"If I Must Die": Samah Jabr & Mays Imad

"If I Must Die": Samah Jabr & Mays Imad

From Sounds of SAND by Science and Nonduality

February 19, 2026 · 1h 27m

About this episode

Dr. Samah Jabr and Dr. Mays Imad discuss the impact of colonialism on mental health and the Palestinian experience.

Recorded live at a SAND Community Gathering (Feb 2026) Dr. Samah Jabr , a Palestinian psychiatrist and author of Radiance in Pain and Resilience, joins Dr. Mays Imad (with questions from the audience chat) for a conversation about  what it means to stay human when the structures meant to protect people are the ones doing the harm. Drawing on decades of clinical work inside the occupation, Dr. Jabr moves past the “sanitized” versions of trauma to speak directly to the heart of colonial harm in Palestine. Central to this dialogue is an exploration of the deep ontological differences between Western psychiatric models and Palestinian lived experience. While Western frameworks often pathologize the individual through the lens of PTSD, Dr. Jabr introduces the concept of iptila —viewing tribulations through a framework of agency, faith, and collective endurance. She challenges the frequent romanticization of sumud (steadfastness), reframing it not as a poetic trope, but as a grueling relational practice and an ethical refusal to disappear when everything conspires toward Palestinian erasure. In a reality where the harm never ends, memory becomes a battlefield, grief a form of…

People in this episode

Guests: Samah Jabr, Mays Imad

Topics covered

  • mental health
  • colonialism
  • trauma
  • Palestinian experience
  • resilience
  • storytelling

Keywords

  • mental health
  • colonial harm
  • PTSD
  • sumud
  • iptila
  • grief
  • memory
  • storytelling

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Radiance in Pain and Resilience

Places: Palestine

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