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Born in Al-Quds (Jerusalem), I am a Palestinian refugee living in exile for over 50 years. I was forced to leave my homeland, Palestine at the age of seven during the six-day war.
I am passionate about my career as a mother and a grandmother, but my academic qualification is in Mathematics.
Painting, drawing, arts and crafts are some of my favourite pastimes, I love hand-made things, dolls, cards, embroidery and most of my own clothes.
It was by sheer coincidence that I started writing in 2002, when my friends insisted I should write about my memories, experiences, and my feelings as a Palestinian.
Because communication is the first step of understanding, and because I believe in building bridges not walls -but my shy and rather sensitive nature hinders me from public speaking, I try to compensate for my shortcomings by writing and participating in dialogues.
As the saying goes, poetry is the language of the soul, it has become my way of communicating soul to soul with the world.
I self published two books (“I Believe in Miracles” and “Palestine, The True Story”)
Get to know me
Physically:
Normal looking
Sub-normally looked at
Abnormally dealt with
Joyfully sad eyes
Head inflamed with grey hair
Petite for my age
Giant with my pain
I would say
A beautiful beast
Or an ugly butterfly
Emotionally:
Extremely sensitive
Yet incredibly thick-skinned
I feel so much for all others
While some “others” deny my very own existence
Spectrum of two extremes of intense emotions
Fluctuating between
Unwavering hope and utter despair
I would say
A strong wimp
Or a spineless hero
Intellectually:
Above average
Below-humanly perceived
Viewed as a mentally suppressed creature
Trying to solve the world’s problems
While failing to figure out my own
Sharp with a great deal of naivety
Simple with much complexity
I would say
A stupid genius
Or a gifted fool
Spiritually:
Faith is my lone reason for being
My fountain of hope
Overflowing with love, and joy
Yet for some I am the source of evil
And manifestation terror
Sporadically vibrating with the yo yo of my deeds
Between intimate nearness and lonesome isolation
I would say
A moderate “extremist”
A hostile angel
A compassionate “terrorist”
A mischievous child
Wouldn’t you agree?
.
Like most Palestinians,
Arabs and Muslims I believe that:
* The only real road to Peace is the full and unconditional Liberation of the whole of Palestine, liberation from the supremacist ideology and liberation from the perpetrators. That will inevitably mean a return to the original, peaceful society Palestine was before the Zionist invasion. The true and sincere aspirations of Palestinians are long lasting Peace, Justice and Freedom. We believe that this will restore the true foundations of the Palestinian society.
* Palestinians are always grateful and appreciative of the hard work and dedication of all their supporters whomever they are, however, Palestinians have NO obligation to hold back their march for freedom, to curtail their aims or to smother their rights for the sake of accommodating and not offending their Jewish supporters or to adopt the aims and objectives of the anti-zionist Jewish supporters instead of their own.
* Palestinians have the ultimate right to aim for the full Liberation of their occupied Homeland, and to that effect select strategy and tactics of Resistance most suitable to achieve the reinstatement of their inalienable rights.
* Palestinians have the ultimate right to choose their vision for their future, of FREE Palestine including the type of government, the writing of constitution, the construction and implementation of their legal and judicial system, which stems from and corresponds to their ethics and reflects and protects their culture.
* It is the privilege of Palestinians to decide who should stay in liberated Palestine and who is not, using the legal procedure of their own choice.
* All refugee and their descendents have the unconditional right to come back home, they, the rightful indigenous owners are also entitled to the reinstatement of ALL confiscated (stolen) land and property, compensation for all their losses over the many years of exile and they are also entitled to Palestinian citizenship wherever they are.
* The aims and dreams of most Palestinians are not confined to the change of zionist regime or the vacuous declaration of abandonment of zionism by the Jewish-zionist occupiers, but rather to the FULL Liberation of Palestine and the restoration of all their rights.
Acknowledgment:
I would like to express my thanks and deepest appreciation to all the artists and photographers whose work appear on my blog. I would also like to apologize for not giving each and every one of them the deserved credit for their work for it is quite difficult to trace each photo back to its author. With thanks and gratitude
Poetry for Palestine 
Salaam sister
My name is Ishrat, and I study at Bradford University! I am also involved in our United for Palestine society there.
In February we are holding a Palestine awareness week, to create more awareness of the situation that the currently occurring in Palestine.
I have read your work, and it inspired me alhamduallah!
Would it be possible if you could join us for our PAW on the second week of February and inspire young people of Bradford University too???
