The Truth about Palestine Finally Surfacing

A third culture child is a child who is born in one place but raised in another, in a country or a culture different from the one his/her parents were born and brought up in.

There are days where I ponder what is currently happening. I grew up hearing the stories and learning about my country from afar. We, Palestinians, who's grandparents left Palestine after the invasion back in 1948, are one level beyond third culture children. Our grandparents were born in Palestine, our parents born in a second culture, and most of my generation born and raised in a third culture. Can you get any more disoriented than that? I am of course among the luckier ones who lived a normal life after the displacement (and two generations later thanks to my parents hard work). Many Palestinians left and found themselves in refugee camps, where they still reside till this day. Many who left in 1967 find themselves in the same place, while others took extreme measures to immigrate to other countries overseas.

The variations of the stories you can find of what happened to the Palestinians who once lived in Palestine (who could have very possibly been neighbors at some point) are endless.

People seemed ignorant to the Palestinian struggle most of my life, except in nearby regions and other Arab countries. I found myself explaining to strangers about my land so many different times I lost count. However, what is sad is the way the subject would come up, and that would be when they ask where I am from and I have to explain the history. Many would not recognize the name "Palestine" and that is when I would have to go into the details of what happened and of the occupation.

To see what is happening now and to see the whole world (or most of the world), people from all walks of life, resonating on a single wavelength and joining hands to support in our cause is just breathtaking. I sometimes find myself happy about the situation, not for anything happening in Palestine or to my people, but to see the situation finally coming to light with what is happening and getting the attention it deserves. The reality finally surfacing to the world. I wish it didn't have to go through further genocide to get such attention from the world. I wish people paid attention and stood with us before this many children lost their lives. I can't even give a number because the numbers are increasing as I type this. It's surreal. Every Palestinian out there is devastated and heart wrenched. All we can do is let our voices out and have our eyes glued to the screens to stay updated with what's happening. Somewhere out there, my land, my nation, the soil my grandparents and great grandparents were born and raised on, is being forcefully taken, once again... through the ruthless k*lling of my innocent people who were lucky enough to have remained on our land till this day.

Again... I don't know who is "luckier".. me: having lived abroad multiple generations later without the possibility of return but who has had a normal life... or them: having held on to our beautiful land and lived there multiple generations more than us and died on our soil for the sake of our country as martyrs. It's a blessing and a curse.

Our home, our nation, our land, is within us.

(December 17, 2023)