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WHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY HE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SHE’SWHY HE’SWAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...WAITING...HE young man waiting in line atthe border looks arabi like theothers.

in the long line of robes and Mahmoud Faria’s printed shirt,hip-hop jeans and trendy loafersstand out.en we greet him “Marhaba!”, the

ard Arabic greeting, “Wasssup?”e reply.

enty-year-old Mahmoud, we finda Palestinian who grew up in

S.hmoud’s parents were refugees

moved to the US when he wasths old.

Today, he is going home for the firsttime in his life.

“Man, I’m feeling kinda nervous,”says Mahmoud.

 When horizon of Palestine loomsup at the bus windscreen, Mahmoudraises his glasses on top of hisforehead.

The horizon is beige, rocky andbarren.

But Mahmoud says this is “the mostbeautiful place in the world”.

Strange.Mahmoud lives in Florida.Florida is Miami, Daytona,

Disneyland and Key Largo.

It’s where Americans go to party and retire.But Mahmoud says that in the US,

“I ain’t got no self-respect.”

 A few days after the 9/11 attacks,his mother was waiting in line at asupermarket when someone shouted,“Hey, get that terrorist out of the line.”

Last year, Mahmoud decided he would come back to see his roots.

 Why? Weren’t you living the American Dream, I ask.

“I was living like a king, yes,” saysMahmoud, who owns a clothing store.“But a king in a foreign land.”

Don’t you feel lucky living in theUS, I ask.

I know many people who will die toget their hands on a green card.

“Yes, but only because of the

education I got,” says Mahmoud, abusiness and accountancy graduate. As the bus lumbers across the

checkpoint, Mahmoud can hardly sit

still. He cranes his neck to check ttraffic jam ahead. He shifts nervouon the seat, adjusting and readjusthis shirt cuffs.

I watch him, fascinated. I’m nevthis excited when I go home.

 When the plane starts its descentowards Changi, I’m usually stillasleep.

I breeze through customs, makedash for the duty-free shop and beI know it, I’m zipping down the ECtrees flying by the windows.

For Mahmoud, though, the jourhome is tantalisingly slow. His firssight of home isn’t something fam

 At the checkpoint, a row of blueand white Israeli flags flutter in th

Continued on pag

YOUNGIN HOLY LANDAre they like S’pore youths ormore like radicals in the news?The New Paper team finds out

v Mahmoud (right) comes fromthe US, but he calls Ramoun(in background), a West Bank village, home.

fter years, Florida grad, 20, makes emotional visit to Palestine homeland

E YONGHD ISHAK IN

AEL/PALESTINE

THE NEW PAPER 29 Jun 2007