By: Ana Daisy

The first email that I received from An-Najah National University ends with “welcome home”. ‎That simple phrase summarizes what I feel right now when I think about Palestine. I felt at ‎home, I felt that I was among good people.‎

Now I understand I didn’t know how it is to live in Palestine. Of course I knew about the ‎existence of the refugee camps and the Israeli occupation, but I didn’t know that it was like an ‎apartheid occupation. I didn’t know that, as foreigner, I have many more privileges in Palestine ‎than the Palestinians in their own country.‎

To live with dignity but also lead a normal life under Israeli occupation without forgetting the ‎duty and the right of resistance is not easy.‎

Yes, I enjoyed the great food; yes, I enjoyed the Palestinian landscape; yes, I liked the ‎Palestinian hospitality, but I already have all that in my country, at least in a similar way. The ‎lectures were very interesting, but, also, I could read books or articles about what we were ‎taught. The thing that truly reached my deeper self was the students. They are in my heart. I ‎have been a teacher for the last 30 years and so it isn’t easy to be touched in that way. They are ‎so motivated that it’s worth working with and for them. They deserve a better future in ordinary ‎conditions.‎

The other thing that touched me deeply was Zajel’s work with the youth. It is a huge and ‎respectable way of improving a better and respectable life for all the students. What he is doing ‎is so worthy that I now feel inspired to do some political or citizenship work at home. I feel that ‎I have a debt towards them and for that reason I have to work, in my country, as an ambassador ‎of the Palestinian situation. I must do projects concerning Palestine with my students and ‎denounce the situation. We are talking about basic human rights.‎