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(STILLS) Gaza, youth under occupation

Gaza, youth under occupation

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In June 2007, Israel and Egypt imposed a land, air and sea blockade on the Gaza Strip, Palestine. The collapse of Gaza’s economy and movement restrictions have been compounded by successive wars against this tiny blockaded stretch of land by Israeli military forces.

The lives of a whole generation born in the 2000s have been punctuated by airstrikes, occupation, protests and shortages. Either injured themselves, or friends or relatives of wounded patients treated by Médecins Sans Frontières teams, Abdullah, Aseel, Nermin, Shams and Yasmin live in Gaza.

Lives overburdened by traumatic memories – the war in the summer of 2014, the deluge of bullets fired by the Israeli army during the 2018 Great March of Return protests, video games, the poems recited on social media, beach cafés, graduation ceremonies, but also occupation.

In this 4-episode mini-series, Abdullah, Aseel, Nermin, Shams and Yasmin describe their daily lives as teenagers under blockade and occupation.

Video

Episode 1: Clash of clans - Abdallah

Episode 1: Clash of Clans. 20-year old Abdallah is the eldest of six children. When his father was wounded in the Great March of Return protests in 2018, he had to take on more family responsibilities. In between games of ping-pong with his grandfather, video games and action movies, he talks about his life as a teenager in Gaza.
MSF
Video

Episode 2: A child's mind - Yasmin

Episode 2 - A child’s mind. Yasmin is studying because she wants to become the manager of a company. Among the many wars in Gaza, the one she remembers most was the one in summer 2014. Two months of interminable airstrikes, the fear of seeing her nearest and dearest die, the sleepless nights. Close to her family, but most of all her mother, the young woman dreams of being able to travel – even if only to Jerusalem.
MSF
Video

Episode 3: Troublemaker - Shams

Episode 3 - Troublemaker. Of his childhood in Gaza, Shams’ happiest memories are of days spent with his family by the sea. Before the incident, he would criss-cross Gaza on his scooter and hang out with his friends on the beach. Then, during a protest, he was shot in the right arm by a bullet and his dreams were shattered.
MSF
Video

Episode 4: Poets of the nation - Aseel and Nermin

Episode 4 - Poets of the nation. Aseel and Nermin are inseparable. The two young women spend all their time writing and reciting poems on their Instagram accounts and at public events. Nermin remembers the moment when she discovered literature. It was the summer of the war in 2014.
MSF
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