People often ask me how and when did I get involve in plight of Palestinians, privately I have answered that question but I think it is time to tell the story publicly.
It was 1982 and I just graduated from University and have started my first job and that was in Pennsylvania.
I was using public transportation commuting back and forth to work and there were a few faces that I would see every morning and every afternoon sharing the same public transit so etiquette dictated offer of a smile and a quick hi. Among these few faces was a young girl, same age as me around 20, very pretty and with a bright and ever present smile. I don't remember if it was me or her who initiated a conversation but we became friend. She asked me where I was originally from and I asked her likewise. She said she was from Palestine.
I knew of Palestine growing up, every evening watched the news of the Arab/Israeli conflict with my late grandmother growing up in Tehran, it was era of Moshe Dyan and Golda Meir and I remembered my grandma's tearing eyes but were too young to know what she was crying about.
Suad became my first Palestinian friend, she told me that she came to the States with her mom in a prior year after living in Jordan for few years as a refugee. I asked her how did she end up in Jordan, and she told me the story that was utterly shocking to me at the time but have become a common place story 35 years later.
As it happened Suad who had lost her dad when she was young was living with her mom and as she explained there was a knock on their door one night and they were told by an Israeli soldier that they have to move by the next day.
She said a similar notification were issued to the whole neighborhood and that is what they did, just packed a small suitcase and left before dawn leaving everything behind! They'd eventually ended up in Jordan and lived there for few years till her brother who was living in the US (Pennsylvania) arranged for them to come to the States. She considered herself lucky, she'd learned English and found a job.
I on the other hand could not wrap my head around what she had gone through, it was unimaginable story to me, a twenty year old girl. Needless to say Suad's story has forever changed me. I got to know her mom, her brother, got to taste her mom's fabulous cooking of wonderful Palestinian cuisine and when my mom came to the States to visit me, we invited Suad and her family for some Persian food.
It was through Suad that I learned about perseverance, resilience, and hope. She thought me beauty of life as well as ugliness of human beings. I became Suad, I became a Palestinian, and see Suad in every Palestinian face even since then.
We stayed in touch for a long time even after I moved to California but while I eventually lost touch with Suad I did not lose touch with Palestine. For the last 35 years I have been the voice and plight of Suad. Long Live Palestine.
Susan Neven - 11 Aug 2017
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