Aysha Ibrahim Hudali
Mother of political prisoners
My granddaughter keeps saying, “I want my Mommy, I want Daddy.” She waits. When she hears the doorbell she expects her dad, but when it turns out to be someone else, like her uncle, she cries, “Where is Daddy? You said Daddy was at work, why didn’t he come home?”[...]
Fatima Shehada Ja’fari
Political activist, women’s organizer, and former political detainee
No institution has given Palestinian women anything. Women have to grab their rights from men. I was the only woman invited to the anniversary celebration of the Fatah movement. I asked the men, “Was the revolution launched by men only? No, it was launched by men and women. Women have always struggled. Have any of you brought your wives, sisters, or mothers to the struggle? You only get us involved when you want us involved. Then you put us aside. You vote for women because you have to, not because you choose to.” [...]
Salwa Abu Lebdeh
Camerawoman and documentary filmmaker
I am a director. I try to show a picture that’s different from the one you see on television that depicts a nation being killed, a nation that lacks life—with only funerals and flags. I show our life: a people with a history, civilization, and heritage. [...]
Badia Khalaf
Chair of Annahda Women’s Association
The best thing in life is love. Without love we cannot live. As Christians, we want only peace. This is our Christianity. We can love each other, we can live with each other. It’s not hard for us to live with Jewish people, Israeli people. [...]
Khawla Dawoud Ahmad Alazraq
Director of Psycho-Social Counseling Women’s Center
The occupation puts immense pressure on women. The men used to earn incomes by working in Israel, now they cannot go to Israel. They are frustrated, cannot feed their kids, and do not feel like real fathers who can support their families. This expresses itself in violence against women and children. [...]
Wejdan Jaber
Board member of Filastiniyat and advocate for the disabled
The Palestinian people have their own history, culture, and traditions. We are normal people; we don’t cook bombs in our kitchens. Palestine is beautiful. We have wonderful oranges, a beautiful beach, great food like hummus and tabbouleh. I want people to dream of visiting Palestine not only as a holy place but to enjoy the beautiful culture, language, and music. [...]
Khuloud J. Khayyat Dajani
Professor and Chair of Al Quds Child Institute
The Palestinian nation has one of the highest fertility rates and a median age of 18. Large numbers of children need special care. It is obvious nobody looks out for them by the results in the streets of Gaza and the camps of Beirut and the West Bank. There’s little investment in refugee children by Palestinian leaders or Israelis, so they don’t know how to be proper citizens of the world. They suffer from a toxic environment—if you feel your country move towards civil war, it tells what kind of atmosphere the children live in. [...]
Maha Abu Shusheh
General Manager of Abu Shusheh Trading Company
We are a nation that deserves to live, and to live in peace. What is happening to us now leaves us hopeless, and no one can live without hope. We have been neglected for a long time, and we are not going to be the only nation that will pay the price. The whole neighborhood of nations will pay because we have been left without hope. [...]
Rula: Thursday
My day started at 6:00 am, like every day, and everything went well and smooth today. Memo went to school at 7:30 and then I return back home to prepare breakfast for my parents and myself, and then hurry to AL-Ram to attend my second day of the workshop that Fakhira my friend and [...]
Rula Salemeh: Saturday
Yesterday was the last meeting for the four of us as the book team before Patricia and Ruth left Jerusalem for Washington to prepare for our book launch there. We met at the American Colony for nearly two hours before our dear Elana left to her daughter’s birthday party.
I finished discussing a few things [...]
