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href="https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/09/08/three-years-after-the-war-gaza-youth-speak-out/">https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/09/08/three-years-after-the-war-gaza-youth-speak-out/</a></font>
<h1 id="reader-title">Three Years After the War: Gaza Youth
Speak Out</h1>
<div id="reader-credits" class="credits">by <span
class="post_author" itemprop="author"><a
href="https://www.counterpunch.org/author/cet6s/"
rel="nofollow">Ramzy Baroud</a> September 8, 2017<br>
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<p>“At bedtime, I am afraid to turn the lights off. I am
not a coward, it is just that I worry that this bulb
hanging from the ceiling is the last light that remains
(shining) in my life.”</p>
<p>Soon after he penned these words, <a
href="https://www.alwatanvoice.com/arabic/news/2017/08/24/1078104.html"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.alwatanvoice.com/arabic/news/2017/08/24/1078104.html&source=gmail&ust=1504810538205000&usg=AFQjCNF--jU2LjFhDLwNOLzSlZHrg0GRRg">Moath
Alhaj</a>, a young artist from a Gaza refugee camp,
passed away in his sleep. After disappearing for two
days, Moath’s friends broke down the door of his house,
and found him huddled with his blanket in a place in
which he lived alone for 11 years.</p>
<p>Moath lived in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp, one of Gaza’s
most crowded camps, a name which is associated with
historic hardship, war and legendary resistance. Raised
in the United Arab Emirates, Moath returned to Gaza to
join the Islamic University, but remained there,
experiencing three wars and a decade-long blockade.</p>
<p>Somehow, the young man maintained a semblance of hope
as expressed in his many drawings and emotive
commentary.</p>
<p>Moath learned to live in his own world ever since he
was young. The outside world to him seemed unpredictable
and, at times, cruel.</p>
<p>When his mother passed away, Moath was only 1-year-old.
He father died of cancer in the UAE and, due to
circumstances beyond his control, Moath lived alone.
Keeping him company were his friends in the
neighborhood, but mostly it was his self-effacing, yet
profound artistic expressions.</p>
<p>“Smile, may the war feel shame,” was one of his
cartoons. In it, a little girl with a flowery dress
turns her back at the reader, looking the other way.</p>
<p>Moath’s art characters always had their eyes closed, as
if they refuse to see the world around them, and insist
on imagining a better world inside their own thoughts.</p>
<p>After his body was thoroughly examined, doctors
concluded that Moath died as a result of a stroke. His
heart, heavy with untold personal and collective
miseries, had just given in. And just like that, one of
Gaza’s finest young men was buried in an ever-crowded
graveyard. Social media buzzed with statements of
condolences, made mostly by young Palestinians from
Gaza, devastated to hear that Moath has died, that his
last light had been extinguished, and that the young
man’s life had ended while the siege and state of war
remain.</p>
<p>In that same week, Palestinians commemorated the
three-year anniversary of the end of Israel’s
devastating war against the Strip. The war had killed
over 2,200 Palestinians, the vast majority amongst them
civilians, and 71 Israelis, the majority of them
soldiers.</p>
<p>The war left <a
href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/gaza-war-2014-israel-palestinians-rebuild-recover-hamas-idf-a7911161.html"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/gaza-war-2014-israel-palestinians-rebuild-recover-hamas-idf-a7911161.html&source=gmail&ust=1504810538205000&usg=AFQjCNF-UsIRmTYK4s9nbL5HV2QHFG7U0Q">Gaza
in ruins</a>, as over 17,000 homes were completely
destroyed, and thousands of other structures, including
hospitals, schools and factories destroyed or severely
damaged.</p>
<p>The war fully shattered whatever semblance of economy
the Strip had had. Today, 80 percent of all Palestinians
in Gaza live <a
href="https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170826-anti-siege-committee-chief-calls-for-un-emergency-fund-for-gaza/"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170826-anti-siege-committee-chief-calls-for-un-emergency-fund-for-gaza/&source=gmail&ust=1504810538205000&usg=AFQjCNE4GJjqS6DEIVAUba2fPt_n8QYrtw">below
the poverty line</a>, the majority of whom are
dependent on humanitarian aid.</p>
<p>There is a whole generation of Palestinians in Gaza
that grew up knowing nothing but <a
href="http://www.jordantimes.com/news/region/un-chief-calls-lifting-gaza-blockade"
data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.jordantimes.com/news/region/un-chief-calls-lifting-gaza-blockade&source=gmail&ust=1504810538205000&usg=AFQjCNG9IdUcgJo7uCflSd19aE5ChBZrHw">war
and siege</a>, and have never seen the world beyond
Gaza’s deadly borders.</p>
<p>These are the voices of some of these young Gazans, who
kindly shared their tragic personal stories, hoping that
the world would heed their calls for freedom and for
justice.</p>
<p><strong>Isra Migdad is an Islamic Finance student:</strong></p>
<p>“After our house had been partially damaged during the
2014 Israeli war, it took my family about a year and a
half to rebuild it, due to the delay in construction
material being allowed into the Gaza Strip and because
of the prohibitive prices of such material, when it is
available. I lost my Master’s degree scholarship back in
2014 due to the closure and due to my family’s difficult
financial situation after the war.</p>
<p>“I have spent the last three years applying for
scholarships, only to learn that many universities in
Europe know nothing, or very little, about the Israeli
siege on Gaza and the continuous closure of the borders.
