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WANN

we are not numbers

emerging writers from Palestine tell their stories and advocate for their human rights

Tag: diaspora/exile

Traffic sign in Arabic saying that it is 197 km to Jerusalem.

197 km to Jerusalem — A Palestinian’s search for home

To be Palestinian is to carry the weight of lost villages, to inherit a history that is scattered across borders.
Younis Abdallah
  • Diaspora
  • Lebanon
Woman in black hijab sitting in cafe.

What does it mean to survive?

In Gaza I clung to life despite the fear and chaos because it felt meaningful. Here I am alive, but life feels hollow.
Anonymous
    Lighted Christmas tree in outdoor plaza.

    December without a Christmas tree

    Again, it is December / Second December / Without stars.
    Alaa Mahdi Kudaih
    • Gaza Strip
    • Diaspora
    • Belgium
    Ripe strawberries.

    Questions on my mind

    I muse about Gaza, my home, and the things I’ve lost.
    Dima Maher Ashour
    • Gaza Strip
    • Diaspora
    The Nile river at night with lights reflecting on the water.

    Gaza’s displaced in Cairo

    Cramped housing, reduced study or job prospects, depleted savings, crushing sorrow: ‘It doesn’t feel like living.’
    Reem Sleem
    • Gaza Strip
    • Diaspora
    Line drawing of face in profile; person is crying.

    Longing for death

    ‘I think about leaving. The idea of not existing flows into the room. It has a blue shady aura. It comes and goes.’
    Alia Kassab
      Palestinians circa 1948 walking down road as they are being displaced.

      History’s lost page

      Once upon a time / In a land not so far / A people lived in peace / How pure they truly are!
      Ahmed Dader
      • Gaza Strip
      A library room with a vaulted ceiling.

      Al-Khidr Library, my lost sanctuary

      In Gaza books were my refuge; they had a special smell and distinctly flavored pages that I could taste with my eyes.
      Reem Sleem
      • Gaza Strip
      • Diaspora
      A car with suitcases tied to the top.

      I left my heart in Gaza

      Escaping Gaza has been a journey into the unknown, a quest for safety wrapped in pain and guilt. Was I right to leave?
      Munia Jamal Abusayma
        Piles of letters.

        Letters to Gaza

        A young woman carries on a correspondence with the land she left and grieves for, and adds a postscript to the world.
        Basma Almaza
          Big Gothic university building.

          The Palestinian identity feels strange when we travel

          Palestinians abroad often have to prove their national identity and endure “neutral” academic settings that neglect their reality.
          Alaa Mohammed Mouns
            Young woman with long-haired cat.

            I will not lose my humanity

            Despite my terrifying experiences in Gaza under war, my responsibility to love and care for others keeps me centered.
            Lamar Safi