“Can I have your business card?”

As I peeked out of the small window, I wondered what the weather was like on the German coastline. The sky affirmed my speculations about what time of the day it was; it was certainly my most favorite. The sky looked tranquil, exhibiting light shades of grey and golden white in the horizon, signaling the approach of sunlight. I wish I could be down there to feel that soft breeze and smell the fresh air that carries with it a few drops of dew, I thought to myself. It’s funny, how this time of the day is probably the same everywhere in the world regardless of what time of the year it is. It’s always so beautiful and so promising, like a reenactment of the saying that goes: “after the darkness comes light.” I wish I could stay on this plane forever and witness the same scene repeat itself around the globe. I then looked at my copy of Thomas Friedman’s “The World is Flat,” and thought that my observation could be used to prove his theory about Globalization.

“A Prisoner Never Dies from Hunger”

In Gaza,

On a Thursday night, four beautiful 2-4 year-old girls sitting in the backseat of a car driving alongside the Mediterranean sing their favorite Fayrouz songs. Their innocent, young voices sing, “habeebi bado el amar” (my lover wants the moon) and “amara ya amara” (little beauty, you little beauty). They mix up the few lyrics they know with snippets from the other conversation in the car, and the song suddenly becomes, “habeebi bado el ma’abar” (my lover wants the crossing).

"March 11th" - #Blog4Quds

I always imagined my own version of the book called “100 Places You Must Visit Before You Die,” where the “100 Places” would be replaced by just one place that I had already chosen. In terms of geographic proximity, that place required no oversea, transatlantic flights. It required no light backpacks and comfortable tennis shoes. Nor did it require a camera with lots of memory space, because I was not going to “visit” (another term that needs to be replaced in the new book), nor was I going as a tourist. The place would also –hypothetically- require no visas or permits. But what was stopping me from visiting this one place, and why has it always been on my “Before I Die” list, if it’s that easy to access?

My one place is Al Quds, or Jerusalem. In a utopian world, I would be able to visit the city at my leisure, given that Al Quds is an hour and a half drive away from Gaza City, where I live. I grew up contemplating the moment I would see Jerusalem, until I graduated from university and was promised by my parents that they might be able to make the necessary arrangements (a paper permit) for me to visit the holy city. After bidding farewell to Cairo, I went to Amman and then crossed the border to Jericho in Palestine.