Eman Mohammed

Touching the old scar on her forehead, 14-year-old Samah Owda fought back tears while telling her story. For the past four years she has carried on, proving that internal wounds are sometimes more difficult to heal than external ones. As a 10-year-old girl she was given a “new life” and a chance that at the time no one thought would be possible. Eman Mohammed reports from the occupied Gaza Strip.

They say that all is fair in love and war. In Gaza, love and war have come together in a bittersweet union. Rana al-Zourby, 26, like many women around the world, dreamed of walking down the aisle in a white dress and veil. But her marriage to Mahmoud al-Zourby is extraordinary in many ways as life is these days in Gaza. Eman Mohammed reports on the young couple’s marriage in the Gaza Strip for The Electronic Intifada.

Ziad Deeb, a young artist, lost his entire family and both his legs in the Israeli attack on Gaza six months ago. In his grief, Deeb has found solace in his work. Memories of the massacre inspire him “to keep painting more and more, I believe this is the only thing that can’t be taken away from me and my disability can’t be an obstacle.” Eman Mohammed reports for The Electronic Intifada from Gaza.

The Abu Halima family’s agony began when the family was taking shelter from Israeli missiles in the foyer of their two-floor home on 11 January when two white phosphorous bombs struck. The father of the family, Saad Ala Abu Halima was instantly killed along with his three sons, Abed Raheem (14), Zaid (10) and Hamza (8), along with his only daughter, one-year-old Shahed. Eman Mohammed reports for The Electronic Intifada.

The scene of Mahmoud Jilu, four years old, rolling his ball with friends doesn’t seem weird at all until you see where he is playing. Mahmoud runs after the ball into a backyard full of graves forming the cemetery where his family has lived since they can remember. The six-member Jilu family are all jammed together in a tiny house with one bedroom and a small space for the kitchen with a tomb next to it.

Adopting more children seemed to be an unusual thing to do for Handoma Wishah, known as Umm Jaber, as she had already raised six children of her own and got most of them into college. Yet she says it was easy to make what could have been a tough decision. Umm Jaber “adopted” about 40 adult men of several Arab nationalities without hesitation. Eman Mohammed reports for The Electronic Intifada.

After 21 indescribable days, “the war was over,” or so they said. But it wasn’t for me; enormous destruction covered the beautiful face of Gaza that I knew. Thousands of houses and buildings were wiped off the earth. Three weeks were all that Israeli warplanes and tanks needed to smash so many living creatures in Gaza including babies — even unborn ones — women, children, men and the elderly. Eman Mohammed writes from the devastated Gaza Strip.

“I could not leave my house, it’s too priceless to me — it’s home! Although I could hear the missiles hitting the house next door, kids in the family were frightened and wouldn’t stop crying. Still we managed to hold on until they destroyed our cousin Sadlah Matar Abu Halemeh’s causing the death of his nine-member family. All were killed and no one survived — then we decided to leave!” Eman Mohamed writes from the occupied Gaza Strip.

Saturday was supposed to be a normal day — at least as close to normal as we are allowed to enjoy in Gaza. Where else but in Gaza are students killed in air strikes on their classrooms? From my desk in my university classroom we could see the smoke from Israel’s bombing and hear the most terrifying sound of non-stop explosions. Eman Mohammed writes from the besieged Gaza Strip.