Consider This from NPR - Palestinians In Jordan Fear For Family Members In Gaza

Episode Date: October 16, 2023

Israel's military has ordered all residents of Gaza City and northern Gaza to evacuate to the southern end of the territory ahead of an expected ground invasion. Tens of thousands of Palestinians are struggling to evacuate - as closed borders hamper those efforts. Others refuse to leave the areas Israeli military forces say they will target. For Jordanian Palestinians who have family in the Gaza Strip their loved ones are just 90 miles away. But that distance can feel painfully close AND impossibly far. NPR's Ari Shapiro traveled to Amman, Jordan. He spoke with two Jordanian Palestinians who have family in the Gaza Strip about their hopes and fears. Email us at [e-mail] more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

This message comes from Indiana University. Indiana University is committed to moving the world forward, working to tackle some of society's biggest challenges. Nine campuses, one purpose. Creating tomorrow, today. More at iu.edu. For more than a million people living in Gaza, the clock is ticking. I was one of the luckiest people to get a car and basically move from Gaza to southern Gaza with a car. On Friday, Israel's military ordered all residents of Gaza City and northern Gaza to leave for the southern end of the territory, ahead of an expected ground invasion. Noor Harazin is a freelance journalist in Gaza. Her parents refused to leave

Gaza City, but Harazin fled south with her husband and children. We saw hundreds of people taking this route on their feet, and you're talking about tens of kilometers. And I saw women crying and children crying, and people are shocked. The evacuation order came as Israel intensified its bombardment of Gaza. This after the militant group Hamas launched a brutal surprise attack on Israel a week ago, which left at least 1,400 people dead. Here's Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari. They knew that this would happen as a result of the brutal and ruthless massacre in Israel. We are not fighting the people of Gaza, the civilians, the residents. We are fighting the terrorist organization Hamas.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, Israel's retaliation against Hamas has left more than 2,700 Palestinians dead, at least 9,000 injured. Dr. Hassam Abu Safia at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza says he has seen things he never experienced in past wars. He says the hospital received a man with his child. They both died holding one another, the father holding his son. In another scene, he witnessed a mother died with her child on her chest. And Palestinians who are still trying to flee may have nowhere to go. They're basically held hostage in this tiny piece of land. The land, sea and air borders are all tightly controlled by the Israeli regime. Hardly anyone goes in or out. Yara Hawari is a senior analyst of Al Shabaka, the Palestinian Policy Network.

This is as a result of decades of military occupation, but particularly in Gaza, 16 years of a brutal military siege. Palestinians in Gaza live in an open-air prison. It is day 10 of the Israel-Hamas war, and the threat of a ground invasion of Gaza is imminent. Tens of thousands of Palestinians are struggling to evacuate as closed borders hamper those efforts. Others refuse to leave the areas Israeli military forces say they will target. Coming up, we'll hear from two Palestinians who have family in the Gaza Strip. From NPR, app today or visit wise.com. T's and C's apply. This message comes from Indiana University.

Indiana University is committed to moving the world forward, working to tackle some of society's biggest challenges. Nine campuses, one purpose. Creating tomorrow, today. More at iu.edu. This message comes from Wondery. Kill List is a true story of how one journalist ended up in a race against time to warn those on the list whose lives were in danger. Follow Kill List wherever you get your podcasts. It's Consider This from NPR. On this podcast and on NPR's broadcast news programs, we are hearing a wide range of

voices from Israel, from Gaza, and beyond on the turmoil unfolding in the Middle East. Today, we go to Jordan, where on Friday, thousands of people marched in support of Palestinians. This country borders Israel and the West Bank. Gaza is just 90 miles away. For Jordanian Palestinians with family in the Gaza Strip, that distance can feel painfully close and impossibly far, especially now. My colleague Ari Shapiro is in Amman, Jordan, and he spoke with two people who have relatives in the Gaza Strip. He takes it from here. Last night, I met up with two people who live in Amman and have relatives in the Gaza Strip.

Hanan Mohamed is 35. Imad Shawa is 43. We were going to meet in Imad's apartment, but he said his three kids would make too much noise, so his neighbor let us sit in their elegant living room with tea and snacks while the air conditioning purred in the background. It felt so far removed from the chaos, violence, and pain of war. I asked Hanan and Imad what feeling they have experienced most over the last week. Right now, in this moment, when you ask me, it is fear for my loved ones. As you know, there is currently no safe place in Gaza. I actually have never felt this nervous

or anxious or scared in my life. One crazy thought that I've been having all throughout this week, how horrible is it when I'm checking the news and then I find that there is a bombing, but it's like a different family name. And I felt relief. I felt relief because it's a different family name. Ahmad, what for you has been the primary emotion you felt this last week? I would say it's been pretty confusing

