Italian | Palestinian
My Mum is from Palestine and my Dad is from Florence, Italy. Both my parents are very family centered and they wanted me and my brother to have strong connections to both sides of our family, so we travelled to Italy and the Middle East often whilst growing up. This meant that I got to experience different cultures and countries from a young age which I am grateful for. I think they managed quite well as I’ve always experienced openness and love from both sides of the family and never noticed much contrast, as they are both from close-knit, vibrant families. People were often confused about my ethnicity when I was growing up and I was sometimes confused about where I fitted in, particularly at school. Some of the most difficult challenges I’ve faced though, are relating to my Palestinian heritage, as many people I’ve come across either don’t know what or where it is or dismiss me as just Italian without desiring to find out more. I’ve even been told that Palestine doesn’t exist anymore which is upsetting. That has frustrated me growing up as I’ve always been taught to love and respect other people’s backgrounds and naturally expect the same treatment back. What I’ve learnt from that is that everyone is on their own journey of discovery and that you can’t take certain opinions too personally. I have visited both my native countries and I love embracing the family routes. It’s interesting to see how different the culture is compared to being raised in western society; I’m quite lucky that I can be more outspoken and have more freedom to express myself than in some parts of the Middle East where there are a lot of restrictions especially for young people and women. It’s good to see things improving though and women start to be more vocal and present in their communities. If I was born again, I would return as myself, only bilingual, as I think if I was fluent in both my native languages, it would brighten my communication skills, and I’d be even more connected to my roots.
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