The true Heroes
Who's the first person that comes into your mind when someone asks you who your hero is?
I have been asked this question a couple of times but never really had an answer for it. I would take names of random people or family members but never had an explanation for why I considered them my hero. But today, I can answer this question super easily and that's what this post is going to be about.
While I do know my dad is my hero because we both are pretty much going through the same stuff and I have learnt a lot from him; mostly how to deal with difficult situations and how to never give up and always fight back. I love him and he will always be my hero and today I am happy to say I have more heroes to add to the list.
Y'all probably know about the current genocide happening in Palestine right now. It has affected me a lot and it's the first time something has moved me and made me take action against it and do everything I can possibly do to help make more people be aware about it. I know I am a selfish person but for the first time in my life, I am praying to god for someone else instead of myself. You can read my other post about it and see what My Birthday Wish was last year.
I have been keeping up with all the updates about Palestine on Instagram. You can check out @eye.on.palestine or @letstalkpalestine for all the updates. You can also join their broadcast channel for daily updates. These pages are super informative and post raw videos and images for you to see what's happening. Yes, I know some of the videos and pictures are hard to watch, make you cry or even give you goosebumps but it shows you the reality, it shows you what these people are actually going through unlike the Israeli's who cry about their made up war shit without any proof.
While every Palestinian is a hero, whether it be the women, the kids, the men, the healthcare workers, the elders, etc, the journalists are the ones who helped the world to finally see the truth about what the Palestinian's have been going through for the past 75 years.
I have been following their content closely and let me tell you something, I have never seen anyone as brave as them. Most of them are younger than me or even the same age as me but I can never imagine deciding to stay back and documenting stuff to show the world the truth and trying to save my people right now knowing my life would be in danger and I could die at any moment. I think a lot of people are shook with the way they are handling this and how brave they really are despite being so young.
Here's a shoutout to our brave journalists who helped the world to see the truth. Go follow and support them!
And many more!
I have been following the ones listed above since the beginning of the genocide and their stories make me so helpless. I wish I could help them! Motaz is just 24 and recently graduated university. He dreamed of travelling around the world to capture all the beautiful places he would see but unfortunately, life had other plans for him. Instead of traveling around the world, he's stuck in Gaza, trying to capture the atrocities caused by Israel and show their reality to the world. If you see his pictures and videos from his graduation, you can see how happy he was. Now, his university has been bombed, he's lost weight, his hair is turning grey and his smile has disappeared, all since October 7th. I cannot even imagine the amount of stress he's going through. Everyday I send a prayer to God, begging him to protect him and everyone else in Palestine.
I wrote this post about a month ago but my blog went offline and was causing problems so I am just gonna add the new update for him. Motaz has recently been evacuated from Gaza for reasons known and unknown. It was such a bittersweet feeling watching him announce it and remove his vest. You can watch the video on his Instagram account if you want! Like I am so happy that he gets to leave and will be safe but I am gonna miss him covering the news in Gaza too. I am sure God has bigger plans for him though.
"It's a difficult moment in the life of a Palestinian journalist, when they go to cover an incident for the news and find out that the news is their own family."
- WAEL DAHDOUH
Wael, another hero of mine, is like my grandfather. I cannot imagine going through what he went through and then carry on with my life while hiding the pain from the entire world. If I am not wrong, Wael was doing his duty and covering a story when he got the news that the area his family was in, was bombed and his wife along with their kids, grandson and other relatives passed away. Not even 24 hours later, this man was back to covering stories and posting updates. He said that it was his duty and he couldn't abandon it. Not only this, recently his co-worker passed away in the same incident he was injured in and he was back to covering news the very next day, not taking any time off to rest or mourn his co-worker's death. Despite losing so much in his life, you can still see him smiling, laughing and playing with the children of Gaza. I cannot even imagine the amount of strength it takes to be like him.
I described this man's pain a month ago in this post, but who knew I would have had to edit this post so soon? Wael's oldest son was in a car with other journalists when his car was targeted and attacked by the Israeli army. He passed away and watching his father and friends mourn him made me cry. He had literally posted about his father being his hero a day or two before he passed away. Wael mourned him but was back on duty the very next day.
He has also been evacuated from Gaza and is getting treated for his injuries in Qatar. He just met Motaz and I can't imagine how these two are feeling after meeting outside of Gaza. Like Motaz posted a story about getting on the plane for the first time in his life and he couldn't even decide if he should be happy about it or not.
I pray to God that these two get to go back to a Free Palestine soon🇵🇸❤️
Plestia, though left Gaza for the safety for her family, you can see how bad she feels about leaving and tries to post updates from others and also tries to do everything she can to help but I also get that she didn't have a choice. She didn't want to put her family's life in danger. I remember her saying that her parents were allowed to leave but they wouldn't leave Gaza without her and she left with them to not put their life in any more danger. She was one of the favourite person of the children in Gaza. I adored her videos with them. It was clear how much she adored them too!
Can you imagine starting every video with telling people that you're still alive? That's how our beautiful Bisan starts her videos. She's also 24 and starts all her videos where she updates us with, 'Hi everyone, I am Bisan from Gaza and I am still alive'. This makes me cry. Imagine the fear she goes through everyday not knowing when her last day might be, if she would get the chance to escape the horror she is living through and live a normal life. I would simply die from the stress and anxiety.
Though I have been following Hind and Saleh too, I don't know much about them but I have seen Saleh's videos from before the genocide began and then after. He was so happy, living his life but now his smile has disappeared and has been replaced with tears and sadness.
Oh, and I almost forgot about @lama_jamous9. She's the youngest Palestinian journalist and she reports so well for a 9 year old. She's the absolute sweetest. I love how she's giving her dream a chance. I hope she gets what she deserves for her work. I absolutely love watching her. Go give her a follow and support her!
All the journalists that have given up their dreams to cover the news of the genocide, not caring about their lives are the real heroes. They deserve all the attention and love from the world. Half of these are kids with dreams. I don't think any of us have the courage to give up our life to document a genocide. I have seen how they went from being the happiest people to the saddest. They are so tired of everything but they never give up and I think the love and support that they are getting from the people from around the world helps encourage them and makes them super happy. They deserve the best for showing the truth to the world💖
Not only the journalists, but every man, woman and the children of Palestine deserve all the happiness in the world. They are the strongest people in the world. They have helped people change the way they viewed the world and their faith in God is astonishing. I believed in god before but still found ways to try and debunk the miracles that happened to me. Every time I did that though, god found ways to tell me he was here for me and after watching the Palestinian's, my faith in him has doubled. I know some of you might call it bs but a few years ago I didn't believe in this stuff either, and honestly it's hard to believe it until you personally experience all this stuff.
Anyway, keep praying for our heroes and for the genocide to stop as soon as possible.
If you need any information about the situation, hit me up and I'll try to help you as much as I can.
Until then, CEASEFIRE NOW🇵🇸❤️
See y'all soon with a new post!💚