Dec. 6, 2025

Since I left Gaza in November 2023, my life has been defined by visa rejections and endless hours waiting in airport lines. I watch people behind the counters staring at my Palestinian passport with confusion, often having to “call for help” just to process it.

I’ve learned to explain the details automatically: “My name is Plestia, Rana is my mother’s name. Yes, on Palestinian passports, we include our mother’s name.” One rejection after the other; I am stuck in Gaza, I am stuck outside. Where are #Palestinians supposed to go? We are pushed out of our own land, then met with locked doors everywhere else.

In my homeland, I’m trapped by bombs. Outside, I’m trapped by identity. The world is shrinking for Gazans

Sometimes I feel like the world is more afraid of me as a Palestinian refugee than it is afraid of the genocide and wars that create refugees in the first place

^{Plestia Alaqad (The Guardian)}