Carlos Alberto Jr. interviews Omar El Fares, a Swedish-Palestinian student of history whose life story is deeply shaped by the ongoing history of Palestinian displacement.
Omar is part of the third generation of Palestinians living outside their homeland as a direct consequence of Israel’s occupation. His grandparents and parents were forcibly expelled from Palestine during the Nakba and sought refuge in Lebanon, where the family lived as refugees for decades. During the Lebanese Civil War, Omar’s parents were forced to flee once again, eventually settling in Sweden, where Omar was born.
Growing up in the diaspora, Omar has lived far from Palestine, but never disconnected from it. As a student of history who researches extensively on Palestine, he reflects on occupation, exile, memory, and inherited trauma, and on how displacement is not a single historical event, but an ongoing reality passed from one generation to the next.
In this conversation, Omar shares insights from his research and personal experience, discussing the Palestinian experience in exile, the importance of historical study for understanding the present, and how living in Europe shapes — but does not diminish — the responsibility to follow, understand, and bear witness to what continues to happen in Palestine today.