I see myself in Shereen Abu Akleh. My dream was to be an investigative journalist and to specialize in cases that keep me close to humanity and how much closer can one get to Palestine. My father was too worried about this dream of mine and advised me against it, fearing I too would face the same destiny that Shereen has faced and that my life would be taken by my oppressor in Jenin.

And you tell me it's not personal.

I see myself in every mother in Gaza, worried sick about her children. Worried that their hunger and sickness will pass by this sick world's blind eyes and deaf hearts. I see my child's terrified eyes in the eyes of every child in Gaza. Living an unspeakable, impalpable fear that you could touch through your phone's screen. January nights are the worst because how warm can a tent make your tiny body feel when your mother was martyred two days ago?

And you tell me it's not personal.

I hear myself in my cousin's voice. The one who lives in Nablus. She wakes up everyday, not knowing what this life will offer. Yet she perseveres and prays for a free homeland. One that will allow her to move from one city to another without the tyranny of checkpoints but with the deft swiftness of a mighty eagle, recently released from captivity.

And you tell me it's not personal.

I see my father's face in the wrinkles of a Palestinian man, sitting beside the rubble of his home. The one that he spent his lifetime building to know his children are safe and secure. But this world has buried the safety and security under the rubble along with the children.

And you tell me it's not personal.

I see my mother's resilience and my grandmother's power and pride in the women of Palestine, carrying their child in one hand and a freshly pressed bottle of olive oil in the other after spending the harvest season reaping the fruits of their labor all year. I see them until I hear gunshots shattering all that I see.

For decades, all we have received was injustice, death, displacement, oppression, and heartache. And every time they tried to end us, we have returned with strength, resilience, power, and determination. Every soul-shattering experience we have witnessed and survived has given us more of a reason to be Palestine. They try to erase our history and try to steal who we are, but the world sees them for what they are; cowards.

Our bond to our land is stronger than ever and no matter what our oppressors think they are doing to us, we will rise because we are the truth.

This is most certainly, personal...