Violence in Gaza
“Peace can happen in 24 hours....just like war can happen in 24 hours.” Sari Nusseibeh. This quote from Nusseibeh seems almost too good to be true, especially for countries like Gaza. War and violence is something that seems nearly impossible to fix in just 24 hours like Nusseibeh implies. And seems nearly impossible for the citizens of Gaza who are constantly having to deal with the conflict between Palestine and Israel. The novel, Gaza Writes Backs is composed of short stories written by mostly college-aged students in Gaza. Spared written by Rawan Yaghi and Jehan Alfarra’s Please Shoot to Kill both have a strong theme of violence portrayed throughout their writings. Spared focuses on the day of a young boy who …show more content…
Shortly after, a bomb goes off leaving the whole area in rumbles (49- Yaghi). Please Shoot to Kill focuses on Laila and her family who are intruded upon by the military soldiers who accuse her father of being an Arab terrorist and shot him and injury her baby sister. (93-105 Alfarra) It is clear to see how violence is a common theme for the citizens of Gaza. Due to this theme of violence, there are many commonalities and differences between the two short stories, Spared and Please Shoot to Kill, especially when it comes to how unexpected these acts of violence are and how that puts fear into their citizens, along with how the violence is affecting them on a personal level, and what both theses authors are wanting us to learn from their texts.
Unexpected acts of violence are obviously, unexpected yet also very frightening. However, one would not think that the military would hurt children. Sadly, that …show more content…
These acts of violences can understably change a person for the rest of their lives. In Spared, the boy feels guilty because he was the one who was spared during the bombing, he was the one that walked away without a scratch on him. His life was never the same after the bombing, his friends no longer looked at him the same and “Uncle Abu Ahmed when he looked at me, like I didn’t understand, like they knew something I did not know, like I did something wrong.” (Yaghi 52) It is easy to see how attacks like this would have a major effect on anyone. Similarly the short story, Please Shoot to Kill, shows how Laila felt completely defeated after the attack on her father. She felt helpless, and overwhelmed. She changes her outlook on life, she wants to continue with med school and make her father proud. Both these stories show how acts of violence affects the victims on a personal level. It shows how their mental state changes, either for the better or for the
“Peace can happen in 24 hours....just like war can happen in 24 hours.” Sari Nusseibeh. This quote from Nusseibeh seems almost too good to be true, especially for countries like Gaza. War and violence is something that seems nearly impossible to fix in just 24 hours like Nusseibeh implies. And seems nearly impossible for the citizens of Gaza who are constantly having to deal with the conflict between Palestine and Israel. The novel, Gaza Writes Backs is composed of short stories written by mostly college-aged students in Gaza. Spared written by Rawan Yaghi and Jehan Alfarra’s Please Shoot to Kill both have a strong theme of violence portrayed throughout their writings. Spared focuses on the day of a young boy who …show more content…
Shortly after, a bomb goes off leaving the whole area in rumbles (49- Yaghi). Please Shoot to Kill focuses on Laila and her family who are intruded upon by the military soldiers who accuse her father of being an Arab terrorist and shot him and injury her baby sister. (93-105 Alfarra) It is clear to see how violence is a common theme for the citizens of Gaza. Due to this theme of violence, there are many commonalities and differences between the two short stories, Spared and Please Shoot to Kill, especially when it comes to how unexpected these acts of violence are and how that puts fear into their citizens, along with how the violence is affecting them on a personal level, and what both theses authors are wanting us to learn from their texts.
Unexpected acts of violence are obviously, unexpected yet also very frightening. However, one would not think that the military would hurt children. Sadly, that …show more content…
These acts of violences can understably change a person for the rest of their lives. In Spared, the boy feels guilty because he was the one who was spared during the bombing, he was the one that walked away without a scratch on him. His life was never the same after the bombing, his friends no longer looked at him the same and “Uncle Abu Ahmed when he looked at me, like I didn’t understand, like they knew something I did not know, like I did something wrong.” (Yaghi 52) It is easy to see how attacks like this would have a major effect on anyone. Similarly the short story, Please Shoot to Kill, shows how Laila felt completely defeated after the attack on her father. She felt helpless, and overwhelmed. She changes her outlook on life, she wants to continue with med school and make her father proud. Both these stories show how acts of violence affects the victims on a personal level. It shows how their mental state changes, either for the better or for the