The Young Palestinian

1. The Young Palestinian By: Natalie St. Marie

2. Summery The story I read was about an eleven year old Palestinian girl named Maryam who lives in Bethany, a city in Israel that is filled with Israeli soldiers. She lost her mother in an accident and now stays at her school most of the time. The times she is not there, she is illegally in Jerusalem with her aunt and grandmother. They don’t have the proper papers to go through the checkpoints so they walk many miles across the desert to see each other. The city of Bethany is full of Israeli soldiers that enforce laws. They sometimes have a “curfew” which means everything shuts down. Everyone stays home, everything is closed, and you cant even look out the windows. The Israeli soldiers shoot at many Palestinian people, or put them in jail. Maryam worries that she and her 18 year old aunt, Talal, will be caught and put in prison. She says “ I wish only one thing. I would like to go to heaven. Maybe in heaven there is happiness, after we die. Maybe then. “

3. Questions • Why do the Israeli soldiers not like the Palestinian people? • Where is Maryam’s father? • Why are there so many Israeli soldiers in Bethany? • Why do they sometimes have a curfew? • Why must you have special papers to get across the checkpoints between cities? • Why cant Maryam or Talal get the special papers to cross checkpoints?

4. Answers • The Israeli soldiers do not like the Palestinian people because the soldiers are mostly Jewish and are still angry at the Palestinians for not leaving their land. • I could not find any information on Maryam's father. • There are many Israeli soldiers because they want to show the Palestinian people that they have a higher authority. • I believe that they have a curfew to so dominance over the Palestinian people. • I do not know why they must have special papers to cross checkpoints. • I do not know why Maryam and Talal could not get the proper papers to cross checkpoints.

5. My Reaction When I read this story, I was confused. I didn’t understand why some of these things were happening. I couldn’t wrap my head around the concept of being controlled by people. I didn’t get why she had to stay at school and couldn’t go home. I didn’t know why she couldn’t get the papers or why people would keep her away from her aunt and grandmother. But I was also angry. I thought about having to be her and how frustrated I would get. To have to walk across the desert to get to her aunt, when she could just use the checkpoint if she could get papers. I also didn’t understand why you would have to have a document stating you could go into a city. To me, you should be able to walk there no problem. I was also saddened by the story. Thinking about not being able to legally see my family would be heart breaking. So I had many different reactions to the story, but mainly, I was confused.

6. Do I agree? • Yes I agree with the young person telling my story. She believes that the Palestinians should be treated equally and with respect. I agree. I Think that a persons religion, or beliefs, should not be the reason they fight. I also agree that it is ridiculous that they need special papers to cross the cities boarders.

7. A solution? • I believe that the solution to the problem would be for the Jews and the Palestinians to come to an agreement and finally ‘burry the hatchet’, or settle the agreement. I think that if they look past all of this, they could live together in peace and they could become fa better and happier country.