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Our house was shaken by six airstrikes
Written by: Jawad Harb
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While the Gaza strip is currently facing some of the toughest challenges in the Palestinian territories, I'm writing my own very personal story. But it is also the story of 1.6 million Palestinians living in Gaza. The 28th of December, 2008, was a day to remember. It was 4:30 p.m. I was sitting with my six kids at my house which is 500 metres from the Egyptian border. The darkness was surrounding us like a monster, a few candles lit our path to the kitchen and bathroom. It was a moonless night full of unpredictable, unknown fear. I was telling my kids stories to distract them when suddenly it was like an earthquake - six consecutive airstrikes shook the house up and down. The house was like a piece of paper swinging in the air. The kids were screaming, running in all directions, seeking to escape the chaos of the airstrikes. It was uncontrollable panic everywhere. What made the situation more complicated was the screaming of kids all over the quarter. It was the only thing you could hear after the airstrikes. All the children in the neighbourhood ran downstairs to the main road, crying and screaming in such a way I have never witnessed in my whole life. The street was full of parents trying to find their kids and bring them back home. Among this chaos, I only just managed to gather my own children and get them back home. We sat again in darkness and I started talking to them again in an effort to calm them down. Yazan, my 12-year-old son, suddenly asked: "Dad, are we ever going to live in peace again? I like to climb, I like to swing like a monkey ... and I like to fly like a bird, why can't we play like those children we watch in kids' TV programs every day?" A burning teardrop rolled down my face, and all of a sudden, I was not able to say a word. "Isn't it Christmas holiday now dad? Are we not supposed to have a party and eat some cake?" he added. As I was trying to answer him, another airstrike shook the house, and this time all of my kids snuggled into me like small birds. My body was grabbed by small hands everywhere, and I wished at that moment I had ten hands to hug them all, because this was exactly what they needed. "This is temporary," I said to them, with pain. "Dad, yes, it is temporary forever," my 16-year-old daughter replied.
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