P U L S E

Moign Khawaja’s beautifully written piece in Foreign Policy Journal examines the notion of hope in the aftermath of Israel’s most recent assault on Gaza which claimed over 1,000 Palestinian lives (at least one third of which were children) and left thousands more injured and homeless.

Debating Hope for the Forgotten — By Moign Khawaja

It was Amal’s last day at the university where she studies English language teaching. Despite being the last day of her academic career, the aspirant Gazan teacher is in no mood to take it lightly. She dressed modestly but smartly, grabbed her bag and set off for the university that is hardly 15 minutes away from her house in central Gaza. She insisted that the last day of the academic year would be wrapped up by a debate competition where she is leading a team of three women who are also aspiring to become teachers.

“So why study English and become a teacher?” I asked Amal when she was about to leave her home for the university.

“I want to help my country by expressing their suffering at the hands of the occupation,” Amal told in a firm tone. “Would you be able to do this by being a teacher? I interrupted to gauge her intentions. “I will teach my students English language. Despite all the miseries they still have great will power. They want to study, to struggle for their rights and want to return to their occupied lands. I believe in them. They have great powers,” said Amal resolutely.

Amal is one of the few Palestinians I came in contact with during the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. At that time she was traumatised and her morale was badly shaken by the war. Almost four months later, she seems to have regained her spirits but the recovery seems somehow fragile. Out in public, Amal is a very confident person with a constant glowing smile. She is courteous and always ready to help people around her. But when she is on her own, the 21 year old woman worries about the future of her family and the nation.

It’s Still the Same

On her way to the university, Amal sees nothing but rubble of buildings that were destroyed by Israeli bombardment during its 27-day campaign earlier this year. When I asked her about the reconstruction activity she rebuffed. “What reconstruction? The crossings are still closed and the siege continues to add miseries to the lives of millions of people in Gaza Strip,” the would-be teacher remarked bitterly.

About the condition of thousands of displaced people living in Gaza she added: “Some of them are living in tent camps which we call ‘khaima’. They have nowhere to go and no materials to rebuild their homes. Life in these camps is only about struggle to survive. We see no end to their sufferings.”

Finally, Amal reaches Al-Aqsa University. Her friends were waiting for her impatiently as she is the debate team leader. Some people sat nearby were discussing the newly formed Palestinian cabinet that does not includes any member of Hamas, the Palestinian group that controls Gaza Strip. One of her team member asked about her opinion on the latest political development to which Amal replied: “I do not know. What I know is the government that will work in the favour of Palestinians will succeed. And we want such a government. As a Palestinian, I support both Hamas as well Fatah and hope that they work towards a common cause.”

Quickly, one of her team member drew her attention towards the recent violations of ceasefire in Gaza Strip. “One of my uncles is a fisherman. His boat along with a dozen other boats came under attack by Israeli naval ships. Two of his friends were injured in the shooting incident,” team member Saarah said while lamenting the fact that poor fishermen have to face life-threatening challenges to earn a living and provide food to their families.

Never Ending Suffering

The debate team was finalising a long list of issues that today’s Palestinian society is facing. Years long occupation and siege of Gaza Strip has affected each and every family in one way or the other. The recent Israeli bombardment killed and injured thousands of civilians and left hundreds of thousands homeless. The impact on the civilian infrastructure was devastating. Another team member named, Mariam, drew her team’s attention towards the rising food prices in Gaza and crippling shortage of various items essential for leading a normal life. “Everything is scarce. Even the air that we breathe seems to be controlled by our occupiers. Life has its own definition here in Gaza,” the 21 year old Gazan woman added while others nodded their heads in agreement.

While I was looking at my notes and was about to ask the next question, Amal very softly whispered: “Moign, look. I’ll tell you something that happened couple of days ago and left me very sad.” I closed my notepad and drew my attention to her face where her pleasant smile was replaced by a grim sneer. I never had such difficulty reading her face before.

“My life is better than many people here in Gaza as my father works in a well-respected job. But a lot of people here are without money, food, medicines or shelter. They’ve got no work due to the ongoing siege. A few days ago, there was a knock on my door. I opened the door to find out that a friend of mine whom I didn’t see for the past 6 years came to meet me. She had two beautiful children with her, one of them in her arms. I took one of the kids in my arms and made her sit next to me. The young girl giggled when I asked her name,” Amal described while tears began to surface in her eyes.

She added that those two beautiful kids are suffering from Thalassemia. Her husband can’t afford to buy medicines or proper treatment as he is jobless. “My friend begged for help. She told me that she won’t buy medicines for herself though she is a Thalassemia patient herself. I felt really sorry for my school friend who is also pregnant. This is the true face of human suffering in Gaza. Please expose it,” she requested while cleaning her tears that raced from the eyes to her flushed cheeks.

Other participating teams in the hall were scrambling to finalise their topics for the debate. The debate moderators were busy giving final touches to the itinerary. The audience for the debate was queueing outside the hall while peeping from the windows and waving at their friends. The whole atmosphere was electric and Amal and her team felt the real buzz.

I heard Mariam using strong words for someone. Surprised, I turned my attention towards her and asked her who is she annoyed with. “Its Mubarak and his bloody regime,” she said with disgust in her tone. “We Gazans blame Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak equally for our hardships. Instead of supporting us, he is siding with the Israelis and has sealed the Rafah border completely. This is his contributing towards the inhuman crimes perpetrated against the Palestinians,” an enraged Mariam added. Amal did not agree with her and added: “Don’t forget his support to alleviate our suffering and efforts for Palestinian unity. We should never forget that.” Mariam somehow shrugged off her friend’s suggestion.

