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Y: How can youth help raise awareness about the refugees’ issues?
G: I was invited to that day in one of those NGOs working for Palestinian refugees and there was a huge number of Palestinians who are now residents of Egypt and each one of them was talking about his or her experience, some of them had really bad ones with the Israeli troops, and then they were singing Palestinian folklore songs and there was documentary movies which was very interesting and helpful.
Y: Has your idea of home changed? How and why?
G: I always dreamt of a safe and peaceful home, I always had in mind that beautiful little house I could be having in Gaza with that little garden of olive trees. I always dreamt of this house and that no one could tell me that it’s not mine. And yes, this idea changed somehow, after being in Egypt for such a long time and settling here and getting married and so on. The last time I went to Gaza was quite a long time ago: I was still in high school and the road to Gaza was so hard and dangerous, the Israeli troops used to bother us a lot all the way home. Now I already have a home here in Cairo, with that man that I really love and my son that I aim to raise properly - I want him to get a proper education in a safe and a good atmosphere.
Y: What do you think about the suicide bombings taking place in the occupied lands?
G: First of all, I do not agree with the people who say that the suicide bombers are terrorists. They’re fighting those Israeli troops in their own way - we spent a whole lifetime fighting Israeli armies with stones, and don’t we need to have any kind of arms so this war would be equivalent? How can you call the people who are endlessly trying to defend their land terrorists, while saying that the real terrorists - who are killing us on a daily basis in the streets – are defending themselves? Terrorism is originally caused by the Israeli troops against innocent people in Palestine, against our children and our mothers.
Y: What do you think about the peace process and the negotiations for peace with the Israelis?
G: It’s completely useless, they’ve been exhausting themselves and our consuming our energy in such negotiations for ages, and it’s all in vain. We’ve been watching the news in vain, that PM is going to Israel to negotiate for peace and that PM is going to the US to negotiate for peace and than they’re all going to the occupied lands to discuss the whole issue. And till now not a single result for all those negotiations.
Y: Wouldn’t you prefer to be now in Gaza and struggling to keep your land and home maybe just like your sister Ghada?
G: Well, of course I would love to, but they wouldn’t let me in now, and right now I can’t do such a step. I’m already settled here, I’m married and I have my little son, I wouldn’t expose him to such danger now. Maybe when he gets a bit older and is aware that he has a home that he has to return to, of course some day.
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Yara Kassem
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