A three week Palestinian-Slovak friendship. Stories from Gaza

‚I love the pics where you are kayakking. Thanks for sharing’. This is the message Ella receives from Maryam on one of her social media platforms. Ella replies ‘thank you’. She checks Maryam’s profile and sees Maryam is in Gaza. Ella knows there is a war going on, but she’s been very busy with school, sports and playing the cello. She thinks she shouldn’t ask Maryam about that. She doesn’t want to pry. So she asks: ‘Do you also like kayakking?’

Maryam answers that she has never seen a river. She’s never been on a boat either. Maryam and Ella are the same age, they’re both 16. It’s strange to meet someone who’s never even seen a river. Ella realizes that Maryam has been liking a lot of her pics lately. Some are pictures of the Danube.

Ella asks Maryam if she likes sports. Maryam says she does, but that there are limited options in Gaza. For example, Maryam has never ridden a bike. Except for a small one when she was a little kid. Ella starts asking more questions. They exchange information on their respective cuisines, cultures, languages. They know and like some of the same movies and music.

Eventually Maryam tells Ella that she lives in a tent. She has very limited access to the internet via her father’s phone. She mentions how her apartment has most likely been plundered or destroyed entirely. Maryam has lost over 20 relatives since October. She’s lost count. Her parents and two brothers have survived, but she’s lost a lot of aunts, uncles and cousins. Ella asks why her family is staying in Gaza. Maryam explains that there’s no way to get out. She and her family have been displaced three times. ‘We can actually hear artillery right now’, she writes. ‘They’re shelling Rafah, we’re not too far from there.’ Ella asks if she can do something for Maryam, like send her money. Maryam doesn’t want any money, because only a truly huge sum would make any real difference. She asks Ella to share her story, her likes, her dreams. Maryam has prepared a meme for Ella. It sums up her life. She asks Ella to share the meme in the case of her death.

Maryam was 16 years old. She had the most loving parents a girl could wish for and too very protective younger brothers. She enjoyed going to school and was very drawn to sports, the theatre, dance and singing. She dreamt of getting into an acting school one day, maybe in New York or London or Los Angeles. Maryam never set a foot outside of the small Gaza strip. She spent many days scrolling pictures of Europe, the US, Japan, Brazil and other countries. Her stomach felt like it was on fire at the thought of perhaps never ever seeing anything outside of Gaza. She enjoyed family dinners and family breakfasts. She dreamt of eating all the typical sweets and junk food she saw American teens eat on TV shows. She would have loved to attend a concert by some western star, like Taylor Swift perhaps. She lists her hopes, her fears and even her insecurities (she didn’t like the way her hair curled and felt like she was too tall for a girl). She ends the meme with with: Don’t mourn my death, but ask and answer the question: Why was my death so acceptable to western minds? Do me that one favor and ask yourself why the preachy democracies of this world which pride themselves on their super duper innovative spirit could not come up with a solution that would have allowed me and others to live. I swear by everything dear to me that I have never harmed anyone and don’t intend to either.

Ella and Maryam started talking on the 2^nd of May.

On the 23^rd of May Ella was contacted by one of Maryam’s brothers.

Ella, true to her word, shared the meme with her followers.

It received 52 likes.

Her question received only one answer.

‘Her parents shouldn’t have voted for Hamas.’

Ella started a life long study of the Palestinians and their cause.