( CNN ) -- I am an American , and I love my country , but I also love my heritage . I was born in Tampa , Florida , to Palestinian-American parents , but 70 % of my family still lives in the West Bank , including my grandparents , aunts , uncles and cousins . When I was 3 , my parents decided to move back to Palestine -- a choice that changed the course of my life . The purpose of the move was for me and my siblings to learn Arabic and our family 's culture . Yet , the four-year experience offered much more than that . We lived peacefully in Ramallah , a West Bank city just north of Jerusalem , when we moved there in 1997 . My father built a home in Area C , an Israeli-controlled region of the West Bank . During the first two years , the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was at a quiet period . Our lives were pretty normal . My older brother and I attended a private school operated by the American education system , and my two older sisters went to a French all-girls Catholic school . In our free time , our days consisted of shopping in Ramallah , taking cabs to Jerusalem and hiking mountains . In the summer of 2000 , our lives were flipped upside down by the second intifada , or `` the uprising . '' A 20-something-foot harsh concrete wall was constructed around the West Bank , there were checkpoints installed between towns and villages , and daily clashes between Palestinians and Israeli authorities interrupted our day . We no longer had the liberty to take cabs to Jerusalem , shop in Ramallah or hike in the mountains . Our sense of freedom was stripped away from us . My family soon discovered that living in fear and under occupation was dangerous and too hostile . So we decided to move back to the U.S. in 2001 . My family 's decision to leave was one that would thrust guilt on our shoulders for a time to come . Leaving our extended family behind in a war-torn country left us with feelings of sadness . Fearing daughter 's Gaza border wedding . Living in occupation felt normal to me . It was moving back to America when I was 8 that felt like a culture shock . My life in America has been very different from my life in Palestine and is much different from the lives of Israeli and Palestinian youth today . Going to school in Tampa , my only morning worry was getting a decent grade on my homework . My cousins in the West Bank , on the other hand , are worried about grades too , but they also have to worry about checkpoints and random clashes between the Palestinians and Israeli authorities . The day the four children were killed while playing soccer on Gaza Beach , my friends and I were at St. Pete Beach playing volleyball . Unlike those children , we made it home safely to our families . As the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues , the world is watching with eyes wide open . In the U.S. , public opinion has been varied . America 's opinion about the conflict is split between both sides : Some support Israel ; some support Palestine . But for me , I have a different perspective of the conflict . When terror hit America on September 11 , I was filled with sadness , sorrow and anger . I thought , `` How could someone do this to my people ? '' The anger lingered for a very long time and still does today . These past couple of weeks have also made me angry . Waking up every day , I would discover yet a higher death toll of Gaza civilians . I would turn on the TV to find limbs of Palestinians plastered all over the news . Sad and angry , once again I thought , `` How could someone do this to my people ? '' Many Israelis are also victims of terrorism . I understand the fear and frustration they feel due to the conflict . No one should have to mourn a loss of a human life due to violence . For those of you without ties to the region , I ask you to look at it with a fresh perspective : The history of the Holy Land and the politics go far back , but please look at the humanitarian crisis . Think about the people instead . I think I speak for many Palestinian-Americans when I say I feel helpless in watching the continuous deaths of civilians in Palestine . My reason for writing this essay is to express my feelings about the conflict in order to help the Palestinian people -- my people -- in some way . Before leaving Palestine , I remember taking a walk with my mother in the hills of Ramallah . On the bottom of the hills was the West Bank barrier . Once we reached the top of the tallest hill , my mother grabbed my arm and pointed in the far distance . `` You see that city over there ? That 's Jerusalem . That 's where I was born , where your father was born and where you are from . One day , we 'll walk from here to Jerusalem . ... And no wall or soldier will stand in our way . '' I hope to see that day . See more of Naif 's photos on CNN iReport .
Naim Naif spent part of his childhood in Ramallah , West Bank . Naif , 20 , says that living under occupation `` felt normal '' 70 % of his family still lives in the West Bank . He was born and raised there but left for Israel when he was 15 years old to study at a university.