After two years of evasion, COVID caught up with our family
We turned our lives upside down trying to evade the coronavirus. It finally arrived in a weakened form, leaving us in maddening, beautiful isolation together. A sick day Osama…
Tastefully Welcoming the New Year in a New Place
We’re starting the new year not feeling very welcome in our North Carolina apartment complex, where the neighbors expect children to be unseen and unheard. Cultural Differences and Plates “She’s…
Vaccinations arrive in North Carolina. Credit: Umm Forat
When It Comes to Vaccinations, Gaza is Better than the West Bank
Our daughter is enjoying sugary American food, but for her father, North Carolina brings something sweeter: a COVID-19 vaccine he wouldn’t yet get in Palestine. Eating Animals “Ima, which animal…
Leaving Palestine
We waited for hours, the children and I on one side of the checkpoint, Osama on the other, hoping to make it to the airport. Cleaning the refrigerator “I knew…
For Palestinian Kids, the Occupation Childhood Becomes a Pandemic Childhood, Too
Kids from east Jerusalem take on their parents’ fears of losing their residency rights. The stress of the corona virus pandemic doesn’t make things easier. Three-year old Adam was screaming.…
‘It Sounds Like the Palestinian Authorities Are Managing the Pandemic Better Than Israel’
The Israeli lockdown curtailed plans to visit a cousin for the Jewish new year – a relief given the government’s failure to contain the coronavirus The area code “02” appeared…
Munir Died After Not Getting His Medicine for Four Months
A lot of people in Gaza have died in recent months, after their requests to access treatment in Israel and the West Bank were denied. Munir is dead. He…
“You’re an Angel,” I wrote to the Soldier in the Army that Controls the Lives of Millions of Palestinians
A little girl who just wants to marry her giraffe shouldn’t have to shoulder the responsibility of her parents’ struggle with the occupying authorities. The automated phone system of…
Coronavirus Lockdown Returns to the West Bank
No daycare or camp; my partner is away. Being alone all day, every day, with my two kids might be more dangerous than the pandemic. “Forat, do clean up, tidy…
Bad Guys and Sick Hamsters: Leaving Ramallah for a Foray Into Israel
For the first time after two months of corona-closure, we were leaving the West Bank to visit close friends in the Israeli city of Holon. “Forat, brush your teeth so…