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I feel strongly that you will be very interested in the following:
Recently Book on Blogs published a poetry chapbook by Michael H. Brownstein based on the wars of 1948, Firestorm: A Rendering of Torah. I feel very strongly this book will be of interest to you and your group, program, blog, etc. Here’s the direct link:
http://booksonblog35.blogspot.com/
Any comments would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance for your time.
Lennie Cox
Here are two sample poems:
MY PERIOD OF DESPERATION (DEGRADATION)
I thought we better than this,
the Holocaust wet paint over fresh plaster,
the bloody fluids cleansed, debris and bone raked away.
Then I read a passage in Carolyn Forche’s book,
Twentieth Century Poetry of Witness, and everything I knew,
believed I knew, believed in, believed about me,
my people’s history, scattered like the flight of pigeons before a hawk.
You try to ignore it, but a scab does not form nor a scar,
just an everyday breaking of flesh, a reopening of wounds.
There are not enough stitches in the world to keep all of it intact—
so you give in (I gave in) and the pursuit to truth begins:
1.
I am human first, Judaism my religion—
not my ethnicity, my skin color, my nationality.
I never saw myself a Zionist, but I was proud of Israel,
her history my history, a piece of my identity,
a rendering of facts, the rule of Torah.
You sleep and when you wake, there is power to a myth.
2.
To the victor goes the writing of history,
the rewriting, even a creation of fiction.
1948: The famous Israeli War of Independence
and truths associated with it covered up.
What did happen to the Palestinian people?
The indigenous people? How did their villages vanish?
Were they destroyed in fire and bomb or simply
stolen from them and made a gift to someone else?
3.
There are always “ifs” in a rendering of history
and many sides to the same tale, even the same fiction.
The atrocities of the Israeli-Palestine Conflict—
The Nakba—have been documented, photographed,
displayed and archived—and still
the great myth of Israel’s beginnings persist–
A POEM TO AHARON ZISLING
It has been said that there were cases of rape in Ramile. I could forgive acts of rape, but I won’t forgive other deeds, which appear to me to be much graver. When a town is entered and rings are forcibly removed from fingers and jewelry from necks—this is a much graver matter. —Aharon Zisling, Agricultural Minister to the Israeli Cabinet, July 21, 1948
To begin with, utensils and furniture, and in the end, bodies of men, women and children.
—a witness
What is worse, Aharon Zisling,
the looting of a town or a forced march into dust,
the heat and the weight of what is owned
a double burden, and then the third,
grandfather down, grandmother unable to continue,
the substance of child so heavy
the sand, the birds, all of the maggots
home? What can you do, Aharon Zisling,
you who rant against Pogroms,
you who believe the Exile of Israel,
you who spoke against criminal and thief?
I thought we better than this,
Aharon Zisling, not even enough saliva left
to bathe the stone in the mouth of those too weak
to go on. The heat, lack of shade, scream of guns.
I thought we better than this, Aharon Zisling.
This one here, she is fourteen,
her legs not strong to go on,
and this one, almost ninety,
no one strong enough to carry either one,
Aharon Zisling, you who condone rape,
you who condone murder,
you who condone the breaking of the tablets.
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Oh, Nahida, where are your wonderful collections of photos from the old Windows Spaces blog …I don’t see them here???
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Salam Douglas
Thank you for asking about the photos, in fact, after the termination of my old webpage on myspace (I received a message telling me to transfer it to wordpress otherwise it will be automatically deleted), I transferred the articles but couldn’t transfer the photos, but recently, I fell upon a link where my photos are kept, so here I am posting the link … Thank you for reminding me to put them up again
Links to my Photos (After the disappearence of myspace webpage)
Links to my Photos
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Thanks + shared on FaceBook! https://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=group_125614947498705&id=162350320491834
Maybe better to re-upload them onto another site too (Flickr?) as they are still on Windows Live (now called SkyDrive skydrive.live.com ) …or is that reliable now?
I have had so much trouble with Microsoft blogs before too….
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please, post your email on ” about me” please?
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Dear Mohammed
Thank you for all your comments, and kind words
My email is
nahidaexiledpalestinian@gmail.com
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I am so pleased to know your poetry.
Thanks
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Your poetry is one of the most beatiful I have ever read…. thanks 🙂
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Dear respected readers
I do apologize for publishing rude, vulgar and unrefined comments by Jewish-Zionist like “Super Jew” and “Schlomo Bagelbaum”. I only do so to allow people to see for themselves the type of creatures we Palestinians have to deal with.
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One can only feel sorry for such damaged and degraded members of humanity.
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The skewed perception of themselves and the world would’ve been amusing bordering hilarious if it wasn’t for the real tragic and catastrophic consequences on the world and on Palestinians particularly.