I attained another scholarship, only to lose it again,
since I hadn’t enough time to complete my travel
procedures and negotiate an exit from Gaza.</p>
<p>“Yes, I want a better life, but I also love Gaza. Yet,
the situation is becoming more difficult with each
passing day. It is hard to find a stable job and, even
if one gets an opportunity elsewhere, it is nearly
impossible to get out.”</p>
<p><strong>Ghada, 23, studied English literature, and
currently works as a translator:</strong></p>
<p>“Day by day, the situation in Gaza becomes more
complicated and even worse than before. Since the last
war to this day, nothing seems to get better. Nothing at
all.</p>
<p>“During my work at the Palestinian Trade Center
(Pal-Trade) which focuses on Palestinian economy, every
day I see people struggling in all economic sectors. The
electricity crisis is destroying businesses everywhere.
The agriculture sector is in ruins as farmers cannot
export their products, and cannot even access the
Palestinian market in the West Bank.</p>
<p>“Despite substantial donor pledges to support
reconstruction following the 2014 conflict, the
situation for Palestinians living in Gaza has never been
worse. Moreover, people in Gaza are facing a dire
shortage of drinkable water and adequate and an
equitable sanitation system. Even the sea has become
polluted because of the sewage that is dumped daily.
There is little hope on the horizon for better
conditions.”</p>
<p><strong>Banias Harb is a teacher:</strong></p>
<p>“The unprecedented closure and blockade imposed upon
Gaza has created a feeling of helplessness. The most
frustrating problem that youth have been suffering from
is the closure of Rafah crossing border. Gaza youth
constitute about a third of the Palestinian population,
yet less than 10 percent of all youth have been able to
see what’s beyond Gaza. We feel abandoned. Alone.”</p>
<p><strong>Kholod Zughbor has a degree in English
Literature from Alazhar University in Gaza:</strong></p>
<p>“The siege on Gaza has been in place since 2006. The
situation has been terrible here, even before the wars
started. Unemployment among Gaza’s youth is estimated at
60 percent.</p>
<p>“I have witnessed three wars. I saw life gradually
worsen, especially after the last war. Three years after
the 2014 war, the situation is getting harder and more
miserable. The Gaza Strip is still far from full
recovery, and what has been built is only a drop in the
ocean of destruction.”</p>
<p><strong>Sondos has a bachelor’s degree in English
Literature. She is a social worker:</strong></p>
<p>“As a social worker, I have visited over three hundred
and fifty families who are impacted by the war and its
aftermath. They are burdened by deep psychological scars
and are constantly overshadowed by the feeling of an
impending catastrophe. In every house that I have
visited, there is a heartbreaking story of poverty,
unemployment, fear of the future, fear of another
Israeli war.</p>
<p>“Without outside pressure on Israel, Gazans will
continue to relive this nightmare in their open-air
prison. They can neither reconstruct their demolished
homes, import their basic needs nor have access to
electricity and clean water on a regular basis.</p>
<p>“But Gaza will continue to hang on to life and will not
fall into despair. Our youth will continue to pursue
higher education and will labor to achieve their goals,
no matter the odds. They will continue to use their
imagination to overcome all hurdles, as we have done for
many years. Courage and determination are our most
prized qualities.”</p>
<p><em>– <strong>Yousef Aljamal, a writer and PhD student
from Gaza, contributed to this article.</strong></em></p>
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<p class="author_description"> <em><strong>Dr. Ramzy Baroud</strong>
has been writing about the Middle East for over 20
years. He is an internationally-syndicated columnist, a
media consultant, an author of several books and the
founder of PalestineChronicle.com. His latest book is My
Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza’s Untold Story (Pluto
Press, London). His website is: ramzybaroud.net</em> </p>
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