User 1

Now that I’ve reached the beginning of recovery, I feel a huge sense of responsibility toward my friends who suffer from the same disease.

For our friends who died while trying to grasp life; for Bilal, Sami, Dhirgham, Musa, and many neighbors and relatives; for our homes we will never return to, and the memories buried there.

I am Esam. I write for myself, for my family, and for my people. I left Gaza, but Gaza has never left me.

I am from Gaza, and I tell you: We are broken. We are utterly defeated. We are defeated by means of killing, starvation, awareness, education, and life itself.