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In opposing the Balfour Declaration, Edwin Montagu, the Jewish Secretary of State for India, described Zionism as a “mischievous political creed”. Well, now the mischief is plain for all to see.
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“Schlomo Bagelbaum”
“Super Jew”
“I only do so to allow people to see for themselves the type of creatures we Palestinians have to deal with.” NAHIDA
There are millions of Jewish pornographic websites that are accessible for all to see or read obscenity for those who like it or are not offended by it, but any respectable website and even the mainstream Zionist controlled media will never allow it..
The reason why I am hesitant and even HATE writing on this ‘poetry’ website is because of the obscenity that is deliberately allowed to be posted here because I fail to see how anybody can appreciate poetry when they are exposed to obscenity at the same time!
So, I will keep on saying that Sister Nahida is wrong to allow such unacceptable language on her website as well as all those who are not offended by obscenity and slander.
HUMAN DIGNITY IS MORE IMPORTANT TO ME THAN EVEN LIFE!
Respectfully yours
Basheer Ahmad
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Brother Basheer
Both “Schlomo Bagelbaum” and “Super Jew” are blocked now.
None of their comments will appear
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Sister Nahida
I was personally offended when I saw these nasty characters on and on slandering and insulting my Sister of the Faith and our Sister of the same Ummah.
I am very glad and thankful for your decision. Alhamdulillah.
Yours Brotherly
Basheer Ahmad
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Beautiful page/post especially love your piece on get to know me, thank you very much for sharing xo
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Nahida,
Your writing and artistry are exceptional, and it seems clear from reading here today that the spirit which you possess is rich in wisdom and full of life. My friend Genie encouraged me to visit here and she was right about how our expressions reflect a mutual understanding of the important aspects of our shared humanity.
The struggles of the Palestinian people are formidable, and there are no easy or quick answers to many of the great questions that face us in the 21st century, but your solution of restoring Palestine to the fullness it was meant to have, feels right even to me, even as someone who lived a life far removed from such concerns.
Your voice is a beautiful voice for Palestine. Your spirit reflects the beauty of your land, and your art is a beacon of light in the darkness which seems to surround you at times.
Your face is bright and beautiful, and to know that such spirits as yours exist in this world gives me much reason to be hopeful for humanity. Please continue to pursue your art and your hope for the future of Palestine.
There is no need to include those rude, vulgar, and unrefined comments either. We all know such creatures exist in the world, and need no reminders of their ignorance. They add nothing to the world and only demean themselves with such utterances.
Keep your eyes looking forward, your heart beating strongly, and your spirit lifting us up with every expression of your art. Your expressions CAN change the world…..with admiration……John H.
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Dear John
Your words are too kind, reflecting a compassionate and caring soul, I don’t deserve such praise though, Palestinians living under occupation, facing torture, oppression and death while holding onto their principals and aspirations without losing their humanity and without turning into bitter vengeful people, are the real humanist and awe-inspiring heroes.
Thank you again John, much respect
May I share these thoughts with you, as I think they correspond to your own :
Out of this world
Most Precious Gifts
My Beloved has Many Faces
Open Your Eyes
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Ode to a Nice Jewish Boy
He was born in Jersusalem, healthy and pink.
“What a beautiful child!” , they all said.
And he ate Kosher food, and he drank Kosher drink,
And he played with his friends, and he started to think:
“Why do they say that all Arabs stink? ”
What a nice Jewish boy, they all said.
He went to the Temple, he went to his schools,
Bar- Mitzvahed, became a young man.
And some people told him that Arabs were fools,
That theft and derision were their favorite tools,
And befriending an Arab would break all the rules.
Such a nice Jewish boy, they all said.
They gave him a rifle and new Army suit.
What a handsome young soldier he was.
He marched, he saluted, he learned how to shoot,
He kept his gear clean and he polished his boots,
And they told him that Islam had Satanic roots.
“He’s a good Jewish soldier!” they said.
Then off to Gaza to join a platoon,
Excited, and nervous, but proud.
So they went on patrol from dawn until noon,
Through a village where garbage and rubble was strewn,
And someone quipped: “Filthy Palestinian goons!”
But the nice Jewish boy didn’t laugh.
Suddenly someone cried “There! To the right!”
They all raised their weapons and fired.
He moved with the others, ignoring his fright,
To see what had been the cause of the fight.
A mother and infant died in the Sun’s light,
And with them, a nice Jewish boy.
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Nahida
How can i subscribe to this site ?
