A preposition for a new country: Palisrael..by me

Recently, after constantly explaining to whoever I am speaking to that I am from both Israel and Palestine, that I speak both Arabic and Hebrew, that I can somewhat move around in those two places and yet not quite, I decided to call where I am from Palisrael.

Of course, the majority of people shot the idea of this dream down. "Impossible. People cannot forgive, then they forget, and nobody can forget, anything."

Maybe, I think to myself, I am too progressive, and too much of a dreamer, as I always have been, in anything that I do. Still, most of my life, I have never fully known what rights and basic existence taken for granted by others mean. Hence, much like most of my life has been spent in dreams about what it would be like some day, I add another dream to the pile: Palisrael.

The citizens of this country, that is for now a one person country, had to have sat with Jewish settlers, Palestinian Hamas supporters and members, gone to settlements, to refugee camps, celebrated passover, el eid and easter, had shabbat meals, did iftar, learned to speak both Arabic and Hebrew, found themselves the only arabic speaker amongest a group of hebrew speakers, found themselves the only Hebrew speaker amidst a group of Arabic speaker, and if not either, found themselves to be minority at any event. had to listen without giving final solutions, observed and watched silently, or actively taking pictures, writing or buildling, felt a deep sense of injustice and yet frusteration, anger and yet continued to dream, of something beyond borders and pragmatisms, felt rejected at one event or the other, and constantly felt had to prove they belonged.

So this is where I am from: life experiences are the passport that anyone can bring to this country of mine.