I was born in 1990 in the Nuseirat Refugee Camp.
The Nuseirat Refugee Camp was established after the Nakba in 1948. Like my family, most people in Nuseirat come from other parts of Palestine, as they were displaced from their homes in 1948. My grandparents were expelled from the village of Aqar, near Ramla.
I obtained a Master's degree in Human Rights in Gaza. I worked there for a while as a lawyer and also had the opportunity to conduct research for the International Criminal Court. My life in Gaza wasn’t necessarily bad, but in 2018 I decided to leave. There were several reasons for this, not least the constant threat of war and ongoing oppression.
My father asked my brother, who was living in Turkey, to help me. Thanks to him, I received a work permit for Turkey. I worked there for several years in the tourism sector. However, in 2023 it became clear that my residence permit would no longer be renewed. After the war in Gaza broke out, I decided to apply for asylum in Belgium.
After receiving my asylum status, I hoped to bring my parents to Belgium. But in the meantime, my father passed away. He died of cancer in May 2024 because he didn’t receive the proper treatment. Before the war, he used to travel to the West Bank for his treatment, but this was no longer possible.
I am doing my best to build a new life here, but my heart and mind are in Gaza. Sometimes I feel there is little understanding for our situation. We are expected to integrate, learn Dutch, find work... But you can’t imagine what the constant fear for the lives of our families does to us. It feels as if a part of our soul has been ripped away.
In early May, my sister lost her youngest son, Qasem, and her husband during a bombing on a UNRWA school. They had gone there to charge their phone.
When I heard my brother-in-law’s name on Al Jazeera, I immediately called my mother, who answered the phone in tears. The image I saw afterward on Al Jazeera—my sister screaming, holding the lifeless body of little Qasem in her arms—is forever etched in my memory.
I once dreamed of becoming a well-known human rights lawyer, but now I realize that human rights are nothing more than empty words.
Still, I don’t want to give up hope entirely. I hope to one day work in a human rights organization here in Belgium, and to fight for greater justice.