“If you want to understand what it means to be a Palestinian, read this.”
I’ve lived a life full of loss and struggle. Since I was 16, I’ve been fighting for Palestine. I’ve been detained in Israeli prisons, lost my brother to cancer, and my cousin was killed by Israeli bullets during the Second Intifada. I grew up seeing friends killed near me and others forced out of our land. My father spent 10 years in prison, where he was brutally tortured, then expelled out of Palestine for another five years. Three of my uncles also spent many years behind bars, all for Palestine, and two of them were eventually expelled out of Palestine, while the third is fighting cancer right now. Their sacrifices taught me to never give up.
Losing my brother to cancer felt like fighting a battle we couldn’t win, just like living under occupation. Both attack without mercy, stripping us of life, stability, and hope. But just as we fought to keep my brother alive for as long as we could, we fight every day for our freedom. In both struggles, you learn resilience; you learn that even in loss, you don’t give up.
I worked hard to earn my BA and MA, even when the challenges felt impossible. Now, I’m trying to do my PhD on a topic the occupation fears so much that I’ve been warned I won’t sleep safely if I continue. But I won’t stop. I’ve been told many times, ‘You can’t do it.’ My people hear every day, ‘You’ll never be free.’
But death died. We did not die. We’re still here, still fighting, still dreaming.
I’ve seen pain and death. I’ve felt hopelessness. But I’ve never let it break me. And I never will. Because I believe - no, I know - that one day, my people will celebrate their freedom. The world will stand with us, and those who stayed silent during Gaza’s genocide will feel the shame of doing nothing.
That day is coming. I feel it in every step, every tear, every act of resistance. It’s near.
I’m ready for it. Are you? Stand with us. Join today’s International Day of Solidarity for Palestine. Together, we can stand for the freedom of Palestine.
#PalestineDay #GazaCeasefireNow
#SaveNorthGaza
Mike