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Never in a million years did I think I would ever be able to write about #Palestine for an outlet like @washingtonpost. And yet today, they published my op-ed about vaccinations in Palestine: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/01/15/israels-vaccine-efforts-are-incomplete-until-they-include-palestinians/
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In 1996, I won my school's history fair in the paper division writing about what I called then "the Arab-Israeli conflict." To be clear, I didn't win because it was any good, but because no one else at my middle school was nerdy enough to submit a paper.
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I remember the quizzical looks from the judges. Why is this little kid writing about, what was even back then, a controversial issue? Because, based on where I was born (Nablus) & what I have seen, I couldn't not. And I know I have privilege living in the United States.
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I know there are people that will have visceral reactions to this piece, many negative. All I ask is that you read it in good faith, which is how I wrote it. This is not an abstract issue to me and many Palestinians in diaspora. This is real, everyday, and painful.
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My father was born in a village in Israel before it was a state. This is not about denying human rights to anybody, but instead asking why we aren't all able to achieve them. I believe this vaccination issue is a straightforward way to express and explore that.
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Many thanks to those who supported me along the way and in this piece. And hey, little 6th grade Yara, keep going (and girl, get contacts, those glasses are terrible).
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