TARIQ

“I come from a family of warriors who fought to protect our land. My father knew there would be many battles with the Israelis and he raised us as soldiers. I carried my first weapon at seven years old.

What did I get for fighting for this land? Nothing. I was in jail. My sister was in jail. My wife was in jail. When my father was 75, he was in jail. All for fighting for this land. For the first time in my life I feel like I have good luck because with my boys in jail now, I know at least they won’t be killed during this Intifada. When I go to jail to visit them, I tell them what their grandfathers have done, what I have done, and what they have done, has gotten us nothing. We are worse off than before. We did not get peace. We did not get our land. What did I get for losing my son, my brother and at least seven other family members?

The truth is, the years since 1948 have been a nakba (catastrophe) for both Israelis and Palestinians. We have both lost time to live like normal people, we have both lost our children and we have both lost our lands.

This land is very important to me because my father, his father, and his grandfather were born here. But I looked at the price I am paying for my dreams of this land, and the price of losing a son is too much. From this, I realized that the Palestinians have to sit down with the Israelis and search for peace. Peace is more important than land.”