Corporations have colonial instincts; they see the land that has bred my bloodline as nothing but real estate. Image by Oberon Copeland.

It seems like just yesterday, I was on my school’s campus having meetings with administrators, voicing demands to cut ties with Israel. Whether that was cancelling their study abroad trip to Israel or divesting from zionist institutions, the movement to boycott Israel was alive and well years ago – before October 7th, 2023.

Because, as we all know, the occupation and ethnic cleansing of Palestine has been going on for over seven decades, and calls to protest the harrowing actions of Israel have been ongoing for years. However, sometimes it felt like I was screaming into a very scary, very endless void when I would talk about Palestine. I grew up telling the kids at school that I was from Jordan, because every time I said Palestine, I was met with a confused face and a, “What is that?”

When I grew up and learned more about the resilient yet heartbreaking history of my land, every time I tried to talk to someone who wasn’t Muslim or Arab about it, I would be met with the same expressions. The ethnic cleansing of Palestinians has been happening all these years, and just now, are people willing to glance at the bloody history of Palestine – and the ways to free the land that has been shackled in chains for my whole life and beyond.

While the world was sleeping on Palestine, many organizers weren’t. The........

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