The lives they lived - NY Times

 

21. From Yusuf El-Mbayed

The Lives They Lived

Wafa Al-Udaini Captured the Experiences of Palestinians From Within As a journalist, she was determined to tell a story of Gaza that was full of life. 21.12.24

The Mediterranean Sea traces the 25-mile-long stretch of coastal land that makes up Gaza; for many people there, it is a lifeline. The poet Mahmoud Darwish understood those waters as the sole possession of Palestinians, writing in his poem “The Strangers’ Picnic”: “I will embrace a wave and say: Take me to the sea again. This is what the fearful do: when a burning star torments them, they go to the sea.”

 Wafa Al-Udaini grew up entranced by that same sea. The waters offered relief for overheated bodies, a backdrop for gatherings, fish to grill for dinner. When the Israeli military destroyed clean-water wells and desalination plants, it became essential in a different way: It was a place to wash dishes, do laundry and, occasionally, under extreme duress, even drink.

 When Al-Udaini became a journalist, she traced the story of Israel’s occupation of Gaza by its impact on the water and, in turn, on the lives of those who depended on it. This was also her way of ensuring that the story of Palestinians was not told only by the number of civilians killed or bombs dropped.

 She wrote about the fishermen who relied on catching anchovies and sardines to sell and feed their families. It was a dangerous profession, she wrote, mainly because of the risk of being fired on by Israeli naval gunners. The men she interviewed told her that the Israeli blockade limited their access to equipment for their boats, leading them to replace their motors with truck engines, which can result in capsizing. And yet many of them returned despite the precarity. As one fisherman told her: “I love the sea and its smell. It’s an indescribable thing.” In another article, she wrote about the reduction of water pollution to the sea, which was caused by Israeli airstrikes on sewage networks. She interviewed a woman named Sabah who was elated to go surfing for the first time in years.

 Al-Udaini was raised in the city Deir al-Balah, in the middle of the Gaza Strip, by a large extended family. In 2007, she completed her English studies at Al Aqsa University. She quickly became frustrated by Western media’s coverage of Gaza as a place of violence, extremism and poverty. She resolved to be a voice from within, telling the stories of its pleasures alongside its hardships. She wrote for smaller outlets to start, eventually working her way up to regular bylines in The Guardian and The Middle East Monitor. In 2009, she founded an organization called 16th October to train young writers and activists in Gaza to work with English-language organizations. (The group was named for the day the U.N. began to review a report that found evidence that both the Israeli military and Hamas committed war crimes in the 2008-9 Gaza conflict.)

 Al-Udaini documented the way cultural traditions could become peaceful weapons of defiance. In 2018, she covered the Great March of Return, which started out as weekly demonstrations demanding the end of the Israeli blockade and the right of return for refugees and ended up stretching on for over a year. She marveled at the endurance of those who kept attending the protests despite losing limbs after being hit by rubber bullets and tear-gas canisters, describing them as “the image of sumoud,” Arabic for steadfastness. Once, she observed people in an exuberant folk dance called the dabka; another time, she was moved by the sight of elders holding the keys to their former homes that they were forced to leave in 1948.

 

Al-Udaini became a frequent commentator on Palestine Chronicle TV, which airs on YouTube. She always wore a niqab, even though she felt it risked impeding her ambitions to become a prominent voice in the West. Her eye shadow often matched the fabric of her head scarf, pale pink or shimmery opal, eyes flashing as she delivered her reports. Her voice was often raspy, carrying the strain of someone deprived of sleep and time.

 

After a 2023 interview with a particularly hostile British journalist was picked up by the Israeli media, Al-Udaini shared with friends and colleagues that she was receiving threats. Eventually she moved to a town outside Deir al-Balah, where she and her husband built a two-story house surrounded by fields and farms. They loved it, even though electricity and running water had been cut off.

 On Aug. 7, Al-Udaini published her last article, about outrage over the deaths of Ismael Alghoul and Rami Alrifi, two Al-Jazeera journalists who were killed by an Israeli drone strike while in a car marked “PRESS.” A little over a month later, Al-Udaini’s house was hit by an Israeli airstrike, killing her; her husband; their 5-year-old daughter, Balsam; and their 7-month-old son, Tamim. She is survived by her other two children, Malek and Siraj, who now live with her parents. Their whereabouts is unknown.

 Al-Udaini once wrote an article about the catastrophic loss of Gaza’s almond trees. The Israeli military forced farmers to uproot acres of trees — and the rest were damaged by the contaminated water supply. Almond blooms signify spring and form the basis of local dishes and even children’s games. “They grew so well in Palestine that when asked how they are, locals would reply, ‘Almond!’” she wrote. “It was a sign of goodness, health, greatness. No longer.”

 

Jenna (J) Wortham is a staff writer for the magazine who has written about wellness apps and how the pandemic changed the internet.