text: pride, dabke, spirit | In Gaza
  pride, dabke, spirit
  "Please, have some coffee," Mahmoud insisted, though I told him I'd just drank an entire pot at home. Water wasn't good enough for him to serve me. I relented.
  I'd stopped in his computer shop to buy a new power cord and, as things go in Palestine, we sat chatting about life.
  "I dream of going around the world. I've never been in an airplane, never left Gaza," he said, not the first.
  I told him that this is his right, he deserves to see the world's beauty like anyone.
  "I'm so happy to speak with you. You know, this is the first time I've had a conversation with a foreigner," he grinned.
  He's 21, personable, helped with the power cord, and like any other person I've met in Gaza: friendly, curious, wants to see the world, loves his country, is thrilled to meet people from outside, and tried to give me the power cord for free.
  "Everyday is the same here (massacres aside). I go from work to home, nothing is new, nothing different."
  Adham, 13 years old, walked up to me as I waited, typing, in the Ezbet Abed Rabbo Red Crescent centre hallway yesterday.
  "Where are you from, anyway?" he began, sauntering up to me.
  "How much is that computer?" he wanted to know.
  When I tell him about $500, he says his family's computer was about half that price, but now it's useless, destroyed.
  "Where do you live?" I asked him.
  Ezbet Abed Rabbo, he said, gesturing eastward to the graveyard of homes toppled during the Israeli massacre.
  Abed Rabbo.
  "How is your house after the war?"
  Half-destroyed.
  He left, and returned, walked past three times, forgetting something each time as he collected medicine for his ill brother, a nurse scolding him for stopping to chat with me.
  The dabke youths were ready, so I went into the meeting room which until then was being used for a conference on health issues, put on by the Red Crescent. A number of youths from the area showed off their dabke-in-process: they have the basic steps, they have the dabke spirit and straight back with springing legs. The rest will come with practise.
  Dabke is one of the things that unceasingly fascinates me in Palestine:
  it's the obvious pride and self-assurance, the enthusiasm and zest for life, despite it all (as ever).
  I see this pride in people all over Palestine: in those driving donkey carts and scavenging for recyclables, in the fruit vendors with meticulously-stacked goods.
  Palestinians, have their human flaws like any of us, but a carry pride and playfulness that I never stop noticing.
  It's the playful poke in the belly as a man runs past his friend but wants to give a quick hello.
  It's the "ahlaaayyyn"[a greeting] as a friend sees another friend not seen in a while.
  It's the children who've lived through lifetimes of invasions, have a broad knowledge of warplanes and tanks, have taken up work at age twelve, ten, eight…and still smile, joke.
  Posted in lovely Gaza, siege on Gaza on October 14, 2009 by Eva Bartlett. Leave a comment
  ← Mehdi Abu Ayyesh, 17, dies after being shot in the head 7 months ago
  seeking tranquility →
  Archives Select Month March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 April 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 August 2008 July 2008
  Categories Select Category al-Waer al-Zahra'a Aleppo Ambassador al-Ja'afari Amnesty International anti-imperialism anti-zionism art in Gaza Avaaz Bana al-Abed Canada children in Gaza daily life Gaza DPRK North Korea farming under fire fishing under fire Gaza Ramadan gaza random Ghouta Grand Mufti Hassoun heritage historic Gaza HRW Human Rights Watch international solidarity interviews Kafarya al-Foua Lebanon Libya lovely Gaza Maaloula Madaya manufactured poverty Gaza media lies medical mortar rocket missile Hell Cannon terrorism music in Gaza Nakba NGO war-mongers Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem Palestine political prisoners psychological terror Qatar rescuers under fire Resistance resisting Zionism Russia Sanctions on Syria sauds siege on Gaza Syria Syria–my interviews Syria–my writings turkey UN Wadi Gaza water and sanitation White Helmets al Qaeda white phosphorous women in Gaza Yarmouk Yemen Zionist propaganda Zionists attacks on Gaza Zionists wars on Gaza