“I think people in the West, they have this idea – and I don’t blame them – because it’s the narrative from the Western media and has been for a long time now, that Palestinians and especially those from Gaza are troublemakers; and that they just want to fight for the sake of it. But the truth is that people in Gaza love life. This situation of violence was forced upon us. It was not our choice. Many people in Gaza have big dreams. They are innovative and creative. They work really hard.”
This is my great friend Hamza. Hamza and I first met in a large busy lecture theatre in University College London. The course was very international, and there was an exciting feeling in the air. People were bringing their own perspectives from all over the world. As we discussed and debated the worlds issues, we felt that we were studying so that we could contribute to fixing the worlds problems together.
I remember I was sitting at the back of the lecture theatre that day. “Are you Lebanese?” Hamza asked me in a friendly way, the first time we met. He’d thought I looked just like a good friend of his, and he showed me a picture. Although I coincidentally did have some family links to Lebanon, (though I am not in any way Lebanese), little did we both know at the time that I would end up moving to Lebanon in a few years…
Hamza and I were classmates, and we studied a Master of Science (MSc) course in Global Health and Development together. Hamza grew up in Gaza, and won the very competitive Chevening Scholarship1that enabled him to come and study a masters in the UK. He has gone on to become a Senior Clinical Research Manager in joint research between UCL Child Health and GOSH (Great Ormond Street Child Health Hospital) focussing on medical trials both in the private and public spheres. So it’s probably obvious that Hamza is a really smart guy.
“Gaza has a really high education rate – with 95% school enrolment in children2” he told me. In fact before Israel’s destruction of Gaza, Gaza had one of the highest literacy rates in the world; with 94.7% of girls completing lower secondary school3, which is higher than the average in the upper middle income group for the whole of the Middle East and North Africa. These figures even prompted David Skinner of Save the Children to write “The determination of Palestinian children to learn is astonishing…. literacy rates are higher than in Hong Kong and Singapore.”4
Hamza went on to tell me: “Even with very little opportunities, the youth these days in Gaza are finding a lot of ways to think outside the box, and create startups for example. If the people of Gaza had the infrastructure and opportunities that much of the rest of the world takes for granted, they could contribute so much more—and they’re eager to do so. We already innovate and excel in all aspects of science and life. In Gaza, we teach life and perseverance.”
Indeed, Hamza’s own life is an example of this. As a boy in Gaza, he had big goals. As a young adult he worked as a nurse in Gaza, “but because of the Israeli occupation and the blockade, – many call it an open air prison – I was unable to fulfil my potential properly until I got the opportunities afforded to me by a scholarship to study outside of Gaza. Now…. I contribute to safe and evidence-based medicine not only for people in my country but across the world”.
Hamza told me, “Before the destruction of Gaza we were happy. We lived a happy life among our loved ones. We had beautiful beaches, good food, we had high quality hospitals and best performing universities….and this is what people don’t see”.
“And you know, I want to dispel the myth that everyone wants to leave Gaza” Hamza continued. “People want to stay. They want to rebuild their homes and their lives where they belong. The ones who managed to leave, the people I speak to who are now in Egypt or other places tell me ‘I wish I had died rather than be here,’ because all they can think about is going back home. Palestinians are re-living the 1948 Nakba5. They constantly worry about their loved ones still there. Many of them are stuck. They can’t work, they can’t build a future; It’s not a life. Even those who had to move from the South to the North of Gaza are thinking about returning home as soon as they can. People want to be in Gaza, in their homes.”
I asked Hamza how his family is doing in Gaza, over one year into Israel’s campaign of death and destruction (on many occasions when faced with crudely racist remarks and actions I have seen Hamza denounce it as “uncivilised behaviour”). “You know, I’ve fallen into this routine of waking up every day and checking my phone, just to see if my parents, family, and friends are still alive. I scan the news, looking for what’s happened and checking the names to see if anyone I know is listed. It’s something you can’t help but do. Then I call my family – but they never admit when they’re not okay. They always tell me, ‘We’re good,’ and then they ask how I’m doing, how my day was, how work is, and how my wife is… It’s as if they’re giving me the strength to keep going rather than the other way around.”
“And I know they are always in survival mode” Hamza went on, “They wake up, and they spend the day trying to source food, trying to get water, and get batteries charged. It’s been like this for a year now. But I feel lucky that they are still in their home. But I am so worried about my Dad. Because he had Lymphoma (cancer) 3 years ago and he recovered but he has been on maintainance therapy since then. But he hasn’t been able to get his medicine for a year now because the healthcare system has collapsed and been destroyed. My Dad says he is doing ok but you never know what is happening inside his body- a relapse is possible.”
Something I often think about at the moment is how isolating it can feel when your reality is so drastically different to the reality of those around you. In my own experience (which is nothing compared to Hamza’s), it can feel frustrating. Sometimes the void can feel so big that it can feel to me like I’m trying to straddle different worlds: with one foot in each but never fully being in either. So Hamza, your achievements til now are incredibly impressive, I think we’d all agree. But for me, I think what I find the most impressive of all, is how you carry us all along with you with such grace; asking how WE are doing, and thinking of us, always, despite having to handle burdens unimaginable to most of us… You give US strength, Hamza, just like you said your parents do for you.
Thinking of your family and everybody, always. Praying for your Dad’s health. Praying for everybodies safety. Insh’allah Kheir6. Thanks for being such a great friend, we are with you.
- https://www.chevening.org/scholarships/ ↩︎
- https://www.savethechildren.net/blog/instead-learning-school-gaza-s-children-are-forced-learn-how-survive-bombs-and-hunger ↩︎
- 2022 Data reported by the World Bank https://genderdata.worldbank.org/en/economies/west-bank-and-gaza#:~:text=94.7%25%20of%20girls%20and%2089.7,education%20regardless%20of%20age%20completed. ↩︎
- https://www.savethechildren.net/blog/instead-learning-school-gaza-s-children-are-forced-learn-how-survive-bombs-and-hunger ↩︎
- ‘Nakba’ is the arabic word for ‘catastrophe’ and is the Palestinian term for the events of 1948, when many Palestinians were forcibly, and often violently displaced by the creation of the new state of Israel. ↩︎
- Arabic term of hope, meaning God willing all will be good / everything will be okay. ↩︎
The Beirut Bulbul. 