[News] ‘I Would Give these Children My Eyes’ - Stories from the Carousel

[Anti-Imperialist News]

palestinechronicle.com
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/i-would-give-these-children-my-eyes-stories-from-the-carousel/>
‘I Would Give these Children My Eyes’ - Stories from the CarouselDecember
30, 2023
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Mahmoud Saleh is a 25-year-old young man from Rafah, in the southern Gaza
Strip. (Photo: Mahmoud Ajjour, The Palestine Chronicle)

*By Mahmoud Ajjour – Gaza
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/mahmoud-ajjour-gaza>*

“I have opened this carousel for the children, so that they release some of
their energy and psychological stress.”

Mahmoud Saleh is a 25-year-old young man from Rafah, in the southern Gaza
Strip. Like the vast majority of Gazans, he is currently unemployed. His
family is in desperate need of food.

So, he pitched a carousel in an area crowded with thousands of Palestinian
refugees who have been displaced as a result of the genocidal Israeli war
on Gaza.

But Mahmoud is torn between the fact that he desperately needs money for
food and the fact that the majority of the families in this makeshift
refugee camp are penniless.

He resolved his conundrum by simply not asking for money, thus allowing the
parents of the children to pay him or not, depending on their financial
situation.

Mahmoud Saleh’s carousel initiative may not seem significant in the larger
scheme of things, but in a way, it is people like him who provide the
margins of hope that allow Gaza to survive even during the time of
genocide.

A Palestine Chronicle reporter, also a displaced refugee in Rafah, spoke
with Mahmoud earlier today and this is what he said.

“I have opened this carousel for the children, so that they release some of
their energy and psychological stress. Some of them come from Bureij (in
the central Gaza Strip), others come from Rafah (in the furthest south).

“All kinds of children. And those who do not have (cannot pay), I would
give them my eyes (I do not charge them).

“I just want to make them happy. They are suffering in this life and this
horrible situation.

“This is the least I can do, this is all I can do.

“If there is a man who wants his child to use the carousel (for free), I
will give them my eyes.

“Thank you for everything.

“May Allah be our protector.

“All of these terrible things are happening to the children. They are
getting destroyed.

“This is all I can do and thank you for everything.”

*(Photos and video: Mahmoud Ajjour, Palestine Chronicle)*

*– Mahmoud Ajjour is a Gaza-based photojournalist. He is the Palestine
Chronicle’s correspondent in the Gaza Strip.*


(The Palestine Chronicle is a registered
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/about/> 501(c)3 organization, thus, all
donations are tax deductible.)
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