After I was a college pupil, each morning, we’d collect within the schoolyard and sing songs devoted to our land, Palestine. Lots of our lessons would train us about our tradition and traditions deeply rooted in Palestinian land.
Each March 30, we’d mark Land Day. Women would put on embroidered clothes and boys would put on white shirts and keffiyeh. We’d sing underneath a raised Palestinian flag and commemorate the Palestinian land battle.
I totally realised the true that means of what I used to be taught about this battle solely once I confronted displacement from my residence, once I confronted the very actual chance of dropping my land.
I used to be born and raised within the Shujayea neighbourhood on the japanese flank of Gaza Metropolis. It’s a centuries-old neighbourhood, the place farmers and merchants settled. Over time, it turned considered one of Gaza’s most densely populated neighbourhoods, identified for its robust group ties and historical past of resistance. It’s no coincidence that considered one of its most distinguished folks was Dr Refaat Alareer, a poet, a scholar, and my professor in English, who impressed me to write down and resist.
My household has lived in Shujayea for hundreds of years. They constructed residence after residence in the identical space till they created a protracted road often known as Mushtaha Avenue. This isn’t only a identify; it’s a testomony to simply how deep our roots run on this land.
We not solely have our houses in Shujayea but in addition our farmland. I grew up enjoying on my grandfather’s olive grove, which he had inherited from his ancestors. The olive bushes taught us tips on how to love our land, and tips on how to be steadfast like them.
I’ve by no means thought, even for a minute, of leaving my residence, my neighbourhood. As a toddler, I by no means dreamed of dwelling elsewhere, I needed to remain the place my ancestors had fortunately lived, to inherit the land, to are likely to the olive bushes.
The primary time we needed to flee our Shujayea was when Israel attacked in 2014. I used to be very younger at the moment, however I keep in mind each single second of our evacuation. I keep in mind the missiles and shrapnel flying round and the sound of the screaming and crying. It was a traumatic expertise, however all through it, I used to be positive that we’d quickly return.
Then, it occurred once more virtually 10 years later. All through the genocide, my household and I needed to flee our residence greater than 10 occasions. The longest we needed to steer clear of our neighbourhood was three months. However we by no means went too far. Regardless of the extraordinarily tough situations, we didn’t flee to the south; we stayed within the north.
Shujayea endured two invasions throughout this conflict, the primary in December 2023, and the second in June 2024. The second got here all of a sudden, with out warning, on a summer time morning whereas residents have been nonetheless of their houses.
When the Israeli tanks reached Shujayea, they focused markets and previous eating places, electrical energy poles and water pumps, levelling many areas till they have been unrecognisable. The once-busy streets turned gray with destruction.
My household residence was bombed and partially destroyed. My grandfather’s land was not spared both. The bushes that stood for generations, that gave fruit numerous seasons, have been uprooted and burned.
The lack of his olive grove proved an excessive amount of for my grandfather. Inside three months of listening to the devastating information, he handed away.
Right this moment, we face the prospect of being displaced as soon as once more. Folks from the japanese a part of Shujayea have began fleeing underneath threats from the Israeli military as soon as once more. We have no idea what’s going to occur subsequent. Individuals are afraid however are nonetheless hoping there shall be one other ceasefire.
This yr, marking Land Day carries a distinct that means: Regardless of the persevering with genocidal conflict, we’re nonetheless right here, we’re nonetheless standing, and we’re nonetheless holding on to the land that we inherited from our ancestors. We won’t hand over.
On this present day, I keep in mind Dr Alareer’s poem:
O, Earth
Hug me
And maintain me tight
Or devour me
To undergo no extra.
I really like thee
So take me.
Make me wealthy.
Make me filth.
Gone are the times of serenity.
Weapons are the phrases of humanity.
I’ve no meals however a thorn,
No sport however a sigh.
For a soldier must really feel excessive.
O, Earth,
If in life I’m to harm
Let my filth in you give beginning.
O, Earth.
The views expressed on this article are the creator’s personal and don’t essentially mirror Al Jazeera’s editorial stance.
