we are not numbers

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

Tag: Nakba

Once upon a time / In a land not so far / A people lived in peace / How pure they truly are!
The sun will rise again, and we refuse to become refugees again. This is our home and our land.
I still hold the key and tie it to my heart/The key to the house that used to be mine.
If I was asked to live that day again, I would never hesitate to put on my kuffiyeh and go. Like any other refugee, I am condemned with the hope of return.
My hope is that when my children, or the children of my children, experience peace in their land, they will look at each other and say, how dare they? Just as we now do with the Holocaust.
"It runs through my blood/I carry all its shades"
The nightmare of waking up from a family outing to the Yaffa sea.
I hope the new US secretary of state will see our common pain.
We cannot forget the past, but we can choose to live in the present.
I close my eyes and imagine...
How I learned that I belonged in a "category."
From the Nakba to Oslo, different generations of Palestinians have endured trauma, and fought back.