Gaza Strip, May 13, (Pal Telegraph) - A new day has come! Yeah, it's a new day, but I don't feel that I had enough sleep last night. Thoughts were taking me back and forth, and people kept visiting me the moments I was able to steal some sleep. I looked at myself in the mirror, my eyes were sore! Sigh, so tired and sick of those thoughts.

But yeah we Palestinians- are normal humans, we cry, laugh, think, worry and sometimes fall in love just like everyone in this universe. Some might wonder the reason to mention the human trend in the Gazan society, and so do I! I was surprised once on a campus in Ohio. I was talking to some students about different life issues. A student that never knew Gaza even existed said "you guys are not different than us... you talk, you laugh"!!

Yes, we are not different in this area, but we are very different in too many other perspectives. Palestinians in Gaza have too many extra burdens to worry about such as the biggest prison in the world they live in, the patients who die inside without being able to go out for medical treatment, and students who lose their academic future waiting for borders to open for a few hours after months of closure. Thinking of those who want to go out of Gaza for tourism purposes is not actually one of the priorities at this level. Negotiators unconsciously ignore this essential demand asking for other important issues

Going through details of our life in Gaza might not sound realistic for those on the other side of the world who have ever heard a thing about life in Gaza, or even knew that Gaza is in this world! Today, I had a little walk in the sad silent streets of Gaza after the recent comprehensive war. I passed by the rubble of what used to be the Palestinian Legislative Council in the center of the city, on my way to work. There I found an old woman begging and calling everyone passing by asking for money; 100 meters later I found two other women doing the same thing.

There's no doubt that life in Gaza after the war turned to be worse and harder than it was before. People who got their homes bombed are still homeless living in unable to rebuild their homes for economic political, and security reasons. Building a house is not as easy and quick as it might be in the US or somewhere else. It usually takes years to build a house in Gaza as people import construction materials, that Gaza's economy is completely dependant, from Israel. However, construction materials are not allowed into Gaza anymore as a result of the siege imposed on Gaza by Israel as well as the international community. As a consequence of that war, life in Gaza returned to a more primitive stage where homeless people are now mixing mud with straws to make bricks in order to rebuild shelters for themselves. Some young men from several civil society institutions volunteered to help the homeless families build some rooms to live in. However, the inhabitance of the shelters still have to wait in lines to receive water supplies, and impatiently wait food coupons from some donating institutions.

Thinking of those whose life details have been erased under the rubble of their homes, I ask myself what does the world expect from those people to bear for Israel in future? Are they expected to believe in peace with their victimizers? What peace can bring back their innocent children who were killed with no fault committed, except for being Palestinians sleeping in their homes? The international community politicians seriously have to think about the impact of this war on the Palestinian children, especially those living in Gaza. Those children will be the leaders of tomorrow who will surely remember their lost homes and killed family members. Therefore, this certainly will be one of the most serious obstacles to deal with in future, which Israel irresponsibly has created by its irrational use of power in Gaza.

This is how I spend my day at my first part time work... I talk about what's happening in town and the aftermath of not only the war, but also the continuing siege imposed on Gaza. Our institution is one of those several none governmental local institutions that got affected by the internal and external political unrest as most of the international donors stopped their projects in Gaza as a result of closing the borders and the limited access into it. As a result, employees in such institutions don't have anything to do except thinking about the current crisis, which killed their abilities and progress making.

See part one: Narrative of Gazan Captive Dreams 1

By Mona, A young female journalist based in Gaza.

To be continued....