a palestinian writer of children's books, who had studied in beirut in her youth and is currently living in amman, describes beirut as a charismatic city whose pull emanates from its soul.
after the bombing started, when she finally connected with her friend, nabeeha mheidly, an editor at a publishing house, she learned that nabeeha's entire family is safe, yet her apartment and her office have been blown up by the missiles.
nabeeha said, now, the only memories i have of the apartment are my keys.
the writer's family left lifta in 1948 and never returned. their house, and everything inside, had been taken by the incoming jewish settlers. the writer's 80-year-old mother still has the key to their house, and vivid memories the objects that filled up the inside: tablecloth with lace, photo albums, music records, and so on.
many palestinians still have the keys to their old houses, they hold on to them as evidence of a lost past. they have keys to houses that no longer exist.
Comments