11-08-2023, 07:08 AM
The land between the river and the sea
![[Image: 495bf1ef-gaza-strip-ap-pic-201023.jpg]](https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/495bf1ef-gaza-strip-ap-pic-201023.jpg)
From Zalina Ismail
The northeast monsoon will start in mid-November. In Kota Bharu, between the Pengkalan Datu River and the South China Sea, it has been windy and rainy all day. It has been cool and pleasant. For others, in the Gaza Strip, all existence is gone.
Dr Hatem Abu Zaydeh, my former PhD student, is in Gaza City, with his wife and five children. “We are still alive,” he says.
He is a faculty member of the Islamic University of Gaza, which now lies in ruins. If you google the university, you will see that it is “permanently closed”. The 17,874 students, and 307 faculty members are nowhere to be seen, all existence is gone.
When I last messaged Hatem a few days ago, he sent me a video clip showing his living room in ruins. He looked like he had not slept in days. I could hardly hear him. In the background was a sound just as horrendous as the beasts responsible for them. These were Israeli fighter jets, followed by deadly explosions. Hatem, in his video says, “Alhamdulillah, death is close, but for now, we are safe”. For others, all existence is gone.
- More -
The northeast monsoon will start in mid-November. In Kota Bharu, between the Pengkalan Datu River and the South China Sea, it has been windy and rainy all day. It has been cool and pleasant. For others, in the Gaza Strip, all existence is gone.
Dr Hatem Abu Zaydeh, my former PhD student, is in Gaza City, with his wife and five children. “We are still alive,” he says.
He is a faculty member of the Islamic University of Gaza, which now lies in ruins. If you google the university, you will see that it is “permanently closed”. The 17,874 students, and 307 faculty members are nowhere to be seen, all existence is gone.
When I last messaged Hatem a few days ago, he sent me a video clip showing his living room in ruins. He looked like he had not slept in days. I could hardly hear him. In the background was a sound just as horrendous as the beasts responsible for them. These were Israeli fighter jets, followed by deadly explosions. Hatem, in his video says, “Alhamdulillah, death is close, but for now, we are safe”. For others, all existence is gone.
- More -