Words of Surprise

A sudden announcement surprised the participants in the hall. The organisers decided to show US President Barack Obama’s speech to the participants of the debate in order to enhance the views of the teams and make the whole event more interesting and lively. Amal and her team mates were not so enthusiastic towards Obama’s speech that was about to be delivered around 300 kilometers south east of Gaza Strip in the Egyptian capital of Cairo. “Let’s see what the new US President has got to say. I hope it will be somehow different from the speeches made in the past by American presidents,” Saarah said with a hint of optimism in her tone.

“I am also proud to carry with me the goodwill of the American people, and a greeting of peace from Muslim communities in my country: Assalaamu Alaykum!” said Obama in the opening lines of the speech he was making at Cairo University. There was a round of applause from the audience in Cairo. The people present in Al-Aqsa University’s debate hall were pleasantly surprised as well.

Amal, along with many other people sat and watched silently Obama’s speech. His acceptance of Islam as a religion of peace and civilisation’s debt to Islam forced smiles on many people in the audience and prompted whispers. His acknowledgement of a mixed religious background raised a few eyebrows and left many curious to know more about the president who is insisting on a new chapter of relations between America and Islam. What will he say about Palestine? Has he got something to offer to our nation? Many similar questions like these lingered on the minds of hundreds of students present in the Al-Aqsa University hall along with millions others who sat in the cafes of Gaza and patiently watched him delivering the speech.

The look on the faces of people changed completely when US President Obama spoke about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In his speech he stressed on the need for a separate Palestinian state while underlining the fact that Israel cannot guarantee its security by pursuing policies that draw the ire of Palestinians and neighbouring Arab states. “Just as it devastates Palestinian families, the continuing humanitarian crisis in Gaza does not serve Israel’s security; neither does the continuing lack of opportunity in the West Bank. Progress in the daily lives of the Palestinian people must be a critical part of a road to peace, and Israel must take concrete steps to enable such progress,” the American leader said in his speech.

Mixed Response

As soon as the speech ended, the audience got ready for the debate competition. Some people in the hall were surprised by Obama’s speech. Amal also felt the hint of optimism. “I think that he has the intention to bring about a change. I hope that he helps the Palestinians form their independent state. But I’m not sure if Israel is ready to grant us independence and end the occupation,” the Palestinian student replied when I asked about her initial response to the speech. “Anyhow, he wants to start new relations with Muslims. He used many references from Holy Quran as well. This was the major attraction of his speech,” she elaborated.

The debate competition kicked off very soon. The competing teams debated on issues like reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah, Palestinian right to resistance, return of refugees to their lands, role of Egyptian government in helping Israeli occupation and BarackObama’s policy towards the Middle East. The female debaters got involved in hot, free flowing debates that raged for almost two hours before the judges wrapped up the competition. The US President’s speech in Cairo gave a new impetus to the contestants to debate and put their oratory skills to test.

Amal threw in a few gauntlets along with her team mates. She locked her team in an intense debate over the role of Hamas in Palestinian resistance movement and its influence on Palestinian society. “Even Obama underlined the fact that Hamas enjoys the support of Palestinians,” she insisted in her debate. Regarding use of violence by the Palestinians, she expressed her utter surprise. “He should direct this to Israel not to the Palestinians. They use indiscriminate force against us. We civilians have done nothing against the Israelis except for peaceful demonstrations that are crushed by brutal use of force by the Israeli army,” she insisted while she concluded her case.

What Next?

The judges walked out from the hall to a private room to discuss about the outcome of the debate. Amal and her group also left the hall. They entered a nearby garden and began discussions about their exam that were about to start in two weeks time. The discussions prolonged, intensified and the buzz about the debate competition somehow faded. Flabbergasted, I tried in vain to draw their attention towards the outcome of the competition.

“We will keep on debating about the issues. The batch before us delivered an outstanding performance last year and won the competition. But what really happened? Did anything change?” Mariam raised a few questions before me. Saarah joined her in no time. “The debates here don’t matter at all. The debates in the Legislative Assembly in Ramallah (occupied West Bank) are futile. The summits held in Cairo and other Arab capitals are a waste of time. Nothing productive has ever come out from them. Nothing has changed for us,” she rumbled in a fearsome tone.

I looked towards Amal anticipating a few optimistic words. “The debates that really matter are held in Washington and Tel Aviv. The leaders of America and Israel wield the real power and can change the fate of this region if they really want to. Making speeches is one thing but objective change is entirely different.

“Its been four months since Barack Obama took charge as the President of the United States of America. Its also been four months since Israel stopped bombarding Gaza. Has anything changed since then? You know the answer very well,” she replied in a soft tone and started staring in the sky immediately.

So, for Amal, which means ‘hope’ in Arabic, is there a real hope in her life as well as millions of other Palestinians living in Gaza and Occupied West Bank? Why does everything from culture, terrain, landscape, society and even human emotions change when we enter the borders of these subjugated territories? “Someone has stolen the words hope, change, life, happiness, dignity etc. from our lexicon. We still want to know why,” Amal told me while moving her fingers on the soil. The strong wind was blowing away the sand from the ground reminding us that nothing stays the same forever…

Moign Khawaja recently completed his MA Journalism degree at the University of Lincoln. During his time at University, he experimented with print, online, radio, and television journalism. Prior to receiving his degree in Journalism, he completed an MA in International Affairs. He is currently based in Lincoln, England. Contact him at moign@foreignpolicyjournal.com

Tagged: Gaza, Israel, Moign Khawaja, Palestine