Assalamu 'Alaikum, friends. In an attempt to showcase more Palestinian voices on my platform (as promised before), I conducted a couple of interviews.

For the first interview, meet LeenaMustafa6, Palestinian living in Jordan. She's the author of Diaries of Palestine on Wattpad and Kobo, Mysterious Prodigy on Pinkverse app.

If you're unaware of the situation in Palestine (sis, do you live under a rock?), head on over to this website to get introduced to the ongoing genocide of Palestinians.

Website: https://www.thepalestineacademy.com

Palestinian accounts to follow on Instagram:

@motaz_azaiza
@hindkhoudary
@princekouta
@wizard_bisan1
@byplestia

Feel free to mention more accounts in the comments.

K: Assalamu 'Alaikum. Hope I find you in good health.

L: Walaikum Assalam.

K: Alright, so let's start the interview with the basics. Name, age and location - however much you are comfortable to share.

L: My name is Leena Mustafa, I'm 22 years old and I live in Jordan.

K: Where is your family originally from?

L: I was born in Amman, Jordan but I'm originally from Palestine, though I have never been to my village. My grandparents left Palestine in 1967 after the war that went on for 6 days. My grandfather left his village to fight with the Arab army. After the war, he got stuck in Jordan and the settlers didn't allow him to return. When he tried to cross the borders with his brother-in-law, the Israeli shot them. My grandfather wasn't hurt but his brother-in-law died.

After that my grandfather stayed in Jordan. My grandmother left the village to live with him in Jordan. They allowed people to escape Palestine but no one was allowed to return. That's why she had to leave to be with her husband.

My Aunt was able to return to our village because she got married to her cousin who was born in Palestine and never left, but the rest of us was not able to. One of my uncles visited Palestine once and he prayed in Al Aqsa mosque but he was only able to visit for a day.

K: What's your aunt's situation like back in Palestine?

L: It's hard, she's in West Bank and life there is very hard. People lack the basic things we take for granted. Life there is one of suffering. The Israelis arrest anyone, anytime, anywhere. You can't pray in Al Aqsa in peace. They break into your house in the middle of the night. A 30 minutes trip takes hours because of the check posts on the roads.

K: The stories I have heard about life in Palestine so far sounds straight out of some dystopian universe. I can't believe this has been their life for generations. May Allah grant them ease.

Could you give us more insight into your thoughts regarding the current situation of Palestine?

L: It can't be described in a few words, I need an article.

Every Palestinian outside of Palestine feels like a coward for surviving and carrying on with his/her life while his/her people are there fighting for freedom and survival. Our life consists of two things: guilt and racism. On one hand, we face racism and hate in the hands of Zionists. On the other, we blame ourselves for surviving.

We keep thinking that this could have been me, this should have been me, I should be there, why am I not there?

I finally got a job during the temporary ceasefire. I thought that the war will end after the pause so I applied for a job. Then the war resumed and it got worse. Now I feel guilty everyday for carrying on with my life while my people are suffering and there is nothing I can do.

K: I don't think anyone can say this enough, but it's infuriating that Palestinians are going through so much and no world leaders are stepping up.

L: Honestly, I feel like I don't deserve to call myself a Palestinian because I'm only Palestinian by blood, I feel like I don't deserve to call myself a Palestinian because I've never knew or experienced their suffering.

K: I can speak mostly on my behalf, and I think many people can relate, but I understand the guilt you're talking about to some extent. As a Muslim, to see our brothers and sisters in Faith suffering to this extreme while we sit at the comfort of our homes feels so wrong. I can't imagine the extent to which Palestinians living abroad are suffering from survivor's guilt - especially those of you who have family back home. May Allah make it easy for you.

L: I really wish I could go back to my grandfather's land. It's still there, my aunt preserves it. We still have so much of the land and many olive trees. In shaa Allah one day we will return.

My mother's uncles used to live in Jordan and they were able to return. I don't know how but somehow they managed to get back legally. Maybe because his wife has Israeli ID because she was born in occupied Palestine.

Not many people know this but the Palestinians who stayed in the occupied Palestine all has Israeli passports and Israeli ID. Not because they are traitors but because they refused to leave so they had to live under the occupation.

I made a bet with my dad that if Hamas succeeded we will return and live there.

K: May Allah grant it for you. I bet Israel made them revoke their original passports and gave them Israeli ones to be able to continue with their plan to wipe out Palestine from the map. If this doesn't prove that it was never about self defense but always an attempt at ethnic cleansing I don't know what will!

Now, I would like to discuss Hamas, if you're comfortable with it. This group has been a matter of so much speculation and controversy. I'm curious to know how regular Palestinians view Hamas. I know mainstream media continues to portray them as terrorists. What is your stance on them?

