America is a country familiar with and accepting of transient lifestyles. It isn’t at all uncommon for our children to grow up and ‘move away.’ Many of us have moved so often in our careers that it’s almost expected that our kids will do the same. For a Palestinian family, however, this is rarely the case. Not only do the children remain at home, often after marriage they build their house on top of their parent’s home.

When Gwynne and I stayed with a Palestinian family last month, they proudly showed us the ‘factory’ on the first floor – the place where they produced the carvings that support their living – as well as their home on the second floor and then the home of one of their children on the third. When you’re ‘land-locked’ you build up, not beside or across town.

And this is why the home demolition program carried out by the Israelis is so devastating. It is not just the loss of property that Palestinians experience, but the loss of identity. Continue reading…