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FORUM Realities and impllcatiens ef being Palestinian-American WWW.GUILFORDIAN.COM By Deena Zaru Senior Writer Even though I have an American pass port and I am a natural-born citizen, I was never comfortable saying "I am an Ameri can" until 1 studied abroad in London last semester.I convinced myself that I am not an American. After considering this issue deeply, I re alized that this feeling stems from the po litical implications and realities of being a Palestinian, rather than shame or discom fort in being an American. I will attempt to explain. In Palestine my Palestinian passport re flects my identity, while my American pass port makes my life easier. According to Is raeli law, my American passport grants me more rights. To get to Palestine, Palestinians must travel to Jordan and cross the Jordan River on a bus to get to Jericho. As an American, I can use the airport and fly directly into Tel- Aviv. Palestinians must spend five hours taking extensive back roads to get to Jerusa lem, which is about 20 minutes away from Ramallah. I reach Jerusalem in 15 minutes because I am given the advantages of inter national travelers. I can take direct routes, without being tortured and humiliated at checkpoints. According to a new Israeli law, Pales tinians born in Jerusalem must change the birthplace on their Palestinian passports to read "Ramallah," "Jenin," "Nablus," or anything else, as long as it is not "Jerusa lem." My American passport states that my birthplace is "Jerusalem."Yet, my Palestin ian passport falsely states that I was born in "Ramallah." When I renewed my Palestin ian passport in 2005 the computer automati cally changed my birthplace from "Jerusa My American passport has a stamp on it with my Palestinian identification number to distinguish me from other Americans. When an Israeli official becomes sus picious of my identity and notices the stamp,my Palestinian identity will be dis covered. I will be blacklisted. I could be jailed. I could be exiled. I will be punished In Palestine my Palestinian passport reflects my identity, while my American passport makes my life easier. lem" to "Ramallah." ; My^c^ in Detroit, have never lived in Palestine and do not have Palestinian passports. With American pass ports, they are allowed to visit Jerusalem and to travel freely throughout the country. My brother and my sister and I were born in Jerusalem and have grown up in Palestine and possess Palestinian passports. We are forbidden to enter Jerusalem or any other city without written permission from the Israeli government—a permit that, as of a few years ago, is impossible to get. According to Israeli law, my American passport gives me the freedom of move ment. It awards me basic human rights. It awards me respect. But this respect is frag ile—it is conditional. severely for daring to take advantage of the rights of “true" Americans. ^ / My grandfather, Nabeel, was born in De troit in June 1934 to Palestinian parents. He became the first natural-born American in his family. But he is not an American. When Nabeel was one he moved back to Palestine with his mother. When he was 15, Nabeel was sent to Detroit to live with his uncles and cousins. He attended American public schools and grew up in the streets of Detroit. But he is not an American. When he was 18 he was drafted. He served in the American army. But he is not an American. When he was 26 he returned to Palestine. He met my grandmother—a native of Je rusalem. They married and had four Pales tinian-American children. But they are not Americans. I was born in 1988 and received an American passport from the American consulate courtesy of my mother and my grandfather— two natural-born citizens. I moved to Maryland in 2001 but was quickly reminded by my classmates that I am not an American. I was singled out by my accent, my ability to speak another language, my dark and curly Arab hair, my Arab eyes and my "Arabic perspective." "Where are you REALLY from?" they would ask. I have always wanted to re spond with "Where are YOU really from?" and wondered if any would be able to tell me. Their attempt to alienate me and cast me as an outsider was stimulated by my natural tendency to alienate myself. I knew that I was different. They knew it too. Con sequently, I was surprised when people in London were convinced based on my accent and my passport that 1 am an American. "But 1 am a Palestinian," 1 would say. "I am not really an American." Confused, they would say "But you have an American passport. The only 'true' Americans are the Native Americans." "You are an American," I was told over and over again. I got goose bumps. 1 shivered. I was touched that they think I am equal. I was comforted that they think that being a Palestinian should not strip me of this equality. 1 look forward to returning to London and hearing someone say "You are an American," and, for a night, pretending that they are right. Todays Lesson; Do you have a blind spot? "Watch your blind spot!" I say to my daughter who is learning to drive in my car. I try to remain calm. I al ways end up yelling. Sometimes I regret yelling. Other times I regret that I remained silent. One of the times I should have yelled out about another kind of blind spot that happened in a class discussion about English literary devices. A former Guilford professor was having some home improvements made and told us that the painters were using metaphors when they talked with each other. The professor said, "They are just painters. They don't know what met aphors are."Is that true? Do people who paint for a living not understand the uses of the English language? I clean houses for a living, so does that mean I don't know how to define figures of speech? It seems to me that tHs professor, like many of us, had a blind spot. This professor's pertained to the working class.I should have yelled out in class, "Watch your blind spot!" But I didn't; I sat in class and didn't say a word, and no one else did either.Even though I sat in silence, this comment made me realize that al though we don't call America Plato's Utopian world, somehow this pyra mid of power and superiority has filtered into our thoughts, conversa tions, and dogmatic statements. The professor's comment signi fies a problem that exists within our college, community, and world. This is a problem that elevates people in "white-collar" jobs above the "blue- collar" workers. It seems that some people think that if you are in the working class then you aren't edu cated, can't find anything better to do, have somehow settled, and don't know how to define figures of speech. Recently I was introduced to a man who does miscellaneous jobs in people's homes. I was told later that he had a Ph.D. He teaches a couple of classes at a local college. He likes fix ing things, so he does both jobs on a part-time basis.I would guess that he knows what a metaphor is. A friend of mine graduated from Guilford with honors. She worked in her field of study for a while, but realized she missed the physically active jobs she worked before graduating. She de cided to return to a physical labor job. She uses the skills obtained from her degree in her spare time and just for fun. She definitely knows how to iden tify all kinds of figures of speech.Is someone "better" because he or she doesn't work in a service-oriented job? I see the interest in people's faces when they find out that I co-own a business. But once they realize it is a cleaning business and that we do all the work rather than manage, the look changes from interest to something along the lines of "that's nice." I actually take great pleasure in the scenario, because it has been dupli cated so many times: the eyes light up with interest, then with the revelation of the type of business, the eyes go into a vacant stare, the conversation ends, or there is an immediate change of subject. Look'' around our college com munity and realize what would hap pen if no'one emptied the garbage, cleaned t|ie l^athrooms, vacuumed and mopped the floors, weeded the flowerbeds, cooked, washed dishes. Expand that to our city, our state, and our world. If you get down to the bot tom line, all of these places could do without people who knew how to define metaphors - but who's to say they can't? If clean-up, maintenance, and food preparation didn't happen then many people would be sick, everything would be in disarray, dirty and fall ing apart and you might have to paint your own house. When I graduate in May, I am not closing down my business. I came to Guilford to expand my knowledge, grow, and learn. I will use this to do what I love - writing and speak ing - in my spare time, for now. And until the stereotypes and labels fade, it doesn't matter whether or not I'm defined as a blue-collar or white-col lar worker. The QreenCeaf (Review wiff accept submissions for sjjring 200^ untif Tricfay, Teb, 2 j ARTPROSE POEMS PHOTOS seruf to iitmaQ@Qmiford.edu or suSmit wori to ioxes focated around campus
The Guilfordian (Greensboro, N.C.)
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Feb. 20, 2009, edition 1
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