I have lived in Palestine most of my life. In 2007 I came to the U.S. to study at the University of Tampa, and since then my appreciation for my vibrant town in Palestine, called Ramallah, has grown.
Palestine is in the Middle East, located in the area today known as Israel, West Bank and Gaza.
Christians, Muslims and Jews refer to it as the Holy Land because many significant Biblical events took place there.
The West Bank has cities like Bethlehem, where Jesus Christ is thought to have been born, and Jerusalem, which has the Dome of the Rock, the Western Wall and the Dead Sea.
My grandparents from both sides are originally from the cities of Safad and Yaffa, which were both occupied by Israel in 1948.
I visited them both once when I was nine. I am not allowed to go there now that I am older than 16 years-old and am Palestinian.
Many people assume that Palestinians must be dangerous and scary because Palestine is a war-stricken country.
I have been through some terrifying days there, but despite all that, Palestine is full of events and activities and places to visit. And it is a lot safer today than it was a few years ago.
Every time I visit home I notice the beautiful olive trees, palm trees, pine trees and fig trees dispersed around the land.
I notice the lovely crowded streets in towns like Hebron, Ramallah, Nablus, Jericho and Bethlehem, full of old shops with vendors selling fresh fruits and vegetables.
I remember the lovely sounds of the Azan and prayers calling from mosques and church bells.
* The pictures were provided by Yara Abbas.
Moral and ethical bankruptcy
Americans are finding a grotesque echo in the moral – ethical bankruptcy and worse of a substantial sector of American society.
The “moral depravity” of “the Arabs” who kill innocent civilians. It is more than moral depravity. It is a culture that teaches, educates and breeds hate toward other societies that are not like them as they say “infidels”.
There is no way this situation should be handled with kid gloves – when a poison strikes your body, you remove it and destroy it completely, leaving no trace of such poison.
History has shown that these types of atrocities and acts of barbarism have increased in the past half a century and getting worse by the day.
With today’s advancement in technology and telecommunications, the world has shrunk, events on the other side of the world affect everybody (like the Japanese Nuclear reactor fallout etc.) it affects our health our economy brings fear and uncertainty to our lives.
The financial crisis we are facing today is the price we pay for years of neglect and government abuse of power.
Is today’s society heading toward annihilation, you be the judge?
YJ Draiman
The Qur’an 17:104 – states the land belongs to the Jewish people
Every time there is a terrorist act, Israel should vacate an Arab village and raze it.
In most lives, I suppose there comes a time when one has to make a supreme effort that calls for every morsel of more and more endeavor and more than not that effort has to be sustained.
Again, who cares? It is something that will never change. No sense getting all worked up about it and pulling the “race card” on people who don’t agree with you.
I have to say its quite absurd looking at some people attacking with their comments.. if you ask me thats quite racist from all of you.
The fact of the matter is the Palestinians are here to stay and even though there have been attempts since the creation of the state of Israel to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians, and attempts to hide it from the world, it can no longer be hidden and the whole world except a few fascists and some ignorant people stand with the freedom and historic rights of the Palestinians.
The fact that all these people with their comments like ‘anti-Semitic are trying to bully someone who is telling their personal stories and talking about their country is absurd! Its ridiculous to cry anti-semitism and start talking about a fictitious delusional history every time someone mentions the palestinians.
The world has had enough of israel and its absurd excuses to practice racism.
And for those of you who still insist on crying hamas( event hough the world can see through that), i must remind you hamas was formed in 1986 , the ethnic cleansing of the palestinians by the state of israel started in the 1930’s.
pro-zionists need to stop insulting the intelligence of people.
who cares, really?
When God “promises” the decendants of abraham a land it doesnt really make it yours, especially when ur not abrahams decendents and when religion is not law. it makes no sense that a God who created all people would prefer a “race” over the other.
@ Anon-y-mous first comment I am not the person who wrote this article but I have a Palestinian passport.I come from Haifa, and my grandparents have papers to prove the land was owned and should still be owned by them , the land has been and still is being illegally occupied for more than 60 years ago. An area being ethnically cleansed as we speak! with an illegal apartheid wall being built to steal more and more land.
Thankkk you for this article! Love it! Palestine is a real beautiful place. I never knew it was so pretty. I hope you Palestinians dont have to go through anymore struggling.
Thank you for this article! Love it! Palestine is a real beautiful place. I never knew it was so pretty. I hope you Palestinians dont have to go through anymore struggling.
