Areej, Maha, and Mona
by Adriano Contreras | Saturday, January 16th, 2010

After a nice comfortable sleep, my first morning in Gaza started off with tea, sliced hard boiled eggs, cheese, and delicious Palestinian bread. As I ate I conversed with Mona, Rasem and Amal’s niece, who lives in Jabaliya camp. She’s 20 years old and came over to meet someone her age she could practice English with.

It doesn’t seem to matter the age of the people here. Everyone is attentive to your comfort. Mona is a sweet young woman with a decent handle of the English language. David points out my pronunciation of words to her and she admits her preference to the British accent. “It sounds better and has more prestige,” she says. She then gets up to fetch me some more tea. My fondness for tea has definitely increased being on this convoy. I hear the word “chai” at least twice a day.

Soon after I met Areej and Maha, Mona’s best friends. Both them are a year older and study with Mona at the Islamic University of Gaza. I had two more people to speak English with.

Maha I think was quite shy or perhaps her English not as developed as Areej and so she kept quiet.

Areej was quite the opposite. Very outspoken and favored the American accent (right on!). I was a bit astounded at how good her English is. Her grammar often better than my own.

All of them with their own aspirations just like you and I. They talked about their future plans as English translators and life in Gaza. We sat down for an excellent meal that Amal cooked for us. She made enough chicken to cover the mounds of rice served on these giant platters. A side of yogurt and chopped veggies to round out the flavor explosion of Palestinian cuisine.

Areej, Maha, and Mona invited me for a quick tour of some of the destruction from last year’s attacks. They asked the taxi driver to stop and I filmed various parts of administration buildings partially standing. The very same large pieces still hanging over the standing remains. I couldn’t spend more time having a peak at the destruction so not to attract attention. Hamas has been quite strict of late according to the women about filming those areas. And if stopped by them I would have to answer numerous questions, especially since I split from the convoy.

Areej took us to her house. We went to one floor of her multi-family apartment complex. This floor was their newly renovated floor. A nice open space with curtains, artwork, and large rugs. I was treated to wafers and tea.

I met Areej’s dad who is an AMAZING artists. His work is incredible in capturing emotions and moods. HIs collection includes about 100 paintings spanning the last 30 years. Though in 2004 he put down his brush. After painting a series of politically charged pieces within the last year, Israel’s total withdrawal and blockade made him lose his motive to paint. I wanted to purchase one of his paintings, but couldn’t fathom even asking to take one of his precious pieces with me.

I’ve decided to edit his artwork that I filmed and create a mini exhibition for him online. There isn’t much of an art culture in Gaza and so his ability to exhibit his work is very rare. His work deserves to be seen by the world.

Throughout my time at Areej’s home, we talked about the paintings and life under occupation. Areej’s brother gave me excellent (but grim) footage of what it was like on the ground in Gaza during the bombing. The footage was shot by the Palestinian Red Crescent Society and I’ll be sure to use it in my film wisely.

“Freedom” is what they need, exclaimed Areej. Freedom is exactly what these people need. For Areej to be able to travel and visit the country whose accent she admires. Her father could tour the region with his work or exhibit it for tourists if that was made possible in Gaza. Maha and Mona could be free to visit their brothers and sisters in the West Bank and refugee camps around the world. The possibilities are numerous. But without a liberated Palestine, self-determination will continue to be stagnated.

Tags: convoy, Gaza, occupation, Palestine

11:00 pm. Viva Palestina.