Letter to Palestine
by Amany Hajyassin
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Dear Palestine: I am one of your children, though I am a child you hardly know and ever met. My last visit to your home was in 1996. Its been four years since I have not seen you, but I never forgot you since the day I first saw you. The memories of you have been placed into my heart and those memories shall never be forgotten. I remember my grandmother telling me stories. The day I first saw you, she told me a lot about how you have been stolen from the Palestinians and the whole Arab world, yet she told me about the heart and true love they still have for you. As we passed by small lands and villages, she talked a lot about how they were destroyed and that there was no reason in why. "It was destroyed, just because." She mentioned a lot about the Intifada, the uprising. Which was my first time hearing about it? There are so many people left as refugees and still have the original key to their home, that was destroyed to the ground, and rebuilt in such a beautiful way, that is now owned by an Israeli civilian. My thoughts were about why the Palestinians? Why did their desire for living have to be destroyed? Why did their dreams become shattered? I was at the age of 13 when I first saw you. I didn't know much about the land. All I knew is that I was going to a land where I have a few relatives, I have never seen or met, no contact whatsoever, and a land that has lived in my background for a very long time. It was something I couldn't ignore. I compared your living conditions to America. I don't know why. You were the ugliest thing when I first saw you. I guess it was because I didn't understand you or see you as well as how other Palestinians and Arabs saw you. A year later, after visiting you, I woke up and started loving you and learning more about you. I write how I feel about you, and others feel the same. Others may have deeper feelings, because they fought for you, or got injured. I never fought for you with violence or got injured. But I fought and got injured for you in words. My feelings for you change say by day and I start loving you more. I will one day visit you again, and will see the true side of you. Love Always Amany Hajyassin
P. S. Thank you for everything you have done for me and the Palestinians. I am proud to be a Palestinian ------------------------ Amany Hajyassin is 17 years old, and was born and raised in America. She says she loves writing, especially about Palestine. She is now compiling a scrap book on Palestine, and plans to publish her poems in a book and become a Palestinian journalist. She started writing in October of 1998 when she was only 15. Her writing is either based on how she feels about Palestine, or what she hears others say about Palestine. Her e-mail address is: PaLiCuTiEe@aol.com. send her a note here | |
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