Ghada Al-Najjar, Oxfam’s Public Health Officer in Gaza, writes about her experience during and after the Israeli military offensive on Gaza.
A few weeks ago, right after the war began, I was watching the harbour and drinking a cup of coffee when my telephone rang. It was my mother from Dubai. She had left a month before the Gaza conflict started.
“Are you OK?” she asked. I took a deep breath before replying, “Don’t worry Mum! I’m fine.”
She continued to ask about our family in Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip. We talked for a while longer until she ended our conversation with “Ghada! Please stay safe, stay safe my love…” Her voice was deep and warm.
But what I was thinking was: how can you be safe in Gaza while it is under fire? It was 7:30 pm and I was waiting for our evening visitors: the F16s, drones and tanks. I couldn’t get her voice telling me to be safe out of my head. I thought: how can I be safe in war torn Gaza? Is that even physically, psychologically or spiritually possible?
Later, while watching TV I listened to a doctor tell the story of his wife and child’s death.
“My wife was violently killed and my child was burnt to death,” he said.
His head was bandaged and he was appealing for his wife’s body to be dug out of the rubble. At the same time, a group of traumatised people in northern Gaza made an appeal over the radio for assistance removing dead bodies in their neighbourhood. They were desperate to bury them but couldn’t because Israeli troops had surrounded the area.
A lot has happened since.
For two weeks now, I have not been in my home. I had to move out after a strong explosion close by shattered my windows and broke the doors. Even if I were to fix my windows with plastic sheeting, what would protect me from the shelling? I had to try and stay safe, like my mum said, so I fled to my relatives.
It is one day since the ceasefire and I have now returned to my home to find it partially destroyed.
Since returning, 100 bodies have been discovered under Gaza’s rubble, 20 of which were unrecognisable - I am sure that more will be discovered in the coming days.
85 lost children were found near my family home in Khan Younis. They have been separated from their families, who knows where they are? No doubt, if they are still alive, their relatives will soon come in search of them. My father and brother have taken 45 of these children into their home for the time being. The children had spent the last three days with nothing but fear and a kilogram of tomatoes between them.
I think back to my mum’s phone call a few weeks ago and am thankful that I was safe in the end. Unfortunately, not all of my relatives were. Four members have been killed.
For my family, the doctor I saw on TV, the people I heard calling into the radio station and thousands of others, this is not over, it never will be. Irreparable damage has been done to our lives.
I may be able to replace my windows but I will never be able to bring back the dead.
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Nice post you got here. I’d like to read a bit more concerning that topic.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:26 pm[...] Al-Najjar works for the NGO Oxfam, and writes at the Oxfam blog: For two weeks now, I have not been in my home. I had to move out after a strong explosion close by [...]
October 26th, 2009 at 8:51 pm