Charlotte 🏳️‍🌈

Hey Mayim, let me tell you about how I understood what was going on as a child. No one explained it to me. No one read stories to me. 1. I was tear-gassed at school when I was 6 years old(the whole school). 2. My first classmate was killed when I was 8. 3. My neighbor was assassinated when I was 9. (I cried that day.) 4. Around 20 soldiers stormed our neighborhood and wanted to arrest me and my little brother for interrogation (I was 7 and my brother was 4). 5. They stormed our home more than 8 times (I can recount them to you as if they happened this morning). 6. They arrested my father and made me put my hands on a wall when I was 7. (It was at the Shejaia entrance, and I still remember my white sneakers.) 7. They shot at us while we were playing on December 22, 1992 (I was turning 8. I remember because it was my birthday). 8. They arrested my oldest brother when I was 5 years old. 9. I was forced to shower in cold water or very hot water because Israelis used a mechanical stone-thrower that broke all windows and solar panels (which we used to warm water) - that's why I hated showering for some time. 10. They woke us up in the middle of the night a few times. Once, I opened my eyes at the age of 6 to feel a soldier's boots near my head and his gun in my face (I was sleeping on the floor).