Chana Joffe-Walt
👤 PersonAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
Okay, I thought, here it is. She's about to tell me something big about what it's like to be a kid playing hide-and-seek with bombs going off nearby. Banyas told me, so we were playing, and we ran to the backyard.
Okay, I thought, here it is. She's about to tell me something big about what it's like to be a kid playing hide-and-seek with bombs going off nearby. Banyas told me, so we were playing, and we ran to the backyard.
That's it. That's her whole story. The strange thing that happened when they ran outside is they saw insects. A kind of insect they'd never seen before. Not the bombing. Bugs. Children are not known for their sense of scale or the longevity of their attention. And maybe it wasn't surprising that pretty much every time I asked about the war, Banias didn't really want to engage.
That's it. That's her whole story. The strange thing that happened when they ran outside is they saw insects. A kind of insect they'd never seen before. Not the bombing. Bugs. Children are not known for their sense of scale or the longevity of their attention. And maybe it wasn't surprising that pretty much every time I asked about the war, Banias didn't really want to engage.
She didn't exactly ignore me, but it didn't seem to be the main thing she was thinking about. Like when an airstrike broke the windows in her house, she wanted to tell me about a prank she played on Dana. In mid-August, when ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas seemed to be unraveling yet again, and all the adults I was talking to in Gaza were deeply dispirited, here was Banias.
She didn't exactly ignore me, but it didn't seem to be the main thing she was thinking about. Like when an airstrike broke the windows in her house, she wanted to tell me about a prank she played on Dana. In mid-August, when ceasefire negotiations between Israel and Hamas seemed to be unraveling yet again, and all the adults I was talking to in Gaza were deeply dispirited, here was Banias.
Why? What gives you that idea? Mom and Dad tell me. I heard that yawn, noting it. Discussion of the war, over. There was one moment when Begnaz was forced to engage. She couldn't avoid it. Banias' family had been sheltering in Derbella for almost a year, when suddenly at the end of August, they got an evacuation order.
Why? What gives you that idea? Mom and Dad tell me. I heard that yawn, noting it. Discussion of the war, over. There was one moment when Begnaz was forced to engage. She couldn't avoid it. Banias' family had been sheltering in Derbella for almost a year, when suddenly at the end of August, they got an evacuation order.
Israel posted a map on social media designating certain blocks in Derbella unsafe. And I saw that Maram, Banias' mother, had written something for Al Jazeera about the order. I'd hardly spoken to Maram for months, but I'd followed her reporting on bombings and food shortages. This article, though, was personal. She wrote about her confusion about what to do next.
Israel posted a map on social media designating certain blocks in Derbella unsafe. And I saw that Maram, Banias' mother, had written something for Al Jazeera about the order. I'd hardly spoken to Maram for months, but I'd followed her reporting on bombings and food shortages. This article, though, was personal. She wrote about her confusion about what to do next.
"'I've never felt so worthless as a human being,' she wrote." A single Facebook post from an Israeli military spokesperson can upend our lives in an instant. Have you ever felt like a toy, being played with left and right, east and west, pushed from one place to another, south to Khan Yunis, out of Rafah, back to Khan Yunis, then to Nusayrat, only to be driven out again?
"'I've never felt so worthless as a human being,' she wrote." A single Facebook post from an Israeli military spokesperson can upend our lives in an instant. Have you ever felt like a toy, being played with left and right, east and west, pushed from one place to another, south to Khan Yunis, out of Rafah, back to Khan Yunis, then to Nusayrat, only to be driven out again?
People are literally running through the streets like mad, clutching what little they have left. We have nothing left. Our hearts are broken and our minds are frayed. I look around at the few possessions I've managed to gather over the past 10 months.
People are literally running through the streets like mad, clutching what little they have left. We have nothing left. Our hearts are broken and our minds are frayed. I look around at the few possessions I've managed to gather over the past 10 months.
A stove, cups, plates, pots, winter clothes, summer clothes, mattresses, blankets, batteries, light bulbs, big bottles of drinking water, tubs to wash clothes in. If I leave everything, there's no way to replace it. There are no markets, no supplies, no money to spare. We're running and running aimlessly. People screaming, suffering, and dying while the world watches. End quote.
A stove, cups, plates, pots, winter clothes, summer clothes, mattresses, blankets, batteries, light bulbs, big bottles of drinking water, tubs to wash clothes in. If I leave everything, there's no way to replace it. There are no markets, no supplies, no money to spare. We're running and running aimlessly. People screaming, suffering, and dying while the world watches. End quote.