and it's still fresh. The that i have there we're on a whatsapp group they keep telling us don't worry about us we'll update you you know don't keep asking us how we're doing and they give us updates so you're thinking about them and their children nephews and nieces and cousins and they they're a big group, now basically moving together as one giant group, some of them strangers, some of them refugees from different neighborhoods, moving south, there's 50 people in a small house that has four mattresses. The fact that people don't have reliable electricity, so they can't reliably communicate

on their phones the way they otherwise would must be excruciating for loved ones who are far away wishing for hourly or daily check-ins to know that their loved ones are safe yeah i mean it's not even the top of the list of the worries we're thinking about them, even if they do make it, and if they can even go back, they're going back to neighborhoods that have no more infrastructure. So even if your apartment or house is standing, it's among ruins where there's no sanitation, no running water, no electricity. I mean, we're talking millions of people. If you don't mind my asking, I understand you know someone who was killed in Gaza over the last week? Yes, my father's family. I think it was October 8th when their house got bombed.

There were 18 of them inside with kids, and they all died. That was the second day of the aggression. And just yesterday, another thing happened, the same thing. A house got bombed, and there were almost 20 people in there. So from my father's family side, we know at least 40 who got killed. And from his mother's side, he said probably the same amount. He said everyone speaking in the family here, we're not able to count them, but there is like a funeral house ongoing for the past three days here in Jordan.

And everyone is speaking that they might have reached above 100. A funeral house where people are just mourning those who've died in Gaza day after day after day as the numbers grow. A funeral house for those who martyred from our family. Just from your family? Just from, yes. I'd like to hear your thoughts

about being Jordanian-Palestinian specifically, because we are so geographically close to what is happening, and yet the distance is so great. Tell me what it means to you to sit where we are right now, given what's happening. Especially since growing up in Jordan as Palestinian, you know, originally, it was never as encouraged to be too forthcoming, too patriotic for Palestine growing up in the 80s and 90s for me. There was a lingering feeling of like, are we, you know, is there a feeling that we're like guests in Jordan? Although we are citizens, there is a bit of a separation.

It's a very thorny topic that would not please any government official listening to a Palestinian Jordanian complain about being in Jordan. Hanan, can you tell us what it feels like to you to sit so geographically close to and yet so far removed from the ability to do anything as this situation unfolds, as a Jordanian-Palestinian specifically?

To me, I love Jordan. I consider Jordan my country. I love Palestine. I consider Palestine my country. So to me, both are my countries. As people of Palestinian origin, it's actually impossible for us to return right now as the occupation stands, and it's extremely hard for us to return right now as the occupation stands, and it's extremely hard for us to visit.

I managed, thank God, I consider myself blessed that I have managed to see my country while I'm still alive. So I once entered the West Bank and I once entered Gaza. And it was the best experience of my life. I never felt more serene than I have felt there. I just want to say that one of the ugliest feelings I've ever felt was when I was led back or getting out of there. As you're escorted and you're just on the bus and you're just leaving and you're leaving the entire land behind you and the people and everything they're going through and then it felt like I was getting slapped a hundred times on the face a thousand times on the face actually and then suddenly I was back in Amman where everyone was just normal and going to restaurants and going to the mall and I felt completely dissociated for a week. I couldn't speak to my family. I couldn't just get

back to my normal day-to-day life. It was very dissociating. After we've talked about these feelings of powerlessness and confusion and fear and guilt, is there anything you're doing to help with all of that? Is there anything that you have found useful in this last week? In my own nature, I'm not someone who likes to give in to despair. And I'm an activist. I'm an organizer. I've always been a rebel. You're wearing an ACDC shirt. True. That is telling. So there is sadness, there is anger, there is fear, and there is hope, and then there is also pride. I am very proud of my people,

of their non-stopping resistance, of their resilience. I am super proud of them. We, on the outside, get our strength and our hope from them. Hanan Mohamed and Imad Shawa, thank you for sharing your experiences with us. I'm thinking of your families and I hope that they are safe. Thank you. Thank you. That was Hanan Mohamed and Imad Shawa speaking with my colleague Ari Shapiro. And for more stories like the ones you hear on Consider This, check out All Things Considered, our afternoon news show. It's a mix of the deep dives you get here, along with more stories you'll want to hear.

Visit NPR.org slash All Things Considered to stream it live every afternoon. It's Consider This from NPR. I'm Mary Louise Kelly. On the TED Radio Hour, clinical psychologists John and Julie Gottman are marriage experts. And after studying thousands of couples, they have found...

Couples who were successful had a really different way of talking to one another when there was a disagreement or a conflict. How to be brave in our relationships. That's on the TED Radio Hour podcast from NPR.