The Story Behind
the Book

I grew up hearing stories about a place I had never seen.

Palestine lived in my grandmother’s memories, in family gatherings, and in the stories passed from one generation to the next. It existed in photographs, in old keys, in accents that softened with time, and in the longing that seemed to follow every conversation about home.

As a Palestinian growing up in the diaspora, I often felt caught between two worlds—deeply connected to a homeland I loved, yet separated from it by distance.

For years, I carried questions I did not know how to answer. How do you miss a place you have never been? How do you explain loving a land that lives mostly in stories? How do you hold on to an identity that stretches across oceans and generations?

Stuck Between the Olive Trees was born from those questions.

What began as scattered thoughts and late-night reflections slowly became poetry. Writing gave me a way to preserve memories that were never fully mine, yet somehow felt like they belonged to me. It became a way to honor my family, my heritage, and the generations who carried Palestine in their hearts long before I was born.

Through poetry and illustrations, this book explores identity, belonging, grief, resilience, family, faith, and the complicated experience of growing up between cultures. It is a collection of the feelings that often go unspoken—the ache of distance, the beauty of remembrance, and the hope of staying connected to where you come from.

This book is my love letter to Palestine.

It is also a love letter to my father, my family, and to anyone who has ever searched for home within themselves.

If these pages make someone feel seen, understood, or a little less alone in their story, then this book has fulfilled its purpose.