Liberation

Like every Sunday morning, today also Asma was waiting for Jufy on the breakfast table. But when it got late for 15 minutes, Asma became worried, as Jufy had to start for his next short story campaign. She knocked his door, but no response…! Got scared and called Jufy’s father, both of them tried to break the door…what they got…Jufy was lying on his bed…he had achieved his liberation…

“I feel a disconnection of emotion with even the closest people around me. I'm even ashamed of my feelings, but some sort of emotionless is getting hidden from everyone's eyes… Is this normal? Please don't tell me with your quiet, infuriating voice that everything is going be all right. Because it's not. People are trapped in all areas of life, People’s aspirations to travel, work and study abroad have been shattered. There are no employment opportunities, no betterment of life and not even the fulfillment of basic human right”- the suicide note was lying on his study table.

Before, Jufy had also tried once to take his own life. He then tried for the second and then a third time too. In the space of one year, the 24-year-old medicine student, Jufy had cut his wrists, hanged himself and took an overdose of pills. On each occasion he was discovered at the last moment and treated in time.

“I failed my first year, when Politics started dominating my life. It got under my skin. I just wanted to get liberated from my sufferings”- He puts his depression down to a combination of his political engagement, which led to a deep despondency and stress over his studies at the Islamic University.

After the third attempt his family decided to take a serious decision. They secured Jufy a scholarship to attend the Jordan University of Science and Technology in Amman, and also managed to obtain a permit for him to leave Gaza – one that set them back $5,000 in cash to the Palestinian officials to smooth his passage.

The move had changed him.

“I never think about suicide now. The atmosphere in Gaza had dragged me to the bottom. Now I am focused on completing my education so I can go back and help my family and my suffering city,” he said, boasting that he is now top of his class.

But, after finishing his Medical study, when he came back to his own country, Gaza, nothing was changed at all, the situation had become worst even. When the unemployment rate for people under 30 stands at 60 percent; when the possibility of leaving the region to study elsewhere, to develop oneself, and certainly just to travel, had been reduced to almost zero; when the lack of electricity made the most basic daily tasks unthinkably difficult; when there was a military attack, destruction and killing every few years; and when the prospects of hope and opportunity appeared further and slimmer than ever — tragic outcomes are almost unavoidable. Both were likely to lead to exactly the kind of increase in rates of suicides and suicide attempts that Gaza was witnessing. That is an entire generation whose dreams and aspirations, talents and capabilities are trapped between the fences and checkpoints of Israel’s illogical and unjust policies and siege, the only right to spread the messages of hope and ambition that both of them articulated through his art of short story writing, which had brought a revolution in social media among Gaza’s youngsters. Some 80 percent were in the range of 17 to 28 years old, and some 60 percent are degree holders. Of those attempting suicide around 65 percent are women. Young people had little hope for the future. They had no support to start their careers or continue their education. And at an age where they wanted to try something new, they had no possibility to do so. The closure for more than 10 years, along with the intense violence that had been visited upon Gaza in three separate Israeli military assaults had increased rates of depression and intensified the already existing psychological problems like personality disorders.”

Freedom of movement is a basic right bequeathed upon every human, and a fundamental necessity for young people who want to realize their aspirations. They need to be allowed to leave the Country border and to return to it. Others also need to be allowed to enter the Country in order to meet them. They must be allowed to meet with other talented young people just like them around the world. These types of encounters, opportunities for growth and development create hope — not just for them but for young people throughout the region.