I am a Palestinian from my father’s side of the family and this month, I moved to Palestine. I was educated in France, worked in international organizations in a European and then an East African country, and also have lived in South America. Many of my colleagues, friends and acquaintances have no ties to the Holy Land. But they care and fantasize about it too. Therefore, during the many friendly discussions with people around me about why I was moving there, what it meant, how it would be, I found myself answering the same questions over and over again prompted by candid and genuine curiosity.

I was not necessarily expecting so many of these questions would be recurring. While they could be considered basic for some of us Palestinians and people who follow the situation on the ground, they made me realize how uninformed most people are (educated, well-read citizens from North America, Europe, Latin America and Africa) about what it means to be Palestinian in relation to our country (i.e territory), Palestine.

By Palestine, I mean the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), including the West Bank, Gaza and East-Jerusalem. (see interactive map to locate territory, settlements, barriers etc.)

During these conversations, I wish I had a simple leaflet I could hand to my interlocutors that would lay out the answers I end up diligently repeating.

This is where the idea of this FAQ emerged. 

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