Today I dreamt about being in Gaza.
“Land you have to kill for is not yours. Land you have to die for is"
Last night, at a quarter past five, I fell asleep while scrolling through the news of brutal murders, Gazans stripped of their basic rights, children dying due to oxygen shortages in incubators, an old man mourning the loss of his toy shop, and various other distressing events!
It was overwhelming for one night. Nevertheless, I fell asleep at 6:00 a.m., and my worst fear came true in an alternate reality. Yes, I found myself in the midst of war—I WAS IN GAZA. The streets reverberated with the booming sounds of shells; darkness covered everything, and the sky was veiled in a light orange smoke, as though the entire city had been set ablaze
Not long ago, I witnessed Israeli missiles hitting right outside my building. Trust me, I was shocked and almost felt stuck in a state of paresthesia. I hurried to grab my phone to start recording, but that thought was swiftly replaced with a more worrying concern. Rushing to check on my parents, I urged them not to leave the house. However, their reaction was nothing but indifferent, as they couldn’t care less and simply accepted their fate.
Thankfully, we had electricity in our home, so I turned off all the lights to have a clear view of the airstrikes from a distance. A short while ago, I witnessed a grim reaper stabbing everyone, and it was at that point that my heartbeat accelerated, and I woke up from this dream.
This shows the weight of watching these brutal attacks by Israeli forces. I can only imagine how Palestinian children experience these things every day and what they must go through every night. They walk upon the broken glass and stones that were once the foundation of their homes. Their dreams are hanging by a loose thread, and the future is as unclear as the sky on a misty morning.
How many more people have to die for this war to come to an end? How many more innocent babies must be bombed by the oppressors? How many elders have to be displaced again and again?
It’s not just October 7th, 2023; it’s 75 years of pursuit to remain within this blessed land.
Tens of thousands are fleeing on foot since the north of Gaza has become a ghost town, but the fact that one day, not today or tomorrow, ‘Palestine will be free' allows my blood pressure to return to normal.
Let’s continue talking about this land without hoping to discover more dead bodies.
Because, in the end, the flower finds its way to grow through the rubble.
