By Dina Al-Amood | Staff Writer
Did you miss the chance to experience the ‘Stories from Palestine’ event on March 4th? Read this brief look into the untold tales a Palestinian student at AUB recounted so memorably.
Hosted by the Palestine Land Studies Center, in partnership with the Palestinian Cultural Club and General Education Program, the event was organized within the framework of AUB’s student-led Palestine Week at the Asfari Institute for Civil Society and Citizenship.
With Sadeem Asiri moderating, Yomna Hamidi shared her own experiences as well as second-hand accounts from her family and friends, recounting their upbringing in Palestine. Yomna grew up in the West Bank’s Tulkarm and completed her Bachelor’s degree in Media Studies at Ramallah’s Birzeit University. Currently, she is pursuing a Master’s degree in the same major at AUB.
Image source: https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/128389
Caption: Ramallah’s Birzeit University where Yomna Hamidi earned her BA
Yomna started her lecture by highlighting the statistics that scale the ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza. Since October 7th and as of March 4th, 30,534 Palestinians have been killed, 71,020 wounded, and 15 children died of starvation or dehydration.
From there, she shared a story of Mou’min, a friend of Yomna’s residing in Egypt. It was at Mou’min’s request that she share this story. It goes as follows: after a seven-day effort to make contact, Mou’min caught a phone connection to speak to his Gazan friend Dima. All he wanted was to check on her safety in light of the ongoing aggression on Gaza. Dima made up a cup of coffee on the phone and spoke with him on the balcony for 35 minutes. Just seven minutes after their call ended, a bomb struck her building, known as the “Al Mustashareen building,” claiming the lives of over 250 people. Miraculously, Dima was rescued from under the rubble due to her proximity to the building’s edge, having just stepped in from the balcony. Tragically, her entire family perished. When she reconnected with Mou’min weeks later, she asked, “Why did you save me from drowning?” since it was their conversation that made her stand where she could be saved. This question, referencing Mohamed Henedi’s Amir el Behar, encapsulates the profound anguish of loss. It also speaks to the overwhelming burden carried by those who survive, grappling with the haunting question of why fate spared them from death but took away all that they love.
During her lecture, Yomna Hamidi also recounted her own firsthand experience with the Israeli military, detailing a harrowing incident that occurred in her home in the West Bank in 2017. In the dead of night, at around 2:30 AM, over 30 Israeli soldiers broke into her home to arrest her cousin and brother. This event served as a springboard for Yomna to discuss administrative detention in Israeli prisons, shedding light on the current detention of over 3000 Palestinians under this policy. Typically, individuals subjected to administrative detention face imprisonment for periods ranging from 3 to 6 months, although this duration can extend up to 2 years. Hamidi further highlighted recent high-profile cases, including that of Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi, who was similarly detained under this provision. Her message was to underscore the grave human rights concerns inherent in administrative detention practices. However, she notes that human rights abuses extend to the treatment of all Palestinian detainees, whose total number now exceeds 9000, urging the need for international action to change their living circumstances.
In a detour she was not prepared to take, Yomna candidly shared the loss of her father in December of 2023, just a little over three months ago. When her brother delivered the news of her loss over the phone, Yomna’s singular focus became returning to Tulkarm to pay her final respects to her late father. Despite her efforts, the numerous checkpoints dotted along the journey back to Palestine made it impossible for her to attend his burial in time. Even her sister’s journey from Amman to Tulkarm, a journey that should take no longer than two hours, was delayed many hours because of checkpoints. The pain of not being able to say her goodbyes due to geopolitical constraints weighed heavily on Yomna’s heart. This story transcends her personal experience and resonates with the silent anguish of generations. How many untold stories of loss like this one are overlooked in the broader discourse on Palestine? What about the staggering magnitude of grief borne by those who have lost over 30,000 loved ones in recent months alone?
This recap of Yomna Hamidi’s talk offers only a glimpse into what she shared of Palestinian memories and perspectives often obscured by the headlines and statistics of the news cycle. The entire event was a humbling reminder that behind every number lies a story of dreams shattered and rebuilt, and in the case of Palestine, passed from one generation to the next.
See below the Instagram of the event’s organizers to stay connected on future events like this one
Palestine Land Studies Center @aub.plsc
Palestinian Cultural Club @pcc_aub