Who Holds the Key?

This quote is from Elias Khouri's "Bab al-Shams."

"This is their problem and not ours," said Nahela, meaning that it was the Israelis' problem and not the Palestinians'. "They don't want us to forget our language and our religion because they don't want us to become like them."
Younis didn't understand what she meant and began talking about the need for children to be linked to their history and traditions and how this link could only be perpetuated through language. He spoke many words, mixing among them literature, religion, everything.

"Listen, man, and try to understand. You don't know anything. Try to listen to things as I say them, not as you imagine them in your head. I said to you that this is their problem… the Jews' problem. We can't abandon our language because they don't want that. They want us to stay Arab, not to assimilate. Don't fear. They are a closed sectarian society. Even if we wanted to assimilate, they would never allow it."

"When you told me of Nahela's theory about the language, my father, I thought of Issa who wanted to collect the keys of all the homes in Andalusia. I wanted to say then that we don't understad the fundamental difference between our situation and theirs. The Castillians did not persecute the Arab Muslims and the Jews simply by chasing them out of the land. For, although their campaign of expulsion was wide and effective, it is impossible to drive everyone out. The Castillians imposed their religion and their language on the Andalusians. Thus, their victory was final. Andalusia became a part of Spain and the matter was closed. As for us, our keys aren't the keys of the stolen homes. Our key is the Arabic language. Israel does not want us to assimilate and become Israelis. They don't want to impose their religion and their language upon us. The expulsion came in 1948, but it was not complete. They hold our keys. We do not."