I have been listening to the F-16 fighter jets flying over the camp this morning. The sounds in the refugee camp have been rumbling around in my head for the last few days. The call to prayer eminating form the mosque next door, the mobile bread vendor who wheels his cart around the streets calling what I here as the word "Pa-ey-ah," the sounds of fireworks in the air as prisoners are released, etc.

But what has really been on my mind lately are the words that come from afar, from one of my Palestinian friends who is traveling in Italy. I will leave it to her to write the rest of this blog entry...

She writes, "It has now been 18 days, far away from my sweet home in the occupied territories of Palestine. Everyday is an exciting experience for me, shaped by personal achievements like improving my patience, accepting new environments and the new faces of people I have known for a long time. In addition I am learning about the Italian culture and life but most importantly I am sharing stories of my own and my colleagues with diverse people here in Italy.

I am happy to be able to spread the word about my life and my community and to find people who want to hear from my colleagues and I. I think that this is what we, as Palestinians, have been lacking, this chance to speak and reflect on the real experience of living under occupation, to tell stories that have not been heard in the western countries.

I have not been surprised when students and others start their questions by asking us about how it is to live in tents in the refugee camps, or people being surprised at how we dress, how we act, at our ability to express ourselves very well. There are these stereotypes about the Arab women. I would be very happy if one person from each meeting thought about what we shared with them, that they understood the need for each individual person's solidarity with Palestinians in these times. It is time to build the popular and grassroots solidarity movement for the Palestinian cause in Europe. This is a lesson we have learned from the struggle of South Africa.

I consider myself a very special and lucky person. These 18 days that I have been outside of the occupied territories was my choice and I have the choice to go back to the occupied territories. Nevertheless I am still not able to go to my original village but I will be able to smell the air of Palestine, to walk on the soil of Palestine. This all makes me very lucky in comparison to some of the Palestinian Refugees living outside the occupied territories, those who were uprooted from their villages in 1948 or 1967. Here in Italy, the Palestinian people we meet are eager to hear anything about the occupied territories, especially the people who are not able to visit the territories; the look in their eyes is the same look when I look towards my village and Jerusalem from the refugee camp where I was born.

Motani (my home) is a song that we repeat all the time while we are here in Italy, a song full of meaning for every Palestinian and Arab. For me, it's very special to express exactly what is in my heart and mind as I pass through here. I miss FALESTIN (Palestine) and am really sad for all the Palestinians who are not able to visit or live in Palestine. "