Unlocked

After living and working in Jordan for the last little while I have come across a lot of keys. Unfortunately none of the keys that my roommates have lost during my stay here but nonetheless, I am seeing keys wherever I go.

In the antique shop that I am addicted to I found a whole bundle dangling from a shelf and was irresistibly drawn to one specimen. The old shopkeeper apologized, saying there was not a lock to match it but I replied that I was not interested in unlocking anything and that the key would be just fine as it was, and took it home.
Later on I was having dinner with a friend and showed him the key that hung around my neck. He told me that it was Palestinian and then proceeded to tell a story that fascinated me deeply. It is called 'The Key of Palestine'.

Al-Nakba, also known as the Catastrophe, happened almost 65 years ago when a million Palestinians left their homes. The old rusty key I had just purchased unlocked a sad story, one that is not mine to tell.

An old article by Reuters tells the tale of one of the many key-holders out there.

My Palestinian key