Palestine is where the heart is for father Sameer and his daughters Wajd and Shahd. The family discuss the difficulties returning home, sisterhood, and what they learnt from Shortland Street.

Content warning: This episode contains discussion of the white supremacist terror attack of March 15th, 2019.

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Palestine is where the heart is for father Sameer and his daughters Wajd and Shahd. The family discuss the difficulties returning home, sisterhood, and what they learnt from Shortland Street.

Sisters Wajd and Shahd sit down with their father Sameer to talk about their pride in and longing for Palestine, the surprising way Shortland Street helped them understand their mother, and their hopes for the future.

Leaving Kuwait after the invasion was a decision that felt very clear for the family. Namely because, as Sameer says, "When an invasion happens in any country, everybody's affected."

Sameer, who is Palestinian, and his wife Amal, who is Palestinian and Indian, arrived in Aotearoa when their children were very young, and seven months before Wajd was born.

The siblings undertook the majority of their education in Pōneke, though Wajd moved away when she left high school to study in Ōtautahi. Her decision to undertake her study in another city had repercussions, especially for her older sister Shahd, who had to take on much more of a caregiver role for their mother Amal.

Shahd describes it in practical terms: "In terms of helping Mum and stuff like that, I also had to be a bit more independent, like, plan a bit more. I guess that's why I'm so obsessed with lists and what's happening in three hours, and what we are having for dinner..."

Amal was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis when Wajd and Shahd were still in their early teens. It took some time to be able to fully understand the implications of the diagnosis, and the impact it would have for them as a family in the long run, so Sameer and Amal held off on telling their children exactly what Amal's condition was.

In their conversation on the podcast, Wajd reflects on the moment things were clarified: "In Dubai, we were visiting Uncle Fady. What I remember her saying to him in the front seat was that she had multiple sclerosis, and I remember being so shocked because at the time there was a character on Shortland Street called Sarah, who had multiple sclerosis."…

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