LONG LIVE PALESTINE
Zionism is the left over shi** thats in my ass.
The Romans referred to the area as Palestine.
Older maps will have Palestine written on them.
The native people, regardless of religion, have been beaten down by various conquerors but that doesn’t mean that they do not have a right to the land upon which they have lived for centuries. Their religion should not be the determinant factor. Theocracy, no matter which “Theo”, is nothing but trouble. The native people need to determine for themselves. Problem now is that too many non-natives have emigrated or invaded and cruelly displaced the natives, mostly Arabs and Muslim but some Christians and Jews. The Christians and Arabs have no place to go. Get rid of the Theocracy.
The truth of the matter is that although there are many Palestinian people, the country is called Israel.
With all due respect, the Palestinian people chose to give up their own properties in light of the changes taking place in Israel post Israeli Independence. Israelis never ousted Palestinians. In fact, with the fairly recent evacuations of the Gush Katif Settlements, which were predominantly Jewish, it was Israelis confronting Israelis to vacate their homes…
As someone is of both Arab and Jewish extraction, it’s a shame to present biased information. There are many amazing things about being Arab and being Palestinian, but truth be told, Palestinians and other Arabs in Jerusalem aren’t crying to get out/ reenter Palestinian territories.
What did Yasser Arafat do with the aid that was coming in? Where do you see the improvements? The corruption of money and power has lead to arms grappling, while the infrastructure of the territories is depletiing– which is not Israel’s fault.
I am priveledged to enter in and out of Israel, and because my father is Arab extraction, to have been to cities such as Bethlehem and Jericho, and to feel free to roam around in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem– where as my Jewish brethren are not so free. No one talks about the plight of Arab Christians in, say, Bethlehem, where extremists have ransacked Catholic churches and raped nuns. Where is the justice in these situations?
To proclaim a solid victim card is not a fair assessment. Trust me, I know it all too well and first hand. The extremist and terrorism is real. That is why so many of our Arab people are in Diaspora, just like our Jewish cousins, to this day.
Israel has a right to protect herself and her interests. My family has roots in Tsefat, too… and did you mention in your article how in the 1940s there were approximately 12000 Arabs to approximately 1200 Jews? In 1929 20 Jews were killed by Muslim militants, and in 1948 the Jewish quarter of the town came under siege.
To visit Tsefat today, things seem so quiet and peaceful, but the picture of your nostalgia and endearment to the city are not fair portraits of the pressure Jewish people have gone through in their own homeland– and again, I say this as one who is also Arab.
When presenting an article, make sure to give fair game, and not to just to promote your own view. It’s difficult being in Diaspora– I know that all too well, but to victimize oneself or own people group and/or to scapegoat another is not fair, and not just.
But keep up the faith, “from the river to the sea Palestine will be free”…kill em all right?
Thanks for opening my eyes, I didn’t realize it was such a simple explanation…
By the way, the stealing of land you reference, who stole from who? According to a piece of this interesting little article I found, “from 1517-1917 Turkey’s Ottoman Empire controlled what is today Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine. During World War I (1914-1918), Turkey supported Germany. When Germany was defeated, so were the Turks. In 1916 control of the southern portion of their Ottoman Empire was “mandated” to France and Britain under the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which divided the Arab region into zones of influence. Lebanon and Syria were assigned to France… and “Palestine” (today’s Jordan, Israel and “West Bank”) was assigned to Great Britain. It is important to mention that “Palestine” is a name that was coined by the Europeans. It did not exist before this point. Because no other group of people had ever established a national homeland here since the Jews had done it 2,000 years before.”
Maybe you can help provide a little clarification, the historical accounts on this topic seem to conflict with your argument and the highly anti-semitic photos you’ve posted on your facebook page…
Well, did u ever here of those people that steal things that are not theres,,,, and get ur facts straight. in 1988 there was a Palestine on the map. But it was wrongfully taken away from Palestians ,, Just like America was taken away from the Indians. But PALESTINANS are still STRONG and have faith that they are going to get back THEIR country. ALSO read a little, there is Fattah and Hammas.
What passport do you use to travel between continents, I can’t seem to find “Palestine” on the map? Not sure what this reference is to “occupied” land “now referred to as Israel” for an area never historically considered to be any type of geopolitical entity with any record of organized government…except for Hamas.