E., a resident of the Gaza Strip, talks to us from an apartment in greater Tel Aviv, where he has been residing for the past week, helped by friends, who have provided him with a roof over his head. E. has been put on Hamas' blacklist after he made several public statements and published posts, in which he dared to criticize Hamas' policy in Gaza. He attacked the Hamas leadership for violating human rights, criticized the discrimination against women in public areas, and expressed his infuriation with the way Hamas' security institutions handle anti-regime activists.
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It is quite bizarre that the one who initially defended political prisoners, eventually became one himself. The Hamas' long arm found E. and he very quickly found himself subject to threats, intimidation, and physical and mental harassment.
"In the initial investigations I was severely beaten, with bruises all over my body; it was very brutal. Even animals are not treated this way. One investigator would walk past me, punch me, then another one would come and beat me mercilessly," says E. "In the later investigations, I suffered less physical torture, but more mental torture. They would offend me, curse my mother and father and threaten them. For example, on one occasion they threatened to kill me and told me, 'Tomorrow we will shoot you and throw you to the dogs, and tell everyone that you collaborated with Israel'."
Another time they wanted me to sign a document saying that after I was released I was forbidden from talking to anyone about what they did to me during the investigation, and not to share what I went through with human rights organizations. Each time after you are arrested and released, you have to take painkillers and rest for three to four days to physically get over what happened. Mentally, it stays with you. You can't forget. This is one of the things that made me leave Gaza."
A Journey in search of livelihood
Two years ago, E. was forced to leave the Gaza Strip following an investigation, during which it was made clear to him that the Hamas security forces had information about his plan to initiate mass demonstrations in Gaza. E. went to Egypt, tried to make a living from a restaurant business, and last August he managed to return to his family in Gaza. "I saw that I had returned to the same Gaza, with the same problems. There is no freedom, there are no jobs, and the jobs that are there are given to Hamas and their loyalists. There is no stability in life. The situation is bad and people live from hand to mouth. Everything I earn – it all goes, nothing is left.
"The children grow up, they have needs. You have to buy them clothes for the winter and heat the house. There are so many everyday needs, and then you ask yourself, 'what future awaits them and me? It makes you think, is this how I want to live? It doesn't make sense. The family eats fresh meat only once a week. Some people eat half portions just so that they can get through the day. Every house in Gaza has debts to the electricity corporation and people have to pay off loans that they took.
"It's getting to the point where residents are not using their cars unless there is something essential because they do not want to waste money on fuel. Many factories in Gaza are closed. Business owners are in and out of prison because of debts, but it's not just because of money. It's in almost every area of life. There is no infrastructure and no projects. People avoid going to hospitals because they don't trust the medical treatment there. Hamas doesn't provide services. There is no future."
Just recently bodies of eight Palestinians, who drowned off the coast of Tunisia about two months ago after they escaped from Gaza in an attempt to find a better life in any European country, were brought to Gaza for burial. "The dangers are well known to anyone who leaves, yet people decide to do so anyway. I spoke to one of the victims before he left Gaza. He said to me, 'I am dead here in Gaza anyway, so what do I care?'"
"I am the hope for the entire family"
In recent weeks, E. managed to get permission to leave Gaza and headed to Judea and Samaria, but this was only a temporary stop on his way to Israel. "I paid NIS 2,400 ($681) to someone to take care of the legal procedure of obtaining a work permit for me. I wanted everything to be legal. There are brokers who arrange these things for money, a lot of money. But if I eventually get a permit, I want to transfer NIS 5,000 ($1,418) to my family every month. It means living far away from them, but I can talk to my children on WhatsApp video calls. Even my parents and sister encouraged me to do this and said, 'You are our lifeline.' I am the hope for my whole family."
Through friends, E. managed to meet some people in Israel. He hopes to live here for a long time. "I had the chance of participating in a Hanukkah candle-lighting event somewhere. I didn't feel any attitude of racism towards me. The people who were there knew I was a Palestinian from Gaza. We started talking about songs and food. Our neighbor is Jewish. I helped her carry her shopping bags from the supermarket. I am against violence and attacks, and like me, there are other people in Gaza who think like this. The problem is that Gaza is running on agendas that do not represent the will of the people. People are afraid of Hamas and have stopped protesting. Will I return to Gaza? They will probably give me problems and put me in prison. For now, I am not thinking about it."
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