“Do you think one of the neighbors would try to hurt the children?” Osama asked, trying to decipher the societal codes that surprised us both. Children should be seen and not heard A year after we moved to...

"Ima, tell me a story about a lion that eats Adam," Forat asked me. She still feels betrayed that I gave birth to her competition. The birthday salad Forat sat at the table, assembling goodie bags for her...

In addition to the six Palestinian NGOs, Israeli officials branded my neighbor, my life partner and an ice cream company as terrorists. No evidence needed. Job Interview In 2017, a few weeks after I gave birth to Adam,...

In the four decades that passed between my U.S. grade school education and that of my daughter, Columbus Day lessons have changed, but not enough. A capital city that’s also a nature reserve I entered the apartment and...

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 coming!” Osama called out, pointing through the window...

Forat asked to watch a movie about a couple arrested for violating a ban on interracial marriage. I wondered what she understood about our family.   Falafel in the South “Hada humus!” Adam insisted. “That’s humus!” I was...

 After a year and a half of anonymity, it feels good and also a bit scary to emerge from the protection of a pen name. I began publishing this blog in December 2019, seven years after I moved...

This time I’m writing under my real name. To thank you and to let you know about my book, a love story about the occupation. Dear Readers, I want to thank you for the time you dedicate to...

Far from the violence, Osama worries about his family in Gaza while I clumsily try to create a holiday atmosphere. It’s our third war together. Smoking Break Raleigh, North Carolina, our temporary home for Osama’s sabbatical. 7:30 am....

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 did they kill to make the cold cuts?”...