Dublin Live has run a piece about a young Gazan who dreams of moving to Dublin to study and escaping his “suppressors.”
His suppressors being Hamas (hat tip: Michal).
A young Palestinian man living in the Gaza strip has told of his dream of moving to Dublin to study and escaping his “suppressors” who have arrested him multiple times.
Kareem Jouda, on the surface, is just like any other normal 24-year-old – he’s been in and out of jobs, weighing up his college options, looking to take the next steps in his young life.
Nothing unusual for a man his age – except he’s trying to do it in the middle of one of the world’s most war-torn regions, while also protesting against the “reactionary tyranny” he faces daily.
And he is desperate to raise the money to get his dream move to Dublin to study English and, hopefully, journalism in the future.
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Gaza is governed by the Hamas, who have been in charge of the strip since 2006.
Kareem has been part of organised protests against Hamas rule in the strip by Gaza citizens – protests that have allegedly been cracked down on hard by the ruling forces.
In 2018, a Human Rights Watch report alleged Palestinian authorities “routinely use torture” against dissenters, including using cables to wrench their arms behind them to tear their shoulders apart.
Kareem makes his feelings very clear towards the political situation, saying he has “lost all meaning of life” at home.
“Here we live in a reactionary tyranny and do not discuss ideas,” Kareem claims.
“You are directly suppressed, if you express your opinion.
“I am also, here, a human rights activist against the Hamas movement. I have been arrested more than once and have gone out in many demonstrations against them and have been severely suppressed.
“I also worked in fishing for a while, but I was prevented from doing so by the ruling authorities here under the pretext that I did not obtain a license.
“We went out in more than one demonstration, the last of which was the Hirak We Want to Live in 2019, but it was severely suppressed by security.
While Israeli measures against Gaza do get mentioned, the report does – unlike almost all other mainstream media reports – also mention Egypt
Gaza, the third most densely populated area on Earth, struggles to exist under an economic boycott from neighbours Israel and Egypt.
and even though the young man points a finger at Israel
“But also, as a Palestinian, I do not forget that the siege of the Israeli occupation is one of the reasons we have arrived at (this point).
it is almost as an afterthought – Hamas are clearly the number one issue, even in his eyes.
