Time Flies - Even in a Genocide

Four Eids have passed since the genocide began.

Time flies, but it also drags. I remember crying on the couch in those early days after Oct 7. And I don’t cry easily. I’ve reported from war zones across the world. My senses are usually numb to violence. But somehow, Israel keeps finding new ways to shock us with something even more cruel.

Today is 613 days since the genocide began. Four Eids have come and gone. For those unfamiliar: Muslims celebrate two Eids each year. The first, Eid al-Fitr, comes at the end of Ramadan. The second, Eