They are not Just Numbers

The olives of the earth and the beautiful people of Jannah

“This is my mother; I knew her from her hair” such heart-wrenching painful words A life lost, a child who so intimately loved and knew their parents that even their hair was an identifying factor. A sentence that signifies that this was a loss of more than just a person, it was a loss of hopes, dreams, and an unbreakable bond. A loss of a future that now will never be A sentence that truly captures the humanity and vulnerability behind it. All those who were lost had someone who knew them just by their hair.

Not Just Numbers

Mohamed Ajur, a professional programmer who established his own company and dreamed of working internationally to represent Palestine. And 11,000 more humans who had names, dreams, families, and stories. Humans with dreams that were robbed in less than a second. And their “crime” was that they were born on a land that was rightfully theirs But in remembering the dead, let us also speak of those who are alive The humanity, tenderness, love, and kindness. A country filled with beautiful people indeed

Hala abu Saada, a 13-year-old girl who learned sign language to accompany mute and deaf children. She dreamt of becoming a journalist, a criminal investigator, or an astronaut.

Illham Farah was a retired teacher and musician who was a prominent Christian figure, loved by many of her students.

Dr. Hamam Al-Louh, a brave doctor and truly a role model to all who refused to leave his patients stating, “if I leave, who will treat my patients?”, killed only a day after making that statement.

Assef Abu Malik, a little kid who dreamed of being a football player yet lost a limb due to the Occupation’s bombing.

Even in the midst of bombings and massacres, they still go back and rescue their pets They hold the animals with unimaginable tenderness. They feed them when they have very little to eat themselves And God, the way they console the kids and the way they hold them and comfort them, even when they are terrified themselves, is so unimaginably human and pure, a sort of kindness that is unfathomable. And oh how their children still laugh and smile and play in the rain.

The harsh reality that their childhood is forever tainted with this tragedy and the loss of their friends and families somehow didn’t stop them from finding a way to laugh through it

Even when one of them was injured and saw his mother worried over him, he immediately tried to make her feel better, downplaying his own pain to ease some of his mother’s worries. Faced with tragedy, they lean on each other. Losing all they have, they still have unrelenting, admirable faith in their god, a faith most humans dream of having.

Zionists may have taken their land and their lives, but they can never take away their spirit, their kindness, and their bravery In the face of loss, their spirits were never broken, their faith unshakable. It is truly a tragedy how their blood watered the seeds of humanity, but as our tears fall in solidarity, let it, in turn, water their freedom. Words will never do them justice, no amount of retributions will ever suffice May their martyrs rest easy, and their living stay safe. Heaven is singing in anticipation of them.

Let us not forget and speak of the men and their bravery and sacrifice. Indeed, they showed the world what it truly means to be a man. To be kind and brave in the most vulnerable times. To dig up people from under the rubble wearing nothing but a flip-flop, to take time to sit and hug and console the little kids with a tenderness that is so unexplainable, so unique and pure