Painfully obvious now

🤦🏼‍♀️

I often try to think back to when I lived in Jerusalem and attempt to remember what shaped my Zi0nist views.

The things that seem so painfully obvious now were completely out of reach for me.

This is a perfect example:

When I was twelve years old we moved out of the "absorption centre" where we had lived for two years in the hills outside Jerusalem. And FINALLY rented an apartment inside Jerusalem itself.

It's the one at the top with the rounded balcony. My "bedroom" is the balcony next to it that was "converted" into a room. Freeeeeezing in winter and boiling in summer.

Anyways...

What I didn't realise at the time was that these "Arab" houses were in fact Pa|estinian homes.

I never connected those oh so obvious dots 🤦🏼‍♀️

Because back then (and until relatively recently) I didn't believe that Pa|estinians existed.

I know that sounds ludicrous.

But that was the "truth" I grew up with.

All Arabs were the same to me and they had all these countries they could live in. Why did they insist on living in the country that God had promised my people?

Why couldn't they just leave and go back from where they came from???

Sigh.

It took moving to Melbourne many many years later for me to be able to hear about the Nakba. And to actually LISTEN. Instead of completely shutting down the conversation which I was an expert at.

The Pa|estinian story made everything that had been "complicated" all of a sudden make sense.

And since then I've tried to immerse myself as much as possible in books and films.

(Immerse is too strong of a word but the book pile next to my bed is taaaaaall and my intentions are good...I just need to make more time for the actual immersion 🙈)

The book that has landed the deepest is the one I listened to as an audio book: Mornings in Jenin

I really encourage you to listen to it.

I'm sharing this today because I keep hearing from Australians about how confusing it all is. And I totally get that, but it's not like you need a masters in politics to understand. What has made it confusing is that most Australians have only heard the Zi0nist story. And without learning about the Nakba...none of it makes sense.

#history