[Salon] A voice from Gaza - ArabDigest.org Guest Post

A voice from Gaza Summary: as Israel pounds Lebanon, the bombardment of Gaza continues with daily strikes that kill and wound civilians; the IDF claims it is hitting Hamas targets and that civilian casualties result from their use as human shields. To date more than 41000 have been killed and nearly 100,000 wounded the majority of whom are women and children. One year on from the Hamas attack Israel and its Western friends and allies are remembering the nearly 1200 victims and the hostages still held in Gaza. The agony of the families who have lost loved ones or still do not know the fate of the captives is as sharp now as it was on 7 October. So too is the agony of Palestinians who remain trapped in Gaza. Last month Arab Digest was able to reach Hasan Ramadan, a teacher, living with his family in a vast refugee camp in the south of Gaza housing hundreds of thousands. We recorded our conversation with Hasan which you can find here. Below is the transcript of that conversation. Hasan Ramadan lives with his family in a vast refugee camp in the south of Gaza housing hundreds of thousands [photo credit: Quds] What's that sound, Hasan? I can hear a buzzing sound. Is that something in the air? This is the sound of the drones. So while we're talking we can hear an Israeli drone overhead? Yes, it's flying overhead. It's not one. You're talking about many. They're covering the skies. Hasan, can you tell me where you are right now? In a place called al Mawasi in the south of Gaza, between Deir el Balah and Khan Younis, in an area called Al Qararah. What is your living situation? Are you living in a tent? Yes, I'm living in it right now. And how many tents are there? They are countless. I can't count them. You're talking about thousands of tents. They are adjacent to each other. There are no spaces between the tents. And why are you living in this area? Were you ordered to move by the Israelis? The Israelis told us to go to this area, because they are calling it the humanitarian zone. Is it a humanitarian zone? As the Israelis called it, it is a ‘humanitarian’ zone. But, we don't see that because it's bombarded by the Israelis every now and then. What kind of facilities do you have? Do you have water that's easily available? Do you have electricity? No, there are no facilities at all, there is no water. Also, we don't have electricity in this area that they designated as the humanitarian zone. It is like a desert. It doesn't have any facilities. It's not a place where people can live? No, it's a place that (is) a desert. Nobody lives there, except for some people who are called Bedouin. Can you talk to me a little bit about the situation in the camp? Are there any police? Is there any way to control people? Is there law and order where you are? No, the law and order is missing where we are living right now and we hear lots of shootings. You can say that we hear shooting every day. So life is really dangerous and intense because you are not protected by walls and things like that. So bullets can go through the nylon tents? Yes. Two weeks ago we were trapped in a clash between two families and we were lying on our stomachs so that we could protect ourselves. And we stayed one hour like this, lying on the ground for one hour to protect ourselves. These are families in the camp who are attacking one another? Yes, families in the camp. It was a clash between two families from the same camp where I'm living. Can you tell me about your family and where you are living? Yes, they are living with me. I have kids and my wife. We live in one tent and the other part of the family, my mother and my two younger brothers, live in another tent which is next to me. How many children do you have? I have three children (sons). And how old are they? The oldest is 15, the middle is 13, and the youngest is 10. Are there any facilities for them to go to school, to have an education? No, no. There is no education here in Gaza, they are out of school for almost a year. Hasan, you are an educator. How difficult is it that your children are not in school? It's really hurtful (for them) to be educated when they return to school because they will be away from school for almost, let's say, a year and a half. We don't know when the war is going to finish, so I think it will be hard for them to be compensated for the skills that they have lost. This is what I can think of right now. And your children, can you do any education with them now? Yes, I try. I try to download some videos for them, so that they can be in connection with education. I don't want them to lose everything that they learned in the past. You talked about the lack of water. Is your family having to go long distances to get water? Yes, because you know they have water in tanks. So, when the truck is … I think we lost you there. At the point where the line broke off, I was asking you about the water and your sons having to walk a long way to get water. Can you just describe that you have to go back many times with buckets and how tiring it is for your children? When we get the trucks around our area, we have to travel as a family along with my kids. We travel long distances to reach the trucks then we get back to