Issues

Palestine

Denied Our Rights in the Blink of an Eye:

Posted on Wednesday June 6, 2007

When Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967, my father was completing medical training in the US. His intent was to return to his hometown of El-Bireh in Palestine, fulfilling his dream to serve his people. I had just turned eleven. My dad was clear. We would be going home as soon as he finished. That dream was quashed with the occupation. Palestinians outside of Palestine at that moment instantaneously lost their right of return. Not even the Universal Declaration of Human Rights: “Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and return to his country” would change that. Both my father and my mother (from Lifta-Jerusalem) were denied their rights in the blink of an eye: to be close to their families, to take care of their elderly parents ,to raise their children among their cousins, to contribute to their community, to be home. My father steadfastly refused to surrender his right and continued to repeat the mantra “we will return” with an ever changing time line.

I always had a strong sense of the life my parents were forced to leave behind. I was a product of my parents memories, narratives and opinions. While raised with pride as an American and all it meant, it was the virtues of the US constitution my dad was yearning to carry back to Palestine. Having experienced the military occupation of the West Bank as a young American I came to realize the ambiguity of my identity.

Given my inescapable, intimate encounter of growing up Palestinian, post-occupation it was a natural choice less than 10 years later, I would study law. After all I had the privilege of being an American-Palestinian and so it was my duty to do what I could to protect the rights of others.

Linda Mansour

Mother, Lawyer Activist & AAI National Policy Council Member (OH)