Kareem AlZeer AlHusaini - Palestine

My name is Kareem. I am 22 years old, and I was born in Ramallah and raised in Hebron, Palestine. My family has lived and thrived in Palestine for generations, and is deeply rooted in a land that, sadly, does not exist anymore. I grew up in an illusion of a country, a well-maintained dream of country, a country that only exists nominally, a country that is etched in the hearts of so many people. I grew up in a war, lived under apartheid, slept through bombings, walked through flying bullets, endured discrimination, bore detention, stripped at a checkpoint, survived curfew, and cried because of tear gas. I can’t pray in my mosque, harvest my grandfather’s olives, or visit the beach that I see in the horizon while watching the sun set over my people’s lost land. I live in a constant fear of misplacement, homelessness, loss and death. I am a refugee, an outsider in my own land and the feeling of permanent feeling of finitude and exclusion haunts me. Finding a stable identity has always been my struggle and it is no better here, being labelled with different stereotypes for being Palestinian, Arab, Muslim, and a foreigner. I am no different, and all I seek is justice, and an equal identity. But if you keep judging me for my black and white striped scarf, my struggle will continue.