3 days before Eid Al-Fitr, preparations for the joyous event were ongoing in the Palestinian homes in Gaza where the housewives bake Eid cookies and cook traditional plates like “Somagiya”. This is a pretty normal seasonal scene that Fadi Abu Shaqra who lives in Khan Yunis city in Gaza was used to and was himself preparing for Eid as bought the new clothes for Eid.
The 23-year-old lawyer was following and hearing of all what was going on in Sheikh Jarrah and how fellow Palestinians were forced to leave their homes. With a heavy heart Fadi was watching and listening till two days before Eid when the Israeli bombing started over his home and he thought this might be part of what he and his family got used to for their entire lives of regular bombing that goes on for one or two consecutive days then things go back to normal.
Fadi: We never knew a bloody Eid was awaiting us
“We never knew a bloody Eid was awaiting us” Fadi said in a shaking voice as he recalled the last day in the holy month, Ramadan and how the supposedly happy night turned into a “disaster”. Running everywhere to close the house’s windows and hide below the goods in an attempt to escape from the unstoppable bombing and unknown fate with the fearful shouts of family members and neighbors getting louder, this was the scene in Fadi’s home.
Fadi: my aunt's home was bombed on Eid day and they became homeless
“After a long sleepless night we finally made it to Eid Al-Fitr’s prayer”, said Fadi who mentioned that a few hours after going home they knew that his aunt’s home was bombed by the occupational forces and all the family members were forced to leave in order to stay alive. “There was no room to take even a piece of cloth. They abandoned a whole life and memories within a few seconds”.
The bombing found its way to smash all the vital features of the Palestinian city as it reached the streets, houses, towers and even hospitals, according to Fadi. On the 2nd Eid days my uncle’s family also ended up homeless after their house was smashed by the heavy bombing. “Family members becoming homeless became normal news”.
The families whose homes end up in vain usually go to other family members to live with them, shelters or hospitals. “It’s not a big deal where to go after you have left literally everything including money, goods and unforgettable memories” Fadi went on.
Amid the electricity outage which makes light visit homes for three hours at maximum, the night bombing becomes more frightening “especially when you can’t see who is still breathing and who could have passed away” Fadi said.
Fady: On the third of Eid days we had to choose between two deaths
“On the third of Eid days we had to choose between two deaths” Fadi mentioned. The Israelis poured Gas on Gaza’s borders so the homes were filled with the deadly odour that they had to open windows in order to let air in. “But how could we open windows while the bombing is ongoing outside and can reach us through any open spot?”. They had to close all the windows and choose to inhale the trapped gas in hope the bombing would not reach them.
“A whole family was shot and died except for an infant” Fadi said, describing the most heartbreaking event that took place in his neighborhood.
This Eid, turned meaningless by the brutal occupation, just as well as a whole Palestinian life became filled with fear and loud shouts, yet the dream of making it to freedom never dies and grow stronger by time. Fadi summed up the harsh time this Eid involved in words “there is no Plestinian who didn’t lose a family member or a home to the terroristic occupation but this will never exist as an excuse to give away a single centimeter of our land”.
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