There was only the warning, the clear threat. The young passport officer who told me this must have not been more than 22. I had no interest in finding out what sort of problems I would face. The message was clear. I was not welcome back.
Nothing is new.
Too many Palestinian generations have swallowed and vomited Israel's arrogance, and for longer than any of us care to remember. Life simply goes on, and so does the resistance and the steadfastness and the immense desire to be free. As I sit on the plane and look down on the white patches of clouds, I imagine that I am a little girl jumping from one cloud to the next. I feel as if the clouds are cushiony cotton that would wrap me in softness. I close my eyes and doze off into a very restless and disturbed sleep.