the tents. We do this many times to provide water for the day. Do you have enough food to feed your family? My children are tired all the time and they are fed up with the situation. They don't have enough to eat because, you know, everything is outrageous, the prices of the commodities that we have to buy are really high. There is something else that doesn't help us to get enough food, which is the lack of assistance. We don't have enough assistance to provide for our families and our kids. Your children, they're hungry, they're tired, it must be hard for them to do any studying. Yes, they are like lost. They don't have anything to do. The future is hazy for them, the present that they are living is tiring, is really hopeless and the future is hazy. So they feel that they are lost. They are lost. That must be so hard for you as their father. This is the thing that I have been thinking. I think of them all the time. I want them to be educated, to be good people in the future. That's what I'm thinking all the time. This is really hard on me. It's what every father, what every parent, wants for their children. Yes, that's the truth. How many times have you and your family been forced to move by the Israelis? We were forced to evacuate the areas we were living in around six times and that was because of the evacuation orders by the Israeli forces. For me, I used to live in the north. I was forced to move to another area. First, I went to the middle area. I left that area because of the heavy bombardment at that time, and I moved to different places because of the evacuation orders. And around then, I moved to Rafah (where the family was forced to move several times as the IDF attacked different areas of the city.) The last time that I was ordered to evacuate was in May, when they had their operation in Rafah. What for you and your family is most frightening about living in this vast camp of tents? There are lots of risks and delays for us because, you know, we aren't used to living in such conditions. We live in a tent which is made of nylon and this tent doesn't protect us from theft, from bombardment or from weather changes. So we are afraid of bombardment because it happens anytime without any warnings. We are afraid of theft, there are lots of thieves around us. They break into tents, and they take the most valuable (items) so that they can provide their families with food or they can get cigarettes, because cigarette prices are really high. The thing that happened to us yesterday is that our tents were flooded. Now we are afraid of the winter. We are really scared to death because of winter. As I told you, yesterday there was rain and we got flooded in our tents. Your tent is flooded, so you're threatened by the weather. You're threatened by the Israelis bombing you... And by the thieves. And by the thieves, desperate people breaking into your tents and stealing your things. What are your hopes, Hasan, for you and your family? My main hope right now is to survive along with my family. This is the first priority and hope for me. The other thing is to have suitable conditions for me and for my family especially for my kids. A good life with good food, water and housing. Will you have to leave Gaza to get safety for your family? Gaza now is completely destroyed. You can say it's 90% destroyed. For my family, they can't have the living conditions in such an area. We don't have a home, we got our home destroyed, we are without education. I think life here is unbelievable and terrible. So I'm thinking really hard to leave Gaza, to have another country so that I can live there along with my family and for my kids to have proper education, proper housing, proper food, proper drinking water and domestic water. Your home where you lived before the war is completely destroyed. Yes. Nothing for you to go back to? No, it's really impossible to go back to the north. And I don't know whether they will allow us to go to the north or not. We are stuck now in the south of Gaza. We can't go back. If you were to meet an Israeli, Hasan, what would you say to that person? There are two options for me. The first option is with the Israeli I can have solidarity with. We can work together so that we can solidify peace. And the other option for me is with the Israeli who is with the war. I can tell him, let's stop this war and have peace. Let's live together in peace, without any troubles and without any wars, because we don't have anything to do with this war. I was obliged to live this war. I'm a peaceful man. I have always been a peaceful man. I don't like war, I don't like weapons and I don't have any troubles with people. I don't need to have troubles with countries around me. You are a peaceful man and you want peace for yourself and for your family. Of course, this is what I'm dreaming of, to live peacefully and to die peacefully. That’s what I think of all the time. On 6 October the IDF bombed a mosque and school sheltering displaced persons in Deir el-Balah killing 26 and wounding many dozens more. Israel says the buildings housed a Hamas command centre. We were able to contact Hasan Ramadan late yesterday. He told us he and his family were "still ok." 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