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'I cry every night': Palestinians in UAE dream of going home to Gaza for summer
Some expats haven't seen their relatives for decades and say that 'visiting home remains a distant dream'
Photo: AFP
Rehab, a 49-year-old business owner in the UAE, has not been to her home country of Palestine in more than two decades. Twenty-four years later — as she helplessly watches the ongoing war — she could only wish she had taken a chance to visit her homeland one last time.
"It's heartbreaking," she said. “As I watch expats go on vacation in their home countries this summer, I remember how I can’t go back to mine."
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Rehab is only one of the thousands of Palestinian expats in the UAE and over the world whose simple dream of visiting home feels like shooting for the Moon. With most people flying home for long holidays, they are left with no other choice but see their homeland from the news — destroyed by the war, bombed bit by bit, with people dying every day,
"I call that place my home, and my family is still there. But I haven’t seen some of my relatives in 24 years," she told Khaleej Times.
With a kid on the way, Rehab did not want to risk getting stuck in Gaza without her husband. “When I got married, I realised I couldn’t go to Gaza anymore because my husband is from the West Bank," she said. "To enter the occupied lands, we would have to take different routes. There was a possibility I would not be able to leave Gaza. We did not want to take any chances.”
Last visit home
It's been 18 years since Heba visited Gaza. The 48-year-old school receptionist shared: "When I graduated from college, I got a job, got married, and got carried away with life. Now, after losing relatives in the war, I regret not going when I could have."
"Life is not guaranteed; you never know when we will lose someone. Every night before I sleep, I cry because I am very sad," Heba said.
Nihal, a 53-year-old stay-at-home mum, last visited Gaza in 2005. "The last time I went to Gaza was before giving birth to my last daughter. I didn’t know that was going to be my last visit home."
Israeli military offensives continue to pummel Gaza, with countless Palestinians forced to move out of neighbourhoods, including areas that had been originally designated as part of a humanitarian zone.
Striving to stay connected
Despite the ongoing war that made being away from home more distant, the Palestinian women who spoke to Khaleej Times said they strive to stay connected with their loved ones in Gaza.
Rehab now relies on text messages to communicate with her family. "Before the war, we used Botim all the time, but now I only text them because I can’t handle seeing the misery they are living in. It breaks my heart,” she said.
Nihal, who used to visit her relatives for brief reunions in Egypt, shared: “I speak to my relatives over the phone. Before the war, we used to meet in Egypt and spend a week together. Now, it is impossible."
Remembering Gaza life
For Rehab, the one thing she misses most is the simplicity of life in Gaza.
"I miss the simple life,” she said. “Don’t get me wrong. I am very happy to be where I am today in the UAE. But in Gaza, life was much simpler. It reminds me of the older generations, when everything was slow-paced and simple. I miss my sisters and cousins. To think I haven’t seen my sister in 24 years makes me go crazy."
Nihal yearns for the communal cooking traditions. "I miss cooking in Gaza. It sounds funny, but it is so different to cook in Gaza compared to here. There, you don’t only cook for your family; you cook for the neighbours as well," she said.
Heba, meanwhile, misses the close-knit community and gatherings. "I miss how close everyone is to each other, the gatherings, and the late nights. When I was in Gaza, we had people visit us every day. You never felt alone, and I miss that a lot.”
She and her husband are determined to stay connected to their roots. “We call our house a ‘mini Gaza’; it is decorated the same way my parents’ house was decorated in Gaza.”
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