Dear Palestine,
I love you.
Firstly, Assalam Alaikum.
I can imagine these past two years were longer than anyone can count. I have not been this sad about people since your neighbors in Syria in 2013 and 2014. I might have been in a state of despair. May Allah forgive me.
I along with many others in the United States have been screaming “Free Palestine” for a long time. I can remember being in Times Square when I was 15 with friends. I am almost forty. As I watched you get murdered for 737 days in a row on my phone, I saw you teach the world a bunch. Men and women whose names may never be known to the world were doing otherworldly things, saving lives, operating, and just being human—the purest form of being human. Others outside of the fence were screaming, “MOVE! Do something!” and we did. Wallah we did. I’m proud of it. Some of us ended up detained and in jail because of it. But as you know more than most, Allah sees it all. Tomorrow when I can see you and hug you, I will congratulate you and smile when you enter heaven.
Writing this, I remember watching a man in a cold room. One of your people were sad about the world burning around them. He acknowledged the young man’s sadness and told him to not worry. The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ spoke about the honor they were blessed with and the hardship that comes along. If they do well, then the reward is divine. I wonder where that man is today.
You taught us the temporality of this all. All the LLMs that I play with on my phone, the new things that come out every week, this nice house Allah blessed me with all will come and go. As our Christian brothers and sisters say, God giveth and God taketh. When He does take, I learned that everything will be alright. One of my cousins told me that as she lost nearly everything, she did not lose Allah. I do not know if this is blasphemous or not or the right thing to say, but I am happy that Allah is Allah. I want to say AlhamdoliLah for Allah.
The road to recovery will be long. For decades, other agendas dictated how you live. I used to bunch your occupiers in a pile and pray for their damnation. But your patience taught me to look closer through the dust and rubble that some of them are looking for survivors. Your hospitality taught me to welcome everyone, regardless of their origin. You have always done it like that and probably always will. Because of that, I made new friends and acquaintances along the way.
I am cautious about your neighbors in Syria. There is a new headache brewing in Gaza. People think they have the answer to how you will live. Syria somewhat has the same headache. History showed that when you and Syria are free, something beautiful happens. May we be safe in the meantime.
I love you for Allah’s sake.
Assalam Alaikum,
Omar B.