Leveling the Playing Field

My friend’s grandfather was a pharmacist in Akka and went to Lebanon to ‘wait out’ the war. My colleague’s family was vacationing in Beirut and wasn’t allowed to return. The young students at the UNRWA school would tell me which cities their families were from in Palestine and ask me if I had been there. Each story mattered.

I was spending two days a week at a school in Sabra, three days a week interning at UNRWA’s main office in Beirut, and was overwhelmed every day with stories of displacement, loss, and discrimination. I would always think of my grandparents, and how they took refuge in a convent during the war- later emerging in “Israel.” To stay, to decide to leave, to be driven out, or to coincidentally be outside of the country -– each would impact generations and how they experienced being Palestinian.

Everything was arbitrary.

In taking everything together, and then wiping away the varying statuses (of nationality, wealth, religion), I thought the only thing that may level the playing field was law. Treating everyone equally, respecting the right of return, etc. etc. Even though I had just finished grad school, I decided that I should eventually pursue a law degree and focus on human rights work. Years after finishing law school, and even more years since my time in Beirut, I am still hopeful – and perhaps naïve – in thinking that the law matters. I still also believe that an individual’s story matters, and an important piece in the same puzzle of where we are now. I am looking forward to hearing more stories in the field and those of the delegates during our trip.