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Dear Mohamad
At the top of the page from the left, under the name Poetry for Palestine, there are two keys, Entries RSS | Comments RSS
The first is to subscribe to the site and the second to subscribe to the comments
hope that works
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PALESTINE – LAND OF ALL SUFFERINGS by ADRIANA EVANGELIZT.
http://muhammad-ali-ben-marcus.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/palestine-land-of-all-sufferings.html
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Dear Nahida,
While browsing my blog statistics, I discovered that you follow and link to my blog. I want to thank you for your generosity and kindness in sharing it with your followers. In return, I have linked to your blog so that my visitors can read your beautiful poetry. As you can see, my blog’s purpose is to educate Christians in USA and Canada (I’m Canadian) about the errors of the religious cult known as “Christian Zionism” imported from Britain about 100 years ago. Blessings & Peace.
—David
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Thank you David for your work and for trying to expose the religious cult of “Christian Zionism”. In my humble views, “Christian Zionism” is an unholy disease that has plagued the pure message of Jesus peace be upon him.
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European, American, Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and South African Christian Zionism stole Palestine and gave it to the Jewish criminals and the Zionist Mafia of all nations and ideologies (joined today by Hindu Zionism).
All nations who have embraced ZIonism are today legalising homosexuality and homosexual marriage. Zionist Catholic France after joining NATO and mass murdering innocent people has just legalised homosexual marriage according to my friend Vincent Reynouard.
A so-called British Muslim Member of Parliament has also fully endorsed homosexuality as well as the “Muslim” house “Negroes” working for the UK imperialist government!
Things are getting worse because we refuse to stop the criminals!
Basheer Ahmad
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Ghyslaine Roc shared a link.
2 minutes ago
Do not worry, Nahida, this happens to me every now and then, and it is always for the same reason. (I TRIED 8 TIMES TO POST AGAIN AND IT DID NOT WORK! SO, I POSTED IT ON FACEBOOK!)
One time it was really bad when I posted on Barry Chamish website and my computer was immediately hacked.
I am re-writing from memory as I forgot to save my last two commentaries on “Look who is training terrorist!” and “Al-Jazeera Jewish-Zionist team”.
Well, after 11 September 2001, Dick Cheney and the Emir of Qatar walked into the Al-Jazeera Office and ordered them not to broadcast the Usama Bin Ladin video interview where he said he had nothing to do with 9/11 and even said who did it. Dick Cheney and the Emir were said to own the majority of the shares of Al-Jazeeraa. I did denounce Al-Jazeera then as a CIA-Israeli propaganda machine, but I found nobody who was interested in the matter except “Islamic Intelligence” and LVO – La Voix des Opprimés – The Voice of the oppressed of a journalist friend of mine, Smaïn Bedrouni who on 9/11 posted an article saying Israel was behind the “attacks”. The Police immediately visited him and harassed him for many years.
A few years later, an Arab speaking idiot told me she knew that Usama Bin Ladin was still alive because she watches Al-Jazeera regularly and would not accept that Al-Jazeera was working for the Israelis.
This post is confirming that I was right all along! But, I am convinced that Muslims and so-called Arabs do not give a damn about this and they will still collaborate with the enemy.
Basheer
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You can say much the same thing about the London bombings of 7/7, 2005. No inquiry was held, no autopsies were conducted on the bodies of the victims, and vital evidence (train carriages) was quickly destroyed. Furthermore, the Government lied for a whole year about the train the alleged Muslim bombers travelled on from Luton (it didn’t run that day), and twice changed its story about the explosives they allegedly used. But the average Brit has already forgotten about all this, and is today totally immersed in the absurd celebrity culture.
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لو سمحتي ممكن إيميلك أو أي طريقة تواصل؟؟
انا صديقة قديمة يسعدني سماع صوتك 🙂
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الرجاء ان تعرفيني بنفسك اولاً لاتيقن من شخصك ولأتأكد ان كنت اعرفك
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Insaallah God would reward you and all Filistinian people here and here after, you have managed to touch the deepest parts of human hearts by your poems and the pictures of brave Filistinians.
Hasip Tuzeer
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Assalamualaikum sister,subhanAllah… you are very beautiful and lovely woman. I am not palestinian but i love palestine as mine… and always be .I’m proud of the Palestinian people. I really love your blog , makes me even more in love with Palestine . May Allah bless you,your family and palestine,aamiin. sending hugs and love
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Salaams Sister.
what a moving and heartwarming page.. im really touched. I also have a piece I have written to share , how do I go about doing it?
Shukran
Raheema Dawood
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Thank you sister Raheema.
As for your question, you might have noticed this is a personal blog, in which I publish my writing. Starting your own blog might be an easy and good idea.
Best wishes
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Hello,
I have recently started a new blog http://everydaypeopleoftheworld.wordpress.com/ and you have been recommended to me as someone who would be excellent to feature.
