I've Endured Two Years of Genocide. But I'm Still Here.

"Life has been reduced to an endless cycle of loss and suffering in a system that spares nothing-neither human, stone, nor tree. Death is a constant presence. Day after day, we suffer from siege, hunger, bombardment, and destruction; from displacement and disorientation; from homes collapsing into rubble atop the bodies and dreams of those who once lived inside them. Loved ones vanish, leaving only photographs in place of their faces."

"The world of two years ago is a distant memory. Before October 7, and despite 18 years of blockade imposed by the Israeli occupation, life still felt almost luxurious to us-ordinary, simple, and threaded with a sense of safety and freedom that survived inside our hearts. The siege narrowed our horizons, but it never robbed us of the feeling of being alive. It did not stop us from imagining a future we could build with our own hands."

"Soon after, I enrolled at the Islamic University of Gaza, where my father is a professor, and where he had taken me countless times as a child. The memories of walking beside him through those corridors remain vivid. I chose to major in English literature, a subject I had always loved. The world of books and new languages fascinated me, and I was eager to begin the university life I had imagined for years."

Gaza has endured two years of relentless violence, siege, hunger, bombardment, and destruction that leave death and displacement as constant realities. Homes collapse into rubble atop bodies and dreams, and loved ones vanish, leaving only photographs. Life before October 7 felt relatively ordinary despite a long blockade, with safety and future imagination still present. A recent graduate celebrated high school on July 20, 2023, then enrolled at the Islamic University of Gaza where her father teaches. Classes stopped for nine months; after June 28, 2024, classes resumed only online. Forty-two credit hours remain between her and graduation.

Read at The Nation