathy toward Israel might for Bashi be a trait
Since she once wrote that Israel “is a racial and religious apartheid state.”
F is for finish, which this poem will soon do.
I hope the dumb rhymes won’t stop you from reading the Forward, the best news source for the American Jew.
So here is a question so we can end pleasant:
Would you buy your kid this book for a Hanukkah present?
Contact Aiden Pink at [email protected] or on Twitter, @aidenpink
Why I became the Forward’s editor-in-chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
— Alyssa Katz, editor-in-chief
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
