Gaza

Sep 2

"Her name is Rita. It comes from a poem by a well-known poet of Palestine. It’s a song that I used to sing, and my wife loves it too. So Rita is a product of love between me and my wife. I haven’t seen either of them in a year and a half. When the border opened last year, I sent them both out of the country. I hold a Master’s degree in Burns, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery—and these skills are deeply needed in Gaza. So I chose to stay behind. Now the border is closed, and I couldn’t leave if I wanted to. I do my best to talk to Rita on WhatsApp every day. I’ll ask about kindergarten, and her swimming lessons. I’ll look at her latest drawings, and try to encourage her. But that’s it; I’m a WhatsApp father only. A few days ago she was ignoring me a bit, so I asked: ‘Why don’t you talk to me?’ She told me: ‘I feel like I forgot you a little bit.’ My wife jumped in, and said: ‘No, no, she’s kidding.’ But I said: ‘She doesn’t need to be kidding. She’s saying the truth.’ I’ve been gone most of her life. First with my studies in England, and now with this separation. I do feel guilty, yes. But if I had left, I’d feel even more guilty. There’d be a crack in my heart. It would come to me in my nightmares, every time I saw the suffering of my people. The first stage of this genocide was to destroy the health infrastructure, so there’d be no refuge for the dying. I happen to be part of an organization, Doctors Without Borders, with big abilities and big principles. I knew that if we worked together, and made the right decisions, and did the right things—we’d be able to provide comfort to countless people. And that’s what we’ve done. I’ve co-managed a team that built a field hospital with 120 beds, and three surgical theaters running 24 hours. This is something I’ll be proud of for years and years. And I hope one day Rita will understand. I’ll ask her to read books and watch documentaries about the genocide. I’ll ask her to understand that I couldn’t close my eyes to the suffering of our people. We must resist. And how do we resist? By existing. And how do we exist? By having a value. And in our family, our value is to serve others, more than we serve ourselves."