EGYPT: When I was a kid, when I grew up and when I grew up more.......

When I was a kid, I loved to sing:"Biladi, Biladi, Biladi, Laki hubbi wa fou'aadi/My country, my country, my country, to thee I dedicate my love" and  "Allahu-Abar, Allahu-Akbar, Allahu-Akabr Fawka Kydil-Mu'tadi/God is great, God is great, God is greater that the beguiling of the aggressor".

When I was a kid, I walked along the bank of the Nile river holding my school book in my hand; open. 

When I was a kid, I loved to listen to the pipe-tunes of the shepherd singing while looking after their flocks "Zara'tu Lawla Fi wadi kaan, Teli'eli yareet/I saw an IF in the valley of IT HAS BEEN, and there grew I WISH IT WERE". 

Palestinian shepherd

When I was a kid, I did not purchase a kite and fishing rod. I made them. And beside my grandfather "Sakiyah" (water wheel) I sat fishing. The sound of the ancient irrigation tool; a device to scoop the Nile water from the Nile river accompanied by the sound of the water being poured for the of the green wide expand of the land, was fell on my ears like a sweet melody. The  "Shadouf" going up and down in movements similar to a faithful preying to Almighty God, thrilled me. The white cranes on the fertile black earth looked like like gems scattered on a large piece of silk. And I used to be thrilled.

Egyptian Sakiyah

When I was a kid, The smell of the Alfalfa flowers, of the orange, of the lemon, of the mango stroke my nose and I dazed on inhalation.

Alfalfa field

When I was a kid, my grandmother told me stories...stories that made me live in in the shadow of a dune in Arabia, In a Palestine's olive grove and orange ranches, under a ceder tree in Lebanon, or a palm-tree in Baghdad, in the moon and the stars.

Palestinian

olive grove in the West Bank

When I was a kid, I swam in the Nile river and basked under the sun. When I was a kid, I loved everything about Egypt, my beloved country. And then I grew up.

When I grew up, I became an avid reader of Nagib Mahfouz, Ar-Raf'e'ee, the Taymour brothers, Bakatheer. I loved  classics and modern poetry. I loved history; ancient and modern. My hatred towards Israel's doing to the Palestinians grew more and more. It became a constant bitterness up my throat. And then I grew up more.

When I grew up more, in three decades, I witnessed Egypt falling gradually at the hands of three clowns: Nasser, Sadaat, and Mubarak. And then I decided to leave.

When I left Egypt, and as old as I have become, my love to my beloved is still young. It never ceased. 

In my exile by choice I am always thinking about those who are in exile by force; the Palestinian diaspora. The Palestinians "exiled" out of their home every day in Israel. I do feel their sufferings and yearning to return. They and I have the right to return.

 Abu Yousef, a Palestinian living in Jordan is still keeping the keys to his house in his country' Palestine.

ABOVE: a Palestinian. His house has been demolished like hundreds of other houses.

BELOW: a Jewish settlement built at the expenses of the above.

Egyptians, shake off the shackles,  break up the bond; the chains! Rise as the giant you are! Don't say "enough is enough", but act as "actions speak louder than words". So said your ancestors.

 Egyptians, 

shake off the shackles! Break the bonds!

Wake up, Egyptians!