Identity, Integrity and Solidarity: Words for Palestine

Identity, Integrity and Solidarity: Words for Palestine

Critical Collective presents Ahmed Alnaouq (We Are Not Numbers) in conversation with Sunny Singh (Jhalak Prize), to discuss the shaping of identities and the humanisation of Palestinians, and the ethics and importance of global solidarity, in the face of genocide.

This is part of the Solidarity & Samud Festival at UCL East, Marshgate. Please see @letters4palestinianchildhoods for more details of this wonderful festival!

Hear poetry from Amy Abdelnoor, Shahd Karaeen, Layla Maghribi and Kurdi Rania — poets, activists, writers from the Levant — and consider the role of storytelling in all its forms in the struggle against oppression.

Be part of a collaborative process of solidarity, as we draw on your responses to the discussion to co-create poetry.

Ahmed Alnaouq is a Palestinian journalist and human rights activist based in London. He is the co-founder and director of We Are Not Numbers and a journalist with Palestine Deep Dive. Ahmed holds a degree in English Literature from Al-Azhar university in Gaza, and an MA in International Journalism from Leeds University, where he was a Chevening Scholar.

Sunny Singh is a writer, novelist, public intellectual, and a champion for decolonisation and inclusion across all aspects of society. She is the author of three critically acclaimed novels, Hotel Arcadia, With Krishna's Eyes, and Nani's Book of Suicides, as well as the recent, A Bollywood State of Mind: A Journey into the World's Biggest Cinema.

In 2017 she launched the celebrated Jhalak Prize for literature by writers of colour. She is also a founder of the Jhalak Foundation that focuses on a range of literary, artistic and literacy initiatives in the UK and beyond. Sunny lives in London where she is Professor of Creative Writing and Inclusion in the Arts at the London Metropolitan University.

Amy Abdelnoor is a novelist, poet, writer and teacher. While studying English and Arabic at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, she reconnected with her Arab family roots, living in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon and later under Israeli military occupation in the West Bank during the second intifada. Her debut novel, Ever Land, which grew out of these experiences is forthcoming in 2026 with Penguin Random House. Amy co-runs Critical Collective, advocating against racism and oppression with a particular focus on Palestine.

Shahd Karaeen is a Palestinian poet, writer and performer who brings her words to life through powerful live poetry performances. She is the founder of Peace Is the Song, a platform for community artists, storytellers, and healers working towards justice, expression, and collective liberation. Her work weaves personal healing with resistance, amplifying silenced stories—especially those of oppressed Palestinians and marginalised communities—through poetry, spoken word, and embodied storytelling.