Launch event for new book on Palestine in Kilcullen this Sunday

THIS Sunday evening, Kilcullen Town Hall will host the launch of a compelling new work by Palestinian author and scholar Shahd Abusalama. The event, organised by the Kildare Palestine Solidarity Campaign (KPSC) will begin at 6pm and is open to the public with no booking required.

Shahd Abusalama is a Palestinian academic, author and artist, born and raised in Jabalia Refugee Camp, northern Gaza, currently based in Barcelona with her recently displaced family from Gaza. She got a PhD from Sheffield Hallam University which explored the historical representations of Gaza and its refugees in documentary films.

Abusalama’s new book, ‘A Historical Representation of Gaza Refugees in Colonial, Humanitarian and Palestinian Documentary Film’, offers a deeply researched and visually rich exploration of how Gaza’s refugees have been portrayed in documentary film over the last century.

From early colonial newsreels by British Pathé and humanitarian footage from UNRWA to the powerful lens of Palestinian resistance cinema, Abusalama traces a visual history that stretches up to the 1993 Oslo Agreement.

The event will feature a talk and Q&A session with the author, hosted by KPSC who will lead the discussion on the lesser-known dimensions of the Palestinian struggle—particularly the battle for narrative sovereignty and the importance of visual media in framing the refugee experience.

This launch marks a significant contribution to both Palestinian scholarship and film history, and Irish solidarity, promising to be an illuminating evening for all in attendance.