Welcome to Palestine Nexus

We are separated by borders, but there have been moments when Minatallah has held me together without being physically present. She once told me exile is not only about borders, but about the distance from everything familiar. “Being far from the people you love is exile in itself,” I remember her saying.

In Masaffer Yatta, each month brings new demolitions: homes, wells and sheep enclosures. We are left with few choices: to leave, to demolish our homes, or simply wait. Even when our villages are not destroyed by Israeli occupation forces, they are attacked by settlers who set fires, steal cars and take over our towns.

Life is still full of challenges under this fragile calm, but Mahmoud's presence gives me the strength to face them. I try to raise him on hope and resilience, to instill in him a love of life, and to make him understand that no matter how long the darkness lasts, rays of sunshine will inevitably rise. 

In late Ottoman Palestine, Jews, Muslims and Christians shared social spaces, celebrated each other's holidays and embraced a common Arab consciousness. Many also aligned around a political vision for the region that transcended confessional boundaries. This is a brief history of Palestine’s golden age, a world before Zionism.