A child looked at the cameras with burning tears in his eyes. The tears were as bitter as the oppression which had become his new abode in the devastated city of Rafah. The rubble dust prevented his small nose from breathing. It stuck to the tears which trickled from his eyes, and turned into mud on his little cheeks. He wiped his cheeks and tried to avoid the cameras. Angrily, he walked away to seek comfort on the seashore. The voices of many victims flooded his ears and impelled him to lie near the beach. He waited for the waves to hug him so that he could moan in their laps and express the woes that aggravated his small chest. Only one day was left for him to finish his examinations … They had bulldozed everything, including the farm, the house, and his room with all its contents inside. He shouted at the top of his voice, “How am I going to sit my exam tomorrow?”
His words flowed from the bottom of his heart and his sobs swallowed the rivers of tears. Waves came near him, trying to reach his little face to wash away the layers of mud. He rushed towards the sea to take the waves on his chest. He tried to wipe the image of the bulldozer that had crushed the innocence of his dreams. He gazed at a wave with his eyes open wide so that it would fill his imagination and erase the image of the bulldozer from his memory. He kept hugging the sea with his eyes and the roaring waves rose like mountains. This increased his defiance, but reality was stronger than his imagination. The wave appeared to him like yesterday’s damned bulldozer that had demolished his room, turning it upside down. As reality mingled with his imagination, he felt anger set fire to his heart.
So, he ran like a roaring lion to attack the bulldozer coming from the sea. But the wave knocked him down and threw him on the beach. He fainted. Then he was awakened by the rumbling waves. He stood up, looked at the sea, took a deep breath, and shouted, “I will find him!”
Then he left the beach and returned to his demolished house. He started searching in the rubble. His dream was growing that he would find him, his pen, or even the toy of his younger sister who had not stopped weeping since she was scared by the sound of the bulldozer. He jumped among the rubble, paying no attention to the iron bars which tried to block his way. He ignored the calls of his relatives who warned him not to walk over the rubble. Suddenly, he felt something piercing the sole of his foot. He looked and saw it was a big piece of glass. Remembering the wave and the bulldozer, he pulled it out and continued walking, paying no attention to the bleeding.
He acted like an adult rather than an innocent child, drawing his pride from the sea of Rafah and his strength from the bulldozer. He felt a severe pain in his foot but he put up with it silently and kept walking. He searched for his target for hours. Every time he got tired, he took a deep breath and screamed, “ I will find him.”
Submerged in the rubble, which he carried and threw aside, he continued his search. Suddenly, his eyes sparkled, like a lover seeing his imprisoned beloved, and screamed, “I’ve found him! I’ve found him!” His friend, looking like a victim of the occupation, was wedged under a large concrete block with iron bars protruding from its sides. He looked at him ardently but showed restraint as he pondered how to save him. He dismissed despair, which tried to dishearten him, and started looking for a steel bar to move that damned concrete prison. He overturned every stone and brick until he found it.
He felt as overjoyed as a hungry man who found a feast. He began to strike the concrete block with the bar in an attempt to smash it, but in vain because his strength failed him. Once again, like Tarzan, he screamed, “I shall save him.” He looked around at the faces of the homeless people who were waiting for tents. He spotted the face of his neighbour. Uncle ‘Saleem’, whom he loves. So, he rushed to him saying, “I have discovered a captive among the rubble. How can we rescue him?”
Uncle Saleem followed him in doubt until he reached the place. The child pointed at the captive and having seen him, Uncle Saleem shouted to the people to set about rescuing him. The crowd of victims started another rescue effort to save the captive. Some were searching for a rope or chain with which to pull the concrete block, while others were praying for the captive’s survival.
Soon they managed to collect chains left by the bulldozer. They tied them together and then wrapped the chain around the block. A tough task started as everyone was pulling the chain very strongly but the block did not move an inch as if it was colluding with the Israeli occupation. They tried over and over again but their attempts failed. They were all seized by despair as well as anger at the oppression they were suffering.
The child was looking tearfully at the captive. More people jostled to reach the concrete block. All of them gathered to set the captive free without thinking about his identity. Their main concern was to save their enemy’s enemy. The crowds began striking the concrete block using bricks and metal bars which they found scattered around. They all became certain that the block crouching on their imprisoned friend was part of the occupation. They kept striking the block until it was smashed to smithereens and turned to a pile of broken bricks crammed with iron. So, the captive appeared but long arms were required to get him out. Everyone hurried to get hold of him and eventually one managed to release him from the damned cell. The child quickly hugged his book in ecstasy, with tears of joy in his eyes.
He shouted at the top of his voice, “I shall sit the exam and succeed, despite
the destruction,
homelessness,
cold, and
the jailer’s restrictions.”
