Being A Palestinian Woman: A Guide
Don’t be afraid to tie your kuffiyeh around your head, strengthening the knot until your knuckles turn white. You deserve to be angry for all you’ve ever been was patient and all you’ve ever felt was loss.
Talk over all the men in politics; one way or another they’ll find a way to silence you. Do it now before they tell you it was your fault, too.
Tell yourself how green and brilliant your eyes are, just like the olive tree sitting outside waiting for you to know your worth and to come back home. You’re the entity that keeps on giving and our world is nothing without you breathing.
Wear your headphones as you walk down a way too narrow North American street and listen to our melodies and remember that your sisters and brothers will never give up on you. Tap to the beat for you are always oh so full of life.
They’ll try to burn your flag; tell them it’s fireproof, and so are you, as you dabke around the fire they’re failing to muster.
Eat less black olives, I heard they make the black hole in your chest even bigger.
You’re lucky to live the struggle, even if you tell yourself a thousand times you’d rather be from somewhere else. I know you fall asleep with a revolutionary smile on your face.
Remind yourself the blood you bleed can never stop. They cannot tell you you are not here.
Raise your sons and daughters with the same smile on their faces. It’s okay if they have their existentially sad days, too.
Take it from me, I’ve felt like a walking paradox gathered from a million places before. I’ve felt helpless before. I’ve felt like growth was a facade caught on an endless loop of lies. But you are nothing but strength, and the brightest of souls rewrite life over and over again because of women like you.
Zeina Jhaish (she/her) is a Palestinian-Canadian poet, educator, and editor for Sumou Magazine. She is an Education student at McGill University with a minor in Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies. Zeina wrote her first poem at 10 and performed poetry for the first time at 15. She resides in Canada and when she is not teaching, she enjoys traveling and anything that has to do with spending time by the ocean.