The world is big, yet it is forever shrinking for Gazans. In fact, it is as small as 3% of the size of an ever-diminishing strip of land, where the rest of Gaza City is being forcibly displaced, bombed and starved. But our rejection doesn’t end at Gaza’s “borders”.
It follows us everywhere.
Since I left Gaza in November 2023, my life has been defined by visa rejections and endless hours waiting in airport lines. I watch people behind the counters staring at my Palestinian passport with confusion, often having to “call for help” just to process it.
I’ve learned to explain the details automatically: “My name is Plestia, Rana is my mother’s name. Yes, on Palestinian passports, we include our mother’s name.” One rejection after the other; I am stuck in Gaza, I am stuck outside. Where are Palestinians supposed to go? We are pushed out of our own land, then met with locked doors everywhere else. Why should survival mean being permanently exiled from home? Why can someone with the “right” passport walk freely into my country, while I need a mountain of papers to prove I am real, genuine and worthy just to enter theirs? …..more
