A Toast to Palestine

Here's to Palestine.

Who smiles and shakes my hand every morning he walks into the office.

Who sings Arabic love songs and speaks her life truths in the car as she drives us to work

Who said he was disappointed he wouldn't meet my family, adding only as an afterthought that I probably was sad their trip got cancelled, too.

Here's to Palestine.

Who is pajama-clad, pausing his movie to patiently listen to my Arabic pronunciations (and gently correct them)

Whose motherly hug makes me feel like I'm at home, and that everything's okay

Who reads English poetry, and smokes hand-rolled cigarettes

Who is smart as a whip, and tells me in her wise ways the injustices she knows

Who pulls me onto the dance floor, and fiercely defends me from unwanted attention

Who could make me giggle the first day I met her.

Here's to Palestine.

Who works tirelessly for her students to understand English, knows grammar better than me, and is juggling teaching and being a mom with getting her Master's degree.

Who gets a little twinkle in his eye right before he cracks a witty joke, causing an eruption of laughter in his 10th grade classroom.

Who loves to depart with me his thoughts on the world, occupation, and freedom

Whose 8th grade singing voice is that of a pure angel's

Who walks me home from school, and tells me his love for learning, his hopes, his dreams

Who will wreak havoc in his 6th grade class, but patiently sit with me at lunch and help with my Arabic homework

Who always eagerly raises her hand to read out the English story we're reading in class

Here's to Palestine

Who tirelessly works to make me laugh every time I ride in his cab

Who considered me her own daughter the same day she met me

Who taught me my first Arabic words

Who shared with me his love of the valley, his fears of it being stolen

Who is a taxi driver that lights up when he tells me about the lake he saw in Germany once

Who is a stranger who walked 3 blocks out of her way to show me where the bus stop is

Here's to Palestine

Who is a fearless 5th grader that paints my nails without asking and makes me food

Who welcomes me into her home with a warm smile, and pauses her busy life to put on tea

Who is a one year old baby with the chubbiest cheeks I've ever seen in my entire life

Who has a booming laugh and hosts barbecues for everyone he knows

Who is a badass lawyer and fights for the rights of her people

Who is a hardworking mother who hosts foreigners at her home, cooks for them, and exhibits kindness and love towards them even when they are ignorant to her experience

Who is a kindergartner who loves dinosaurs and being spun around in circles

Here's to Palestine

Who serves me sahlab and then reads me a poem he wrote about the moon

Who drives me through the streets of Bethlehem at night, telling me tales of growing up in a refugee camp

Who is the smartest first grader I've ever met, and can always beat me at blacktop soccer

Who invites me every time I see him to his date farm in Jericho

Who skipped his brother's rehearsal dinner because he was making every last detail in the flower arrangement at the church absolutely perfect

Who makes breakfast in bed for his wife and daughter every morning before he goes to work

Here's to Palestine

Who has stolen my heart gently, like the breeze which sways through the poppies,

and holds fiercely, like its people who refuse to give up.