ZIAD IN GAZA

 We are overwhelmed by numbers of people who are dying. Some we know, some are close to our friends, and some are close to us. The feeling of helplessness is overwhelming me, and I am unable to cry. I am unable to act based on my sadness, I am just acting “normal”, which is worrying me a lot.

I decide to listen to a love song. If this period is not the best for love songs, which is? The song is a soundtrack of a movie: “When Adam hugged Hanan … he had the whole world in his hands …. He became human.”

I couldn’t but think about a young couple I met days ago in the street. They got married six weeks ago. They had no “big story”, simply, a guy met a girl, they fell in love, everything went well, their families supported their relationship, and voilà, they got married. They did not know that the first chapter of their story, the honeymoon, would involve fleeing to save their lives and testing their love during these tough times. Instead of spending lovely time together and buying roses, they were trying to buy clothes because they couldn’t wash the ones they have left.

Another couple I knew, who have been married for a few months, met abroad, while both were on a scholarship to complete their masters. Everyone talked about their love story. The husband was killed few days ago, leaving his wife and a promising future behind. I cannot imagine how a twentysomething woman would process the experience of being a widow.