L: About 90% or 99% of Palestinians in Jordan and the people of Jordan support Hamas, all Arabs support Hamas. It's only the governments that don't. We don't care what the UN thinks, Hamas are our resistance fighters, they are our heroes. I'm sure you saw the videos where the people of Palestine express their support for Hamas.

K: I haven't, actually. Most journalists I follow avoid any mention of them. And I understand why. I'm afraid if anyone, who is currently in occupied Palestine, publicly speaks up about Hamas then IDF will use it as an excuse to arrest them.

I completely agree with you there, I believe Hamas is a resistance group that is being portrayed as a terrorist organization. Every nation has a right to defend itself. It's beyond frustrating that every time an Arab tries to do it (or even retaliate against the oppression of the West), they're portrayed as terrorists. So much so, we became desensitized to the notion over the years.

I want to take the interview in a bit of a different direction. So what was your reaction when you saw that the genocide in Palestine was getting so much coverage on social media, but there were still people denying it? Mainstream media continues to paint Palestinians as terrorists and US still backs up Israel? Were you shocked?

I mean, I have been aware of the situation of Palestine since 2012. I have been sharing content since then. I personally always thought if the mainstream media caught on the real news, there will be actual change. I mean, world leaders can't commit genocide in broad day light. I realize now how naive I was. So yeah, what are your thoughts on that?

L: Good question, I have been talking about it for years and many people, especially Europeans, never took us seriously. They believed we were lying because their media, especially BBC and CNN, controlled the narrative to fit the Isreali agenda. Honestly, I reached a point where I no longer care what people think, I think that victory is all that matters whether the world believes us or not. I was actually shocked when people started supporting Palestine after the 7th of October.

We never thought we would see a day when our voice will finally be heard. We believed in victory for sure, but we believed that Allah will grant us victory against Zionists. We believed victory doesn't necessarily come with everyone's support.

K: I think this is the only good thing that came out of this whole thing. The broadcasting of the genocide publicly showed just how much media was brainwashing us and has changed people's view on Muslims and Arabs. Like I said previously, we had become desensitized, this Palestinian cause shook the ummah awake. And true that, real victory comes from Allah. And I think we saw a reflection of that mentality across Palestinians from all the videos circulating. I think when you've suffered as much as they have, you quickly learn that in this dunya the only One you can rely on is Allah.

Have you had any contact with your family on West Bank? If so when's the last time you did it?

L: I talk to them often, I talked to my Aunt last week, I think.

K: Could you give us some insight on what's happening in the West Bank? The more popular journalists are from Gaza. That's where we're getting the most updates from.

L: There are many things happening. For instance, yesterday the people of Jerusalem were able to pray Jumma prayer in Al Aqsa mosque for the first time since the 7th of October. They attack worshipers in Al Aqsa mosque on a daily basis. They harass school girls and kidnapped many students from their school. They killed over 300, I think, in the West Bank, since the 7th of October. They arrest little kids for throwing rocks. The youngest child Israel has ever arrested was only 3 years old.

K: That's heartbreaking. How unfair is it that we live in a world where in one part even animals have rights, but on the other, even children don't. I say it from the bottom of my heart - I pray Allah grants the people of Palestine ease, end their suffering and reward them for every single affliction.

You mentioned people were allowed to pray in Al Aqsa for the first time. Could you elaborate on that? How did they get the opportunity to pray? What happened next?

L: People of Jerusalem are always gathered in Al Aqsa everyday and in every occasion. Since the 7th of October, Isreal has prohibited people from praying there. They are preparing to destroy Al Aqsa, that's why the 7th of October happened, to prevent them from destroying the holy mosque.

Isreal has been harassing the people of Jerusalem for years, the people of Jerusalem faces the oppression of the occupation daily and they have bravely dealt with them for years. There are women and children who protect Al aqsa simply by praying there and refusing to leave.

K: Is there anything else you would like to add?

L: Yes, something very important. This is an Islamic cause, the proof is in the fact that people converted to Islam after witnessing the Faith of Palestinians. This is about Faith in Allah and a fight against satan and oppression. People sometimes forget that and makes it seem like we are only fighting against western imperialism for political reasons and call it a CONFLICT. It's not a conflict, it's a war between right and wrong, between the oppressed and oppression, the people of Islam and the people of Zionism.

We shouldn't forget that the people who died and the people who are fighting are doing that for Al Aqsa mosque and for Islam. Israel is trying to destroy Al Aqsa. Al Aqsa is in danger more than ever and all Muslims must unite to protect it.

K: Alright, thank you so much for sitting with me. I truly appreciate you making the time. It's admirable that you feel as strongly as you do about your people and land even thought you've never visited it, and that you continue to fight for it. May Allah accept from you and me.

This interview was conducted on 10 December, 2023.