The aim behind this site as a result is to conduct a short interview with a variety of people to show people throughout the world’s hopes, fears, loves and hates. Who are these 7-billion people who inhabit this rock going round the sun? What do we all have in common? What difficulties can we all face together?
In my simple mind, the more we learn about each other, the more we highlight that we’re all just people then the less chance there is that we’ll turn guns and words of hate upon on another. It’s a simple dream, but we have a lot of people so let’s get started………
If you’d like to feature on the site, then please get in touch via the contact page.’
Do you think this is something you or anyone you know would be interested in? The idea is not for profit in anyway, the simple aim is to break some stigma and stereotypes.
Many thanks for reading
Claire Allen
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Dear Clair
I am so sorry for missing your comment, which I just saw, please accept my sincere apologies
Are you still working on your website?
I am willing to help in my modest capacity and limited time, if you want to conduct an written interview or if you wish to share any of my work
Kindest regards
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I have come to the same realisation over time.
For Palestine to be free, “Israel” must go.
No “ifs”, no “buts”. End of.
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The Worst Week
As the bombs rained down on Gaza, killing many children,
President Obama felt the need to speak;
He arrived in our lives as an alien
(Robin Williams, a suicide) touching
Every element of the human spirit he eulogized.
As the bombs rained down on Gaza, killing many children.
Poem
Saint George was a Palestinian.
Fought a fire-breathing dragon.
That devoured children.
Thanks
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The Same Film Everyday
Oh the strain
Palestine
Straining ALL THE TIME
Everyday the same
The same film everyday
That’s being going on too long
The End never comes
The music
The final scene
That resolves everything
The reel never stops
The credits never come
The curtain never falls
The same film
It just goes on and on
The Blockade, the Barrier Wall,
The thousands locked up,
The roadblocks,
The houses ransacked,
The electricity switched off,
The shortages of food,
Heating oil, medical supplies,
Oh the strain
The strain of it
The same film everyday
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Aswwb…dearest sister al mujadila, masha’allah your page is wondrlerful, very melodic and neat again masha’allah alyik.
We here different Scholars on the tragic history of Palestine I can’t really count to how many Scholars have called that the restoration of Palestine it’s simple but painful. First step has to be reconciliation of the Muslim to Almighty Allah in our devotion to him and secondly to his perfect teachings of prophet Muhammad (saw).
I feel the struggle and pain of the of the Muslims from Palestine, living in Southern California where there’s a great deal of Palestinian Muslim well being not the best judge (how they are struggling to up hold the outward look of Islam, sisters wearing hijab only to where they are in jeans or pants, older moms dressed as their teenage daughters, not all of them but lots and lots of them almost like there’s a medhab) and that sadens me deeply and its reminder that the feeling add diagnosis is not embedded in the hearts of the of the Palestinian Muslims I couldn’t agree more with the scholars on the issue that the return of Palestine has to be when the Muslims return to their religion, that might have painful implications such as anything that the companions did not do we shouldn’t do it tribalism or that could also mean nationalism if that Palestinian flag was replaced by a the banner of Islam I wonder if the Palestinian or the Muslims see it as added reminder to turn back to their religion whenever they face it or come across that flag, it pains me to see a green red black white striped flag it pains me… anyways just a thought or rather or space for ranting in my thoughts.
Keep up the fight, Daud
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Nahida, your story is indeed worth recording and sharing, for all the world to hear! I admire you writing and your opinions, and am so glad to have found one more Palestinian spreading the news about the state of Palestine. I’ve been living just outside of Jerusalem for this past school year, and have done everything possible to learn about Palestine, and its history, and am devastated to be leaving the country in just a couple weeks. But with poetry like yours, I’ll have something to hold on to, even once I’m back in America. I hope to come back one day, to this beautiful land with a heartbreaking story! Thank you for writing. — Naomi
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Thank you for your comment Naomi,
You have lived in my homeland only for some months and you have not even left yet, yet you are already feeling the pain of leaving.
Can you ever imagine the heart wrenching and excruciating pain that I and millions of other Palestinians are living through after being forced into exile for decades on end, so some foreigners from all over the world could take over and occupy our land?
Letting go, we won’t
Because it is a matter of LOVE
https://nahidaexiledpalestinian.wordpress.com/2015/05/30/its-a-matter-of-love/
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It is heartbreaking, indeed, Nahida, and I grieve with you. I promise I will help spread the word now that I am back in the States, and apart from my Palestinian brothers and sisters!
I remember Jerusalem and Palestine daily, and mourn my move from the bottom of my heart. May I return one day, to a land beautiful with diversity, and rich with history. Thank you for your support!
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