Peace for Palestinians

Pictured: Haithem Elswerkie, c/o Haithem Elswerkie

We as people quantify things. Numbers can desensitize. Numbers can also be helpful. Here’s a list of numbers for you: 21, 108, 60, 15 and counting, 62,000, and 157,000.

Twenty one is the number of years my new Palestinian friend Haithem Elswerkie turned this past May. His weight is now approximately 108 pounds, because he lost 60 pounds due to starvation. One hundred and sixty-eight was his weight when he was a carefree student studying for his electrical engineering degree and hanging out with his then family of 11 members, including his parents. Fifteen and counting is the number of people close to Haithem, whom he has had to bury. And 62,000, as of August, is the number of Palestinians, who have been killed — not to mention, the 157,000 Palestinian individuals who have been injured — according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

Haithem’s favorite movies are Inception, John Wick, Mad Max: Fury Road. He likes sports, swimming, and friends, probably like your average 21-year-old cousin or brother or nephew or friend. A usual “meal” to keep his stomach from rotting is boiling water and salt.

While Haithem’s world burns down, he scrolls through social media seeing displays of opulence. He makes posts about his situation, wondering if anyone believes or cares. I saw Haithem’s posts online; I had to respond. This story belongs to Haithem. It deserves to be heard, and I’m honored to share. Haithem has graciously answered questions for me through WhatsApp, and I share them below.

Haithem’s current heartache is his sister. She requires a lung surgery that costs $3,000. It’s a matter of life and death. I am including the link to donate, if you feel so compelled.

Haithem is, sadly, just one example of many Palestinians who are suffering. They are being stripped of dignity, even in death. Please do not tune out their cries. Please spread awareness. Please contribute if you can. Please stand on the right side of history. It shouldn’t be controversial to be anti genocide.

Haithem Elswerkie, 21 Location: Gaza City 108 lbs, previously 168 lbs Birthday: May Favorite movies: Inception, John Wick, Mad Max: Fury Road Family: Formerly 11 people, now 10, his parents, 4 sisters, 3 brothers

Currently experiencing in Gaza: Tanks, violent shelling, strikes, constant threat of death

Ways to get food: Aid distribution sites, but people are regularly killed there Black market: wartime prices are unbearable

Some current prices for certain foods: $20 flour, $57 rice, sugar $120, meat $172

What was your life dream before the attacks? My dream before the war was to study electrical engineering and play football. I hope to be able to complete my studies.

What is the main message you’d like to tell America and the world right now? The message is not to support or provide Israel with weapons to kill us. We are innocent. Do not do anything. We do not have weapons. We want life. We are not numbers. We are human beings like you. Help me so that I can work to save my sister from real death.

How many family members did/do you have and ages? I have 4 brothers, 4 sisters, a mother and a father. I lost my brother in the bombing. We were 11 and now we are 10. Brothers ages: 30, 27, 14. Sisters: 32, 23, 24, 10

What is it like scrolling through Instagram and other media while going through genocide? I am very sad because we do not have anything and we do not live. Our greatest ambition is to obtain clean food, while the rest of the world eats, drinks, and lives a life of luxury. We do not have a mattress to sleep on, nor light, nor cleaning tools. We live in a disaster and injustice, while the rest of the world lives a happy life.

What’s going on at the moment? My sister is sad. I am waiting for my sister to leave the hospital. I do not want to taste the pain of death again after losing my brother. I do not want to lose more of my family. My sister is a part of my soul. She needs an operation, and it costs $3,000. I do not know how I will get the money to save her. I think about her all the time when I am tired and weak.

What is a typical day like for you in the Gaza Strip? On a normal day, we wake up looking for food for my family, so they don’t die of hunger, and I go to my sister’s house and there every minute there is death, injuries, bombing, and displacement. It is a tiring day and every day we live in such difficult conditions.

How frequently do you eat? What is the last thing you consumed? We eat one meal a day, which is a loaf of bread, if we have one with soup only. That’s how we live.

What date did the IDF kill your cousin? My cousin was martyred on 12/6/23 in a bombing.

Do you know approximately how many friends and relatives you have lost so far? I lost many of my friends, their names are Mohamed, Hamam, Emad, Youssef, Walid, Ramadan, Sami, Moatasem, Mohi, Ezz, and there are many more than 15 of my friends.

You mentioned there were killings and executions at the hospital by the IDF? Can you please give me more details? Yes, when the occupation army stormed the hospital and arrested me and my brothers, it massacred people with bullets and created a pool of blood. It killed innocent people and used me as a human shield for a tank. It stripped me of my clothes and blindfolded me. It bombed buildings on people and targeted the square. It committed a horrific massacre in the hospital.

Is there anything else you wish I would ask you? If you have other questions, I will answer them so that we can reach the greatest possible support.

What would you say to those who claim there is no genocide? I tell them to watch the news, talk to us, and I will transmit to you the death and genocide directly. Go to us in Gaza and see with your own eyes how children, women, the elderly, mothers, and innocent people are being killed.

Did you or any family members have prior health conditions? What is the IDF doing to Palestinian doctors? They suffer from chronic diseases. My father suffers from diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and my mother has diabetes.

The occupation forces arrested the director of the Indonesian Hospital, Abu Safiya, and arrested the director of Al-Naijar Hospital.

They do not have medication, and if they do, it’s expired. They are really at risk of death.

I can’t sleep now because of the headache and stomach ache from not eating. I lost more than 28 kilos of weight. I suffer from severe malnutrition.

What drives me to continue is to save my family from death and my belief that if I stop, my family will die of hunger, so I must continue.

“Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing,” by Harper Lee from her novel To Kill a Mockingbird.

Donate to help fund Haithem’s sister surgery here.

Haithem burying a loved one. Photo c/o Haithem Elswerkie.

Haithem’s timeline: 12/6/23-Haithem’s cousin is killed from bomb strike by IDF. Haithem stays in Tel al-Hawa, neighborhood in Southern part of the Palestinian city of Gaza, for 16 days until tanks reach Al-Quds Hospital. The Islamic University close to Haithem’s home is bombed. Haithem leaves Tel al-Hawa. He moves to Shuja’iyya, a neighborhood in the southern quarter of the Old City of Gaza, where he remains until the first truce of the war comes. After the truce ends, Haithem is surprised by the news of the martyrdom of friends and family. While burying loved ones in the cemetery, Haithem and his family are bombed by the IDF. They escape and return home. Haithem stays in Shuja’iyya until IDF storms into Shuja’iyya on the 68th day of war. He moves from Shuja’iyya to a school in the center of the city. Haithem receives news his home was bombed. He stays at the school for a few days, then leaves to a different home. News of the arrival of tanks to the Rimal area breaks. Salah al-Din School is bombed. His elder cousin is killed at the school. Haithem’s family escapes, while his cousin’s corpse is left behind at the school. The central area is besieged. Haithem is displaced to Al-Shifa Medical Complex, where he remains for 100 days. Prompted by starvation, Haithem attempts to seek out food. A massacre takes place in the location where Haithem is to receive aid. He narrowly escapes death. On the 77th day of the war, his twin brothers visit their old home in Shuja’iyya. They are bombed inside the neighborhood. Haithem and his other brother attempt to rescue the twins. One is lost, and the other is dead. He has to drag his brother’s corpse to give him a burial and to allow the parents to say goodbye. The remaining twin is found alive the next day. Haithem and his brothers return to the hospital. On approximately the 100th day of war, they are beseiged inside the Al-Shifa Medical Complex for 14 days often lacking food and water. Inside the hospital, the IDF humiliates and executes people in front of each other. Haithem is summoned outside by the occupation. He, and a few others, are instructed to lay on the ground and use their bodies as a human shield next to a few tanks. Haithem stays alive, and he is sent to the southern Gaza Strip, while his mother and father are sent to Al-Ma’madani Hospital. Reunited, they arrive in the Gaza Strip after 167 days, where they currently remain fighting for their lives.