Identity and Hatred

I saw a blog entry on here that was from someone saying they didn't want Palestinians or Muslims to interact with them. I was shocked by this hateful sentiment. I live in America, but ethnically I am Palestinian. 

My mother has strong morals against lying, and is the reason why I am so honest now. Growing up, the only lie that I ever heard from her was about our ethnicity: she would tell people that her parents were Lebanese. I asked her why she did this, and she told me that people hate Palestinians and that Lebanese people are seen as "the golden victims". I never repeated this lie, but it stayed in the back of my mind whenever I told someone my background. Online, I have never talked about being Palestinian for fear of being condemned. People are more honest online, and I felt like this could inspire someone to harass me. In real life, I didn't really care how people reacted when I told them my ethnicity, but I did not want to hear what they were thinking. 

I felt awful during my last year of college, every day I worried about my family's safety, and every day the IDF & IOF's terror went unaddressed by popular news. I remember having a conversation in December about ethnic background (this is something that comes up often in America), and I actually briefly considered saying I was Lebanese like my mother always did. I felt sick, why did I feel shame for my identity because of other's lack of awareness? 

That sense of shame in my identity is what I felt when I read that previously mentioned post. 

I am no longer afraid of telling people I am Palestinian online, in fact, I want people to know. I don't want to interact with someone who is uncomfortable with who I am. Being open about my identity will filter out people who hold prejudices against me. It's similar to sharing the fact that I'm queer or not-entirely-cis to deter homophobes and transphobes from interacting with me. If you come to me with hate, I will ignore you. Your ignorance is not my problem.