It was when I went to the United States that I got to meet people from neighboring Arab countries ( which just proves the point that I’m about to rant about), and it was them that said how much they love Palestine, how much they resisted the Israeli Occupation and how much they told people of the truth. Yet, the definition of resisting occupation seems malfunctioned in that it forgets that there are about 1.5 millions Palestinians living under the Israeli law, which means they hold an Israeli passport, with myself as an example. There’s a joke that sums up the whole matte that goes along like this: An Arab of 1948 (a term used to define between Palestinians across the Green Line) is treated as a second-class citizen in Israel since she\he is not Jewish, so he escapes and goes to the West Bank where he will be met of accusations of treason and collaborations, so he flees abroad to another Arab country just to find the same response, mainly because he holds the Israeli papers. No matter where you go, you will still be discriminated against in a way.
How are Palestinians in Israel are expected to maintain their culture, identity and belonging to the Arabic community, if they were boycotted?. To make things clear, this is not a call to break boycott with Israel but what is unfathomable is countries that have relations with Israel are banning Palestinians from taking part of many programs, initiatives and fellowships. Just two days ago I received two refusal emails from two programs one in Jordan and one in Morocco, just because of my passport. They didn’t consider my aspirations to work with other Arabs for the greater good, nor the potential efforts that can be employed to reinvigorate our unity.
AICHA BINT YUSIF 