Zana’s Reviews > The Eyes of Gaza: A Diary of Resilience > Status Update

“How do you get over a Genocide?”

“I will always believe that a future exists where Palestinians are not victims or numbers, but people, with rights just like everyone else.

I hope this book becomes a piece of history, one we learn from.

I hope it never has to be repeated.”

“I turned twenty-two today, but I feel so much older for the experiences that I’ve been through. They’ve aged me. Today feels less like my birthday, and more like a day to remind me that I have no rights in this world other than the right to eventually expire.”

“Physically, I’m in Egypt, but mentally I’m in Gaza. I just keep wondering how many more Palestinians have to get killed for this to end? How much more of Gaza needs to be demolished for Israel to say ‘enough’? I feel so naive. Every night, I tell myself that things can’t get worse, only for the next day to prove me wrong. My heart aches with a pain that words cannot fully describe.”

“Maybe I should kill myself before the IOF target me and kill me themselves.

I’m not a suicidal person, and I’ve never said that out loud – I don’t think I ever will. But everything that’s happening is making me lose my mind.

Sometimes I consider the idea that being killed for Palestine might be an honour. Other times, I worry that I’ll be targeted and somehow survive, but in pieces.”

“What’s sad is that people have become reluctant to talk to the media, because they feel that it’s useless. And can I blame them? Can I promise them that sharing their story, reliving their trauma, will change anything in the world? No. All I can tell them is that I’ll try to do them justice, and that’s not enough for people who are dying.”

“(By the way, I don’t like using the word Gazan but I have to. I hate how the IOF has divided us by experience – by slaughter. Palestinians in Ramallah or Jerusalem can’t relate to those in Gaza, and vice versa. We’re all one, but they’ve managed to make us feel completely separated.)”

“If a child can smile, you can do the same, because no matter what the circumstances, humans will stubbornly remain human.”

“Sometimes I wish that I’d just die, for the sake of resting in peace, and sometimes I wish to live, to one day see Palestine become free.”

“I don’t think you should promise kids anything during a Genocide, because you might be killed before you can fulfil it.”