Today, the 29th of November, is the international days for solidarity with the Palestinians. It is funny, because the GA chose this date to coincide with the date of issuing GA resolution 181 which is the first international resolution about the situation in Palestine calling for a two state solution. Of course, the coincidence is in itself a confession that the problems here, if not started, were exacerbated by that resolution.
I remember seeing a poster once it had four pictures and they said: The English have a country, it is called England; The Jordanians have a country, it is called Jordan, and the Japanese have a country it is called Japan. But the Palestinians don't have a Palestine.
However, I have to disagree quoting Edward Said, where he says that Palestine although does not exist on geography maps is engraved in the collective memory of the Palestinian people. That is why every Palestinian writer, poet, intellectual whatever his field is has a hint of Palestine in his words. That is also why, no matter how far away we go, there is a nostalgic rememberance of "Il-blad" even for those who have never seen it. That is why, seeing the Gulf of Haifa and the intrusion of mount Carmel into the see from the air sends such a rush into my body everytime I fly over Palestine. It is really an image we were raised up with, one very hard for us to imagine giving up... Not because we want to exclude others, but because we want to be included in what is ours.