A PEOPLE WHO THINK THEMSELVES A NATION ARE ONE:

My grandparents and their grandparents were born and raised in the town of Ramla, in the center of what is now Israel. On my walks, I imagined my family's ancestral land.

But I also have experienced the destructive impact of borders more personally. I was born in 1984, two years after Israel withdrew from the Sinai Peninsula, dividing my city, Rafah, between Gaza and Egypt. The core of the city was razed by Israel and Egypt to create a buffer zone, separating families, including mine, with barbed wire. My mother's family lived on the Egyptian side and Rafah's division ended in the separation of my parents. Although my mother lived a stone's throw away, it was 19 years before I saw her again.

On that day in December, as I watched the birds fly over the border I could not cross, I found myself thinking how much smarter birds and animals are than people; they harmonize with nature instead of erecting walls. Later that day, I wondered on Facebook what would happen if a man acted like a bird and crossed that fence. "Why would Israeli soldiers shoot at him as if he is committing a crime?" I wrote. My only thought was to reach the trees, sit there and then come back.

I couldn't let go of that thought. A month later, I wrote another post. "Thank you, Israel, for opening our eyes. If the occupation opened the crossing points, and allowed people to live a normal life and created jobs for young people, we could wait for a few generations," I wrote. "We are forced to choose between confrontations or between life." I ended the post with the hashtag GreatReturnMarch.

2007 Year Israel imposed a land, air and sea blockade on Gaza

76% Reduction in Gazan imports after the blockade

 

151 Import items, including cement and pipes, prohibited because of "dual use" for military purposes

 

84% Portion of supplies for water, health and sanitation infrastructure denied by Israel, according to Oxfam

 

97% Portion of drinking water in Gaza that is unsafe

 

6-8 Daily hours of electricity Israel supplies to Gaza

 

61:1 Ratio of Palestinians to Israelis killed in Gaza since 2009

 

181 Times between January and March that ISF shot at Gazan fishers and farmers who strayed into "access restricted areas," killing two and wounding 13 [...]

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101 Protesters killed in Gaza by Israeli security forces since March 30, as of May 14

 

8,400 Gazans wounded in the protests since March 30, as of May 14

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