Hisham Awartani
Appearances
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
I think actually her bigger concern was, I think she just wanted me to do physical therapy for as long as I could. It's not that I didn't care about it, but it's something that I felt like, how much is physical therapy going to help if I'm miserable?
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
I mean, I think it's like... Actual policy aside, the feeling that the Israeli government will get, they feel like they've been written more of a blank check than they're already being written. Because policy-wise, if you look at on the ground what will change in terms of material support, it's not like the previous administration was putting any checks.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
I think Israel is just more emboldened with Trump in office.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
It's been good. I have my routine, and the routine is nice. It's like, okay, I think I have things figured out, and like, you know, just go to class, go back to class.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
It was really good. I was afraid that they would have forgotten me, but they didn't. And then, like, one of them was, like, actually even more affectionate because, like, I think she missed me. That's what I hope, so.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
I don't know, maybe it's like naive, but it's like just going back there and like seeing life there being lived as it is. is something that's like mixed annexation and like expulsion, like more concrete idea. Like if you're thinking about the abstract, it's like you worry about it more versus like, okay, like it's going to be like a big logistical issue.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
I guess like what calmed me down is like, wow, like whatever happens, it's going to be really logistically complicated. And I feel like hopefully I'll be able to slip through the cracks. You know, if annexation happens, I can just like take academic leave and then go back home real quick and then like somehow like figure my situation out.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
I have a good idea. It's like, OK, like I take these clothes. I have some medical supplies that I need to always take with me. Books wise, like, yeah, maybe I take like one or two books for the journey. But like I have so many books back home, it's kind of like superfluous. It's like bringing cold to Newcastle.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
I think I told them. I don't know if they thought I was joking or something.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
I think, for better or for worse, Trump think too much about things too far ahead. You know, like annexation, I feel like is like something that now feels more pressing and like salient. But like, I'm not going to think about like it's going to happen like 20 years in the future. In a large part, it's the time frame that lots of these things are working on. Who knows? I'm 21 years old.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
A few times. Like, every time I'm back, I come once.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
In the period of time that I've been alive, it's been a slow push. It's like I'm the frog in the boiling pot.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
Some of them have been teaching for 20, 30 years. Some of them have taught my cousins who are now married and have PhDs and... about getting divorced.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
You don't open a door until the car's parked.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
The head of the school walks up.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
The only time I ever got in trouble for something in school was I installed Counter-Strike on the PCs here. It's not that hard to install. You type in, like, install Counter-Strike 1.6. We used to hang out in the library, too, with the librarian.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
I guess reconnecting with my childhood, seeing the things that are more familiar, it's like, wow, a lot has changed. I kind of drove that home. There are lots of things that are different in my life now, permanently. But, you know. What's the use in kicking yourself over things that have been lost?
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
My main priority at that point was just to call 911. So I tried to, like, open my phone and then, you know, when there's, like, liquid on your phone, it, like, messes up. So I got actually locked out of my phone because I couldn't put in the password right. But then I went, like, to the emergency thing. So I ended up calling 911. I didn't know if I was going to survive.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
Didn't know if my friends were alive. I was like, this is how it ends. I mean, I was like, you know, it was never outside of the realm of possibility for me, for that to happen to me. But I always expected it to be like in the West Bank and never in Burlington.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
I mean, I've always loved history, and archaeology, I feel like, is not a more objective take on history, but it's just another way of looking at things. You know, in history, you often get lost in the big picture of, like, you know, King X declares war and whatever, or, like, larger political systems, whereas in archaeology, it's just more personal.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
It gives you a better idea of how people lived their lives.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
I mean, even beforehand, I was quite a private person, so.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
I don't know. I mean, I hope that just in the future, not that people will forget, but that, I don't know. I'll be able to grow out of it and do things on my own and be known by those things. I'll try to keep a low profile, but it's not that easy in a wheelchair.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
Yeah, especially on Brown Campus.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
It would be very infuriating. It would mean this institution that I'm part of is not only implicit in refusing to condemn what's happening to Palestinian people, but it's also saying it will never condemn. It's basically just throwing the whole nation under the bus.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
I don't know, like, I kind of wish I could be there. Just like... You know, experience it with my family. Like, I don't want to feel like I'm abandoning my family. Maybe it's a bit of survivor's guilt.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
I felt like the time is ticking and that, like, There could be a possibility that some form of annexation happens while I'm outside. And then because I'm outside, I lose my legal status to live in Palestine.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
And then I got home and I, like, collapsed. Literally, like, the second day, I was, like, probably 36 hours just in bed, sleeping.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
I think the past week there have been guests over every single day. And I've had to greet them every single day. So I've had a whole week of not lounging in bed.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
You know, like, annexation, I feel like is, like, like, it's getting worse, but it's not, like, something that's, like, so jarring that's, like... What would be so jarring? Uh... Killing everyone here? Like, I don't know.
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
Well, yeah, because I'm here. The connection is not that home per se will cease to exist. I'll just lose the right to be here. I don't know. It's uncertainty. Would you say so?
The New Yorker Radio Hour
A West Bank Family on the Verge of Annexation
So if they're encouraging people to leave, then they stop people from coming back at some point. But again, because Ramallah is such a bubble, you're kind of sheltered from everything. Because life goes on pretty normally in Ramallah. Definitely from last time, people are more depressed and hopeless and whatever. But in terms of day-to-day livelihood, you feel more unaffected.