Life Through Her Eyes: 1

                                                                   Normal

                        It is normal to think your friend is dead when they do

                                                        not pick up. 

                       It is normal to continue work after receiving an “I don’t know if

                       I'm gonna live until tomorrow” text from

                                                           your friend. 

            It is normal to read a 128-page list of war victims looking for names you recognize 

                      It is normal to become more grateful for your annoying bed and cold home 

                      It is normal to idolize revolutionaries 

                      It is normal to be forgetful 

                      It is normal to joke about war and death 

                      It is normal to get spooked by a balloon pop 

                      It is normal to be jumpy and chaotic 

                      It is normal to go to work and pass by your occupier's army 

                      It is normal to have never been to Jerusalem 

                      It is normal to have at least one arrest on your record 

                      This is all normal when you are in Palestine 

                      This is all normal when you are a Palestinian 

                      These and more are all normal reactions to an unusual event 

                                                    However, 

Is it normal that after 75 years of an apartheid regime slaughtering Palestinians, 

                                                  the world is

                                                   silent?

About the Author

Rand Sayej is a 26-year-old Palestinian. She is the youngest of four children; she finished her undergraduate studies at Bir Zeit University, Ramallah, Palestine. During her university years, Rand grew interested in the humanitarian structure and the Palestinian cause from a humanitarian point of view. Through volunteering and networking, Rand received many pieces of training in crisis management and emergency navigation, as well as humanitarian structure, signature, and localization, allowing her to employ her knowledge in her career and as a volunteer with many local and international humanitarian organizations. Her art and writings bear witness to a lived human experience through pen and brush. She is captivated by sunsets and Palestinian beauty.