Feeling Palestine

  Day 40: November 15  What is Happening on the Ground? I have been trying to absorb and process the news of what is happening on the ground. For Palestinians in the West Bank and inside Israel, the situation is becoming so stressful. The Israeli government is increasing its persecutory measures and passing laws to subjugate Palestinians even more. Every night, dozens of young men and women all over the West Bank are being arrested by the Israeli army. On Checkpoints, Palestinians are no longer asked to show their identity cards but their phones, and anyone who has a photo or any content that the Israeli army believes or claims to support Hamas is arrested and severely beaten. A law has been passed to allow for the imprisonment of anyone who shares or writes anything on social media or who holds a photo the army classifies as antagonistic to Israel. The platform telegram, as an example, is considered as not favorable by the Israeli army. So, the persecution in the West Ban...

  Day 32: November 7 Pile of Emotions: A Personal Note In the living room, I flip between channels, searching for something I'm not sure what. There's no hope of hearing any good news today. I mute the TV sound and turn my eyes toward the blue sky. I hear that sound again: a congested explosion. Once, twice, and three times. One of these sounds I heard was peculiar, loud, and not so congested. “That can’t be good.” I thought. A few minutes later, I read the breaking news: “Rockets have been launched into the Tel Aviv area.” I know. I just heard those explosions firsthand. Human existence is so cynical, conflicting, and non-black or white. It is more complex. My heart aches for Gaza, yet the sound in the air communicates a different reality. I knew that rarely anyone dies from the rockets flying from Gaza.   My heart is in a place, and my ears force me to listen and remember the other side. Should I feel guilty for feeling or for lack thereof? My son interrupts my thoug...

  Wake up, World!  Is this how the Aquarian Age will unfold? The article was written in November 2023 Some readers may find this article uncomfortable as I attempt to look beyond the limitations of a geographical area. I am trying to encapsulate the meaning of this devastating war I am witnessing on the human collective consciousness, which I believe is all connected in its sensitivity to such colossal loss and injustice, regardless of how remote or insignificant Gaza seems to some. I am attempting to portray the tragedy of a group of people, the Palestinians, as symbolic of the potential this tragedy holds to uplift humanity rather than the endless repetition of history, its blind prejudices, and powerful fantasies of how things should be or who should prevail.      Please take a moment to imagine the gravity of some of these facts about this war that were true in November 2023; I included only three. You may have already heard of some of these: ...