Gaza Is the Beginning and the End

Gaza is home, the beginning and the end, where I belong no matter how fierce the winds blow
or how much the world tries to forget me.
It is the sea that carries me on its waves whenever I feel lost—sometimes raging, sometimes
calm, but always there to hold me.
It is the streets that know my footsteps, every corner that whispers my name, every pavement
that holds my stories, and every alley that reveals a secret from my childhood.
Gaza is its people, faces that speak of unbreakable dignity, patience wrapped in pain, and
hearts beating with love for life despite everything.
It is the vendor calling out in the market, the sound of children chasing butterflies between the
rubble, and the mother baking hope with every sunrise.
Gaza is the details—the smell of bread in the morning, the moonlight embracing its
neighborhoods at night, and the breeze carrying prayers from the mosques.
It is the compass that never falters, always pointing to my heart, to the place that shaped me
and taught me to be who I am.
Gaza is not just a place; it is the warmth of home, the pulse of longing, and the story of my
existence written with my tears and dreams.

Fatima Elzahraa Shaat

My name is Fatima Elzahraa Shaat, an English law student at Al-Azhar University. I have been accepted to continue my studies in the United States, focusing on Human Rights at Bard College. I’m an alumna of the Abraham Lincoln Scholarship Programme at Amideast and also part of the Youth Diplomacy Programme.
I am a writer with the “We Are Not Numbers” and I actively volunteer at a Human Rights organization in issues concerning children and women, believing that every individual must know their rights to be in a position to demand them and strongly believing in the role of women and their empowerment in Palestinian society and have a role in leading social change.
I believe that Gaza will always be my compass and direction and it will always be home. I do not want my life to end without being a part of helping, speaking, and writing for my homeland.