by Rand Sayej
featured art Richard Marshall
October 2023
Normal
It is normal to think your friend is dead when they do
not pick up.
It is normal to continue work after receiving an “I don’t know if
I’m gonna live until tomorrow” text from
your friend.
It is normal to read a 128-page list of war victims looking for names you recognize
It is normal to become more grateful for your annoying bed and cold home
It is normal to idolize revolutionaries
It is normal to be forgetful
It is normal to joke about war and death
It is normal to get spooked by a balloon pop
It is normal to be jumpy and chaotic
It is normal to go to work and pass by your occupier’s army
It is normal to have never been to Jerusalem
It is normal to have at least one arrest on your record
This is all normal when you are in Palestine
This is all normal when you are a Palestinian
These and more are all normal reactions to an unusual event
However,
Is it normal that after 75 years of an apartheid regime slaughtering Palestinians,
the world is
silent?
About the Author
Rand Sayej is a 26-year-old Palestinian. She is the youngest of four children; she finished her undergraduate studies at Bir Zeit University, Ramallah, Palestine. During her university years, Rand grew interested in the humanitarian structure and the Palestinian cause from a humanitarian point of view. Through volunteering and networking, Rand received many pieces of training in crisis management and emergency navigation, as well as humanitarian structure, signature, and localization, allowing her to employ her knowledge in her career and as a volunteer with many local and international humanitarian organizations. Her art and writings bear witness to a lived human experience through pen and brush. She is captivated by sunsets and Palestinian beauty.
