The Arabic phrase describing the outline of a heart is "behebek khawa", which roughly translates as "your love is obligatory". A heart-shaped doodle by 14-year-old Mohammad Ayoub has become a lasting reminder for his newly bereaved mother Raeda. The teenager was fatally shot by Israeli soldiers during the March of Return protests led by Palestinians living in Gaza that began on March 30.
The page from their son's arts and crafts notebook captured his unyielding spirit, his mother and father explained. But it is also a page from the book of a young life marred by the reverberations of chronic conflict. Mohammad had been drawing his dreams and nightmares as part of a psychosocial support program provided by the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), which has reached 250,000 children in Gaza since 2012. His teachers told us he had made remarkable strides with his performance at school and overall wellbeing until the final, fateful encounter with Israeli forces.
Many young people of Gaza say the protests are a way of demonstrating their opposition to the Israeli occupation of Palestine, the debilitating blockade of Gaza and their right to return to their original homes, from which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were expelled or fled in 1948 during the creation of Israel. Today seven out of 10 Palestinians in Gaza are registered as refugees and cannot return to their original homes.
While sharing a recent home video of Mohammad dancing in his living room, surrounded by his siblings and cousins, his family found it hard to believe that he was no longer with them. His untimely death left a strong imprint on the psyche of other young members of the family.
Since guests offering condolences have stopped visiting their home, the younger siblings have started to miss Mohammad more intensely. Although too young to fully comprehend the events leading to his death, they have developed an intrinsic reaction to the unexpected bereavement.
“They scream every time they see his photo, they are afraid to sleep in the room where he slept. They are afraid to be alone after dark,” Mrs Ayoub told us.
As a parent, she had seen her children experience both explicit and implicit violence. While mourning the loss of her son, she was also worried about the mental health of the remaining siblings.
Such a pervasive environment of violence has become an all too common reality for the children of Gaza. The latest spate of Israeli attacks in response to the protests has had most people in Gaza on a heightened pulse.
But children are bearing the brunt of the violence, with six out of 10 students that we surveyed reporting frequent nightmares, a visible sign of psychological deterioration. We spoke to 300 students and 20 principals in Gaza, who told us that the rate of nightmares has increased since violent reactions to the protests began.
Israel's use of lethal force against protesters posing no immediate threat to life has received international criticism but with no accountability in sight. Since March 30, more than 100 Palestinian protesters in Gaza have been killed – more than 50 on one day today – and 9,800 injured. At least five children were killed and 530 injured, some maimed for life.
Mohammad's case is a particularly horrific example of Israel's collective punishment of Palestinians through multi-faceted violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. But generations of children in Gaza have also borne the long-term impact of cyclical violence and implicit harm when their family members, especially parents and guardians vested with their protection, are killed.
Fourteen-year old Reham is among them. As she sits next to her bandaged father, articulating her intentions and those of other young people in Gaza that are demanding “self-determination and rights”, it is not immediately evident that she has fought a long-haul battle against trauma.
It took Reham nearly three years to recover from the impact of the 2014 Gaza war that claimed more than 2,000 lives, injured more than 11,000 and devastated her community in Khan Younis. The experience of her father being shot in the leg during the latest protests has brought old psychological wounds to the fore.
“In my dream I saw my father on the ground, killed, and woke up screaming. I have had this dream more than once. We went there [to the protests] to claim our rights. We have no rights to electricity, to food, to play or to assistance,” Reham told us, highlighting the daily struggles that impede her performance at school.
Gaza’s children are distressed not only by wars but also by the economic and social deprivation that they and their families face due to Israel’s blockading policies. The humanitarian situation is worse than ever with 84 per cent of the population dependent on aid. More than 60 per cent of them are under 18 and feel disenchanted by their stifled futures.
It is clear that as long as security and stability remain ephemeral notions in Gaza, long-term psycho-social support will remain an uphill battle. As aptly described by the NRC’s secretary general Jan Egeland, an 11-year old girl in Gaza would have lived her entire life under blockade and seen three wars with mass losses of life and housing.
That same girl now faces the horrifying prospect of losing family and friends as many are killed and injured every week.
Such a perpetual state of constant fear violates the rights of any child, anywhere.
But while the realities within which we operate are constrained, our students remain unbridled in their aspirations. So as long as those like Reham continue to benefit from our services, we will continue our efforts and hopefully expand with the support of larger institutions.
Ultimately we hope that our core philosophies of establishing a sense of safety and stability among children, empowering them to improve their situations and mobilising social support will become an integral part of education for all Palestinian children.
Brona Ni Uigin works for the Norwegian Refugee Council's operation in Palestine, which provides humanitarian assistance in one of the longest-running displacement crises in modern history
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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Abu Dhabi GP schedule
Friday: First practice - 1pm; Second practice - 5pm
Saturday: Final practice - 2pm; Qualifying - 5pm
Sunday: Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix (55 laps) - 5.10pm
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
FIXTURES
Fixtures for Round 15 (all times UAE)
Friday
Inter Milan v AS Roma (11.45pm)
Saturday
Atalanta v Verona (6pm)
Udinese v Napoli (9pm)
Lazio v Juventus (11.45pm)
Sunday
Lecce v Genoa (3.30pm)
Sassuolo v Cagliari (6pm)
SPAL v Brescia (6pm)
Torino v Fiorentina (6pm)
Sampdoria v Parma (9pm)
Bologna v AC Milan (11.45pm)
The specs
Price: From Dh529,000
Engine: 5-litre V8
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Power: 520hp
Torque: 625Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.8L/100km
Tree of Hell
Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla
Director: Raed Zeno
Rating: 4/5
Profile
Company name: Jaib
Started: January 2018
Co-founders: Fouad Jeryes and Sinan Taifour
Based: Jordan
Sector: FinTech
Total transactions: over $800,000 since January, 2018
Investors in Jaib's mother company Alpha Apps: Aramex and 500 Startups
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
Directed by: RS Prasanna
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar
The bio
Favourite food: Japanese
Favourite car: Lamborghini
Favourite hobby: Football
Favourite quote: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough
Favourite country: UAE
Visit Abu Dhabi culinary team's top Emirati restaurants in Abu Dhabi
Yadoo’s House Restaurant & Cafe
For the karak and Yoodo's house platter with includes eggs, balaleet, khamir and chebab bread.
Golden Dallah
For the cappuccino, luqaimat and aseeda.
Al Mrzab Restaurant
For the shrimp murabian and Kuwaiti options including Kuwaiti machboos with kebab and spicy sauce.
Al Derwaza
For the fish hubul, regag bread, biryani and special seafood soup.
Dengue%20fever%20symptoms
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3%20Body%20Problem
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
Power: 579hp
Torque: 859Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
UAE v Zimbabwe A, 50 over series
Fixtures
Thursday, Nov 9 - 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 11 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai
Monday, Nov 13 – 2pm, Dubai International Stadium
Thursday, Nov 16 – 2pm, ICC Academy, Dubai
Saturday, Nov 18 – 9.30am, ICC Academy, Dubai