How can someone who claims to espouse a strong belief in individual dignity and for humanity allow himself to sequester my words ?
How can someone who claims to espouse a strong belief in individual dignity and for humanity allow himself to follow others everywhere?
55 years ago, in 1948, my family departed from their homeland. Others occupied it and it is now called "Israel". Isreal is a real fact for today and tomorrow, and my family are refugees since yesterday and until today.
My family never learned us, me, my brothers and my sisters, about the disaster, "Al-Nakba", which was brought to us by the Israeli independence. My parents wanted us to to grow up in a healthy environment. They learned us love and peace. My original name is Kawther Salam, that means pure water and peace, until the occupation gave me the name of "Al-Sharabat" in 1967.
At school I learned about the other stories, Al Jazaer occupation, Maroco ... the two world wars, the first war and the second war. They learned us about "Hitler" and ... but I never learned or heard about Palestine.
When I was in the fourth class of primary school, my teacher nominated me to participate in a "Mothers Day" party, they learned me to sing "Palestine my home land". My teachers loved my voice. I used to sing in front of my class. My father learned me other nice songs in my childhood.
I returned home and I sang in front of my parents what my teacher learned me: "Palestine my homeland". My mother became angry, she ordered me to keep silence. She said, "The walls have ears". She learned me to sing "Cheer my heart the same like my eyes cried" and "Bridegroom rings are silver and shining". I was happy to learn these two new songs, but I did not feel happy to stop singing "Palestine my home land". The celebration song made everybody, all the mothers, cry when I sung during the celebration of Mothers Day. I grew up and the song grew up in my memory. I still remember the songs words. It is all bigger than my childhood, the age when I learned it.