Last night and while I was watching TV after an exhausting day, I happened to watch Fadi Andrawos’ latest video clip: “Falastine w Lebnan“, i.e. Palestine & Lebanon; an extremely outstanding song addressing the “double identity” issue that irritates so many on this planet, especially if this double identity included the word Palestinian. I LOVED the song, adored the lyrics as well as the music, and I was so impressed that someone finally talked about this, in the most artistic and peaceful way ever.

Many people of Palestinian heritage agree with me that we’ve had about enough being blamed of disloyalty, ungratefulness and playing the “double identity” card. Actually I believe no one really realizes how damn hard it is to be of a ‘Palestinian origin’, and even worse, to hold a certain passport from any country around the world while being of a ‘Palestinian origin’.

If a Palestinian introduces himself as a Palestinian with a certain passport, citizens of the country of this certain passport would consider him an ungrateful hateful individual who’s trying not to belong to that country or mix with its people. And if a Palestinian introduces himself as a certain national, not mentioning that he’s originally Palestinian, then his fellow Palestinians will consider him a weak individual who’s ashamed of his own roots and who’s trying to be someone else.

It never really occurred to any person who has no Palestinian roots whatsoever, that being Palestinian is a big responsibility and is something that will get you in trouble in many parts of the world. And it never occurred to anyone that it’s not just citizens that make it hard for anyone with Palestinian roots to simply be some other national but it’s also the governments. It doesn’t matter what passport you’re holding, if you dare not mention that you have Palestinian blood running in your veins then you’re simply being manipulative and will have a big question mark haunting you wherever you go for the rest of your life.

This fact becomes clearer and clearer the older you get, the more you travel, and the more places you live. You’ll witness how even your non-Palestinian passport wont save you the suffering other “less fortunate” Palestinians -who were never able to get another passport- go through, simply because it doesn’t matter to them what you hold, you’ll still be a Palestinian… a synonym for refugees, suicide bombers, or whatever it is that makes us so damn threatening.

Anyway, what I came to learn -the hard way if I may add- is that no one will be happy no matter what you say or how you introduce yourself, so I always introduce myself as Palestinian-Jordanian, or a Jordanian of Palestinian origin. And I INSIST people introduce me the very same way, because I’m proud of being both. And I don’t get it, I mean why do people think that being both is impossible? that I must be one OR the other? that I can’t love being both, be proud of being both, be loyal to both, and simply belong to both? why is that so hard to understand?

Palestine is a part of me, just like Jordan has become an inseparable part of me as well; Palestinian blood runs in my veins, just like Jordan runs in my veins too; Palestine is my homeland, just like Jordan is the land that became my home.

Having what some choose to call a “double identity” is one of the most enriching and one of the coolest things ever, once you learn to accept it and know how to deal with it, and know how to love both your identities equally. So yes, I’m blessed with a double identity, and I’m so proud of it, and will keep putting up with the world’s denial until they too realize that it’s not something to be ashamed of, nothing to be afraid of, it’s just how we are, and how we’ll always be.