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Trapped in my own Country
"They sent the acceptance letter to my finacee in Paris. I cannot have it by hand, and I need the original one to prove that I was accepted in France so I can have my visa to France. With no visa I can do nothing."
By Stephanie Mansour
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As part of Youth Radio's ongoing coverage of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, Stephanie Mansour, a student at Notre Dame University in Lebanon, and Liat Margalit, a student at Hebrew University in Israel, talked about their perspective on the fighting.
Even though I'm not living in the south, all the ports around us are being bombed. Our lives are being affected- our work has stopped, our university has stopped. I personally was going to get my diploma in August. I was going to continue my Masters at the University of Paris.
They sent the acceptance letter to my finacee in Paris. I cannot have it by hand, and I need the original one to prove that I was accepted in France so I can have my visa to France. With no visa I can do nothing. When you don't go to University, when your life has suddenly stopped, it's a big stress.
The international community, the U.S., no one is on our side. The only ones who are on our side is the people- the French people, the U.S. people, the ones that can do nothing. But the governments, where are they? We are wondering, is it going to finish in a few days, in a few weeks, is it going to last forever? Am I gonna be stuck here forever? Why, because I'm so nationalist, because I'm so attached my Lebanese nationalism, to my Lebanese passport? Being Lebanese, I'm paying a big price. You are Lebanese by nature, but you are proud by choice. The world can crush us, but it will never take away our dignity.
- Click here to read Liat's story.
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