The air was rich with the scent of blooming flowers, and the vibrant colors of the landscape painted a serene backdrop. As she walked along the stone path, the warmth of the sun kissed her cheeks, and the gentle breeze whispered tales of ancient olive trees. This was her father’s garden. It was her home. But there was malice in the distance and it resonated with every creeping sound of violence.
The echoes of the not-so-distant Palestine-Israeli conflict have found their way into the lives of students like Junior Sadeel Jarad. For her, the recent escalation of the Palestinian-Israeli war has brought a flood of emotions in regard to her identity and experiences.
Over the past seventy-five years, the emergence of antipathy between Arabs and Zionists became a very prominent aspect of everyday life in Palestine. Both groups lay claim to the same land, and the conflict revolves around issues such as borders, refugees, the status of Jerusalem, and the establishment of independent states.The roots of the conflict stemmed trace back as far as the 19th and early 20th century when Arab and Jewish national movements emerged retroactively to the decline of the Ottoman Empire. Jewish Diaspora, or the movement of Jewish people, increased after the Balfour Declaration (1917) which was an expression of British support of the Zionist movement. This further cascaded into the Arab-Israeli war (1948-1949) after the UN proposed a partition plan for the land that is Palestine. Peace negotiations have happened intermittently in the time predating October 7, 2023, but a resolution has remained elusive. Jarad came first to the United States from her home town of Ein Yabrud six years ago with her family to pursue her father’s career, however, the conflict never was far from her mind.
“Palestine has been at war for seventy years, so this is not new for us,” Jarad said, “For Palestine, this is not a surprise.”
For Jarad, the typical day in her hometown was filled with the sounds of distant gunshots. One of Jarad’s most distinct memories of life under Israeli subjection was the abduction of young boys from their families. She remembers the armored trucks that would patrol the streets. According to Jarad, the only protection she or her neighbors had were rocks that they would pile and hurl at the vehicles, which hardly did anything to defy the organized military of Israel. Additionally, she remembers the twenty-six foot wall that prevented any Palestinans from traveling to visit family on the other side. Despite the difficulty, Jarad believes in the resilience and pride of her country.
“In the end, we won’t give up no matter what our situation is. We’re not going to lose hope. One day, we are going to live in peace, in the country of Palestine. We will be able to pray peacefully with the sound of birds singing, children playing outside happily, and families will be able to sleep, not fearing sudden death, and will be able to wake the next morning with all their family members. Even if the whole world stood against Palestinian people, even if they had the strongest weapon or the largest amount of money, we as Palestinains have something better and stronger which is Allah.”
In the United States, Jarad found herself in a unique position to engage with students with a western perspective. She realized that many of her peers were unaware of the complexities of both Israel-Palestine conflict and Islam. Through open and honest conversations, she aimed to dispel stereotypes, provide a voice for the Palestinian people, and foster understanding among her friends and fellow students.
“People are actually seeing me. They want to learn more about me, they want to learn more about who I am when I wear the hijab, they want to know what I believe in, and it’s always a nice experience,” Jarad said, “It’s a nice experience for me to teach.”
For now, Jarad and her family will take up residence in Northwest Arkansas. However, Jarad’s ambitions to help her country are unrelenting. She wishes to continue her highschool education here before pursuing a career in the medical field. It is her, as well as her family’s, dream to return to their home. From there, she wishes to attend a palestinian university for her post secondary education. The goal is to not only pursue a higher education but also to serve her people and provide aid.
For me, to learn about medicine is specifically to help my country, my beautiful, brave country.” Jarad said, “I always wanted to do something like that and my dad, he recommended me to do something in medicine. For example, like a field doctor or travel nurse, and that’s what I’m looking forward to.”
While Sara may be physically distant from the West Bank, her heart and mind remain closely tied to her family’s homeland. She believes that her journey of education and empathy has the potential to create ripples of change, even from thousands of miles away. She hopes that her efforts, alongside those of other young Palestinians in the diaspora, can contribute to fostering understanding and peace in a region that has long yearned for it.
“Now because the world has awakened finally. People are trying to protest and trying to show support for what’s right when we are trying to talk about it.”