Page 5 - North Star 2024

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I am writing this essay on the 6th of April, 2024. It is the last week of Ramadan. Eid is scheduled to be on the 10th, although the exact day will depend on the sighting of the moon (Ramadan is determined by the lunar calendar).
Over the last month, I have observed the most sacred month of Islamic year. I have fasted and prayed alongside billions of Muslims worldwide. I have woken up at ungodly hours to eat and offer prayers, and I have broken my fast with my closest friends. Ramadan is a month of self reflection and self-awareness, with the goal of improving yourself as a human being.
I prayed right before I began writing this final section of this essay, around late dawn. While I knelt on my rug in submission to Allah, I couldn’t help but think of the images of Gazans doing the same thing as me, except next to the apocalyptic remains of their mosque. They bow in prayer amid the bombed rubble of their homes, schools, libraries, and offices. They are surrounded by evidence of the targeted destruction of their community. At any time, they may be next.
As I prayed, I also thought about the minority of Christians in Gaza who had been intentionally removed from the conversation surrounding this genocide in order to further portray Palestine as some Islamist hellhole. The frustration they must feel - belonging to one of the oldest Christian communities on the entire planet and still being ignored, sidelined, and bombed. They are watching the third oldest church in the world, housing refugees of all religions, become an illegally targeted death zone.
I observe religion as a choice and out of personal belief. I do so in a place of comfort and safety. These Muslims and Christians of Gaza are doing so in a war zone. They are praying while surrounded by the sound of gunfire and bombs dropping. For them, religion has become about survival-- the survival of their culture, their history, their people. It has become about withstanding a genocidal military campaign. It has become about showing the world they are still alive and will continue living.
I wrote this essay out of a sense of moral responsibility as well as admiration. I have immeasurable respect and pride for these Muslim and Christian communities who have a spirit that has persevered even under conditions akin to hell. In a region where all humanity seems to have been lost and forgotten, we instead see the greatest and strongest humanity can be.