Anna Baltzer writing from Nablus, Palestine: Existence is Resistance (excerpts below)
My last day in Nablus I got to discover another one of the city’s gems: An-Najah University. I immediately took to the old architecture mixed with modern sculptures on the main campus, but what inspired me most was watching thousands of students return to the frantic bustle of daily university life so soon after soldiers had released the city from hostage. Resilience is a defining character of Palestinian identity in my experience, and I was more impressed than surprised to see Palestinians asserting their determination to get an education even in the most difficult circumstances. Just another example of the ever-pervasive Palestinian nonviolent resistance.
Addawiya told me she wanted to leave as we were walking back from her groves. I asked her where, and she told me it didn’t matter — she wasn’t going anywhere. “Because no country will give you a visa?” I asked, and she shook her head. “Because that’s what they want us to do. They want us to flee as we did in 1948, so that the Jewish National Fund can again expropriate our land and reserve it for Jews only. But I won’t leave. I will stay here because it’s my right and it’s my duty, to myself and to my children.” For Addawiya, even staying in her village and working her land is nonviolent resistance, the kind almost every Palestinian partakes in. It’s not the type of resistance that will make it onto headlines or the six o’clock news, but it is there, it is strong, and it is not going away.
Addawiya’s answer is what you will hear from every child, woman, and man in occupied Palestine.
