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maureen davidson's avatar

Thank you, Carolyn, for this elegant and passionate piece. I feel another kinship with you!

I almost married a Palestinian man when I was still in college--and he is still my friend. My parent's families both came from Ireland, we, however are Scottish. My Catholic family were aghast at my relationship with Ricardo (his family were relocated when he was a kid, to Columbia where he was brought up. His father had been the mayor of Ramallah and ended up the mayor of a city in Columbia. Ricardo did not practice a Muslim faith but was very political and very smart, and passionately against the Catholic church because of its oppressive practices in South America. And he was dark--phew it was a lot for my family to compute!) but Ricardo overcame my father's prejudice by telling him stories of the oppression of his people and the consequences of their resistance. My soft-spoken, humorous, always-gentle father remembered hiding in the hedgerows and taking shots at the Black and Tans when he was a kid visiting his Irish father's family farm, where he would work every summer. He told Ricardo of our family hero, Dixie McFarlaine, some kind of great uncle, the right hand of O'Connell. My dad was a devout--even you could say "holy"--man but our family had been in the IRA during The Troubles.

I do think there is a kinship between the Irish and the Palestinians. Shared sorrow at the loss of a homeland, oppression, and for so many, dire poverty--my grandfather was the youngest son on an Irish farm. Enough said.

Thank you!

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Laura Davis's avatar

Carolyn, I am so moved by this piece and by your passionate commitment and love for all the diverse cultures of the people in your family. I didn't know about the bond between the Irish and the Palestinians until I read your piece--the similarity of their struggles for independence and freedom from a colonial oppressor. I appreciate your careful, clear laying out the facts as well as the emotional bonds with your family that have brought you deeply into compassion and commitment to the Palestinian people and their cause. I am Jewish by birth and ancestry and have a daughter whose partner is Palestinian, so I resonated deeply. Thank you for your courageous, important, compassionate words.

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