Foreword
This article exposes the raw reality of life in Gaza through the voice of a man broken by three devastating years of constant terror, panic attacks, hunger, stolen homes, shattered dreams, and the daily exhaustion of wondering if the next helicopter strike will kill him.
It screams the haunting question every survivor carries: How long must we endure this nightmare in tents, deprived of dignity and basic rights, before we are seen as human beings worthy of compassion.
Digital Resistance, Alaa Mazen, is the Palestinian writer behind this piece.
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For three long years, we have endured every kind of suffering imaginable. We have seen things that no human eyes should ever witness. Days heavy as Judgment Day itself, fear choking us, hunger clawing at our guts, loss ripping our families apart, displacement turning us into ghosts, and endless, soul-crushing waiting.
They didn’t just steal our homes and our security. They shattered our spirits, our morale, our dreams. Now we live under constant psychological pressure, tension wrapped around every breath, panic attacks that slam into us without warning. We wake up to fear and fall asleep - if sleep even comes - to anxiety that gnaws at our bones.
They made us feel like we’re already under a death sentence, waiting for the next strike, the next loss, carrying burdens that no human was built to bear. Three years stolen from our lives. Three years that left a pain in our hearts no words can touch, wounds that bleed inside us every single day while the world looks away.
How long will we remain like this? How long will we spend our lives in tents, surrounded by hunger, poverty, and terror? How long must we wait for a normal life like everyone else on this planet? I have the right to medical treatment. I have the right to travel. I have the right to live with dignity. I am a human being with dreams and aspirations. I want to rebuild my life, create my future, and wake up to days that aren’t soaked in constant fear.
Three years have passed like an eternity, dragging enough pain and suffering to last ten lifetimes. We are tired of waiting. Tired of fear. Tired of watching our dreams rot and fade while we breathe this poisoned air. All we want is a chance at life—a chance to live as human beings. Nothing more.
Honestly, I’m so tired. Exhausted in my bones, mentally and physically destroyed by everything we’re going through. I feel like I’m suffocating under the weight of this endless suffering. For three years we’ve lived in fear, deprivation, and uncertainty. I tried to be patient. I endured with everything I had. But I can’t go on like I used to.
I just dream of starting my life over. Of being able to travel and escape this hell. Of working with dignity so I can feed my family and give them something better. I’m not asking for luxury. I’m begging for the basic right to exist and build a future like any other human.
I’m not thinking of hurting myself, but I am broken. All my energy is gone. I used to live with dreams and ambitions - working, traveling, planning, hoping. Then suddenly everything was ripped away, and now I’m trapped in a nightmare that never ends. I feel like I’m dying every single second from the despair and exhaustion. Every day I ask: How long will this last? How long will they keep me from living a normal life? I am a human being. I have the right to work, to travel, to build my future, to live with dignity and security. I want my life back. I want the dreams they stole from me. Today we almost died.
My friends, I just want to ask: Why hasn’t the world moved to save us? Why does the world erupt in outrage when a foreigner dies? Why, when an American is taken hostage anywhere, does the entire planet scream? I want an answer.
Why, when we are killed, slaughtered, and starved, do only a few even notice? What does the world think of us? How do they see us? Are we human monsters? Are we not even human? This question haunts me every hour. It never leaves my mind.
I am so tired. We are so tired. Three years of this. How long will we remain like this?
How long?
Oh for the day when empathy hits and self destruction takes place on those who destroy.
I cannot imagine the suffering and pain you are all enduring, the depravity and horror are beyond comprehension. I pray this nightmare ends soon, and you can rebuild your lives back to where they were, maybe even better.