Finding Muna: A Palestinian Novel

AFTERWORD

The history of Palestine and the illegal occupiers is a topic that society had labeled a controversial issue – a topic which is now seen as taboo, forbidden for anyone to even speak about it, even on social media, where freedom of speech and expressing oneself is being taught. And at this point, people are simply not interested in learning about the history, probably due to the fear of being attacked, or maybe due to lack of time. Some people just take sides based on what other people are doing, while some ignore everything altogether and act indifferent.

Even as this novel has highlighted the sufferings and daily pains and trauma these people have to go through, many of us are still in the dark about what truly caused all of this havoc in the first place, surely, it must have begun from somewhere.

And that is what I'm about to explain in this chapter, in layman's terms – in words everyone would be able to understand hopefully.

I am not speaking based on what I feel must have happened, rather all of what I am about to mention is what I have confirmed from many different sources which can be found and verified online if you have the time. Any mistakes made here are from me which I take complete responsibility for and the story I am about to tell is narrated to the best of my ability.

HISTORY OF PALESTINE AND ISRAEL

Some of the Jewish population arrived in Palestine during the early 1900s after they fled Germany to seek refuge in other countries. The reason for fleeing was due to the horrible holocaust Adolf Hitler committed with regards to them, he treated them inhumanely. Most of them ended up fleeing Germany since they felt like the place was no longer safe for them.

They entered many countries and settled all over the world, and among the countries they sought refuge in was Palestine, which was the most welcoming to them. Everything was going well when they first arrived in the early 1900s, the population of Jews in Palestine was only 3% by 1917 which was the year the Jewish population wanted to create a "Jewish homeland in Palestine" and their wish was supported by Britain which promised to support the creation of this movement.

Later down the years, the Jewish immigration to Palestine skyrocketed which caused tension among them and the Arabs, especially since the reason for a huge increase in the population was because of their wish to have a homeland. By 1936, the Arabs demanded independence, which was suppressed by the British.

Then by 1947, the United Nations' plan to partition the land for both Palestine and Israel triggered the 1948 Palestine attack – the Nakba, which caused the displacement of many Palestinians to many neighboring countries as well as other countries.

After the flight of most Palestinians, the Jewish population had overpowered the Palestinian minority, and then they established most of their territories. They left the Palestinian majority states to the control of the neighboring countries – the Gaza Strip was under the control of Egypt while the West Bank was under the control of Jordan.

In 1967, the Israeli state attacked the Palestinians again for the second time which is called the Naksa, again displacing many Palestinians and expanding their illegal territories. And all of these were happening with the support of the British and the US, suppressing the complaints of the original land owners and supporting the Jewish wish to have a homeland – a country of theirs.

And all of that had happened, with many minor attacks beneath that we don't see on social media, until October 7th happened when a group of individuals decided they'd had enough and retaliated. The Israeli government of course took this as an advantage and made it a useable excuse for them to attack them in the way they are. Tell me, who wouldn't retaliate after 75 years of ongoing oppression? Especially since they are living on their own land like prisoners.

And since October 8th, the Israeli government and their allies have somehow made it believable to some people that the Palestinians are the ones at fault, they are the terrorists while the Israelis are the innocent ones, after all, it is only defending itself and its people.

And up till now, after more than 10 months of nonstop attack, some people still support the oppressor, and even promote and encourage more people to stand on the side of oppression. I intend to change some narrative with this novel, and I hope I have been able to deliver to all of my readers' understanding.

Thank you for reading and may Allah bless you all.