The Lexicographer's Rules

"But I'm still not Palestinian enough to know that this is not normal, no one should have to get used to this and I need a break. Everyone needs a break. So a group of friendsÑall ex-patsÑorganize a movie night. But the shooting from the Pisigot settlement, or perhaps it is from the tanks encircling the town, has just started. It's best to stay inside when the shooting starts, move away from the windows, go to a room out of the line of fire, if you're lucky enough to have such a room. But I need a break, to see my friends, a mental escape. I consider the path I have to take to catch a taxi. I live about 1 km. from the settlement, and I have to walk in front of it, right past where a bullet entered my neighbor's house not two weeks ago, shattering their veranda window as she slept. At least the taxi stand is only a couple of blocks away; I won't have to walk down the street where a 40-year-old mother of three was shot as she was carrying groceries home to her family. There is a lull in the shooting, and I scurry out my front door, my body involuntarily crouching down in a half-duck. I think to myself, 'Is getting out to see friends and a movie worth risking a stray bullet?'"

—Alternet. Lori A. Allen is a University of Chicago anthropology graduate student currently conducting research in the West Bank.

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