Ibtisam Barakat

This page is available to subscribers. Click here to signin or get access. The author with schoolchildren from Jalazone refugee camp, Palestine, November 2019 / Photo courtesy of Ibtisam Barakat In this lyrical essay, a Palestinian American author narrates how a fifth-grader’s question—“Can you teach us how to fill our hearts with hope?”—led her to create numerous children’s books.

Growing up in Palestine, in the city of Ramallah on the West Bank, I learned about voting by watching the television series Little House on the Prairie. In the show’s third season, there was a school election. Nellie, a wealthy, arrogant figure, ran against Mary, who was popular, and Elmer, who was quiet and kind. Over the course of the election, the students formed alliances, used persuasion and deception, and held parties. Some used threats. Money, gumballs, and popcorn prizes were deployed.

World / Never letting children endure war again is the “never again” that might actually heal our wounded humanity. Ad Policy The violence in Gaza may have started on October 7, 2023 for Israel and for the world. But for Palestinians it started 75 years ago, and never stopped. My Palestinian mother is 79 years old. She grew up in Jerusalem. Seventy-five years ago, she was 4 years old, and Israel drove her, her family, and all of her village out of their homes, which they would never see again.