After seven long decades have passed since the first memory — our Palestinian memory, deeply engraved in our hearts — a memory that the occupier believed would fade with the passage of time, but which remains deeply rooted in the Palestinian identity. We carry it and pass it on through our stories to our children.

Despite more than seventy years of occupation and displacement, the winding journey continues, through thousands of paths paved with tears, pain, blood, and forced exile — from the homeland to a tent outside the homeland; away from the land and the home; and from the homeland to a tent and a refugee camp within the homeland itself.

Thus, the original sons and daughters of Palestine became refugees without a homeland within their own homeland, Palestine. Yet, despite all of this, the Palestinian memory has remained alive, vibrant with details, and deeply embedded in every Palestinian.

Not only that — we strive to rebuild the homeland anew, to rebuild what remains of villages and cities alive with their people in the Galilee, the Triangle, and the Negev. We are like thyme seedlings; indeed, we are the thyme and the sage, deeply rooted here.

The more they cut us down, the more we grow and multiply. In order to preserve memory and national heritage, we launched our television program “IYAB” (Return) and returned to the villages from which our people were displaced. We returned to our cities and villages, flourishing with their inhabitants, and here we are preparing for the return… IYAB.

Presented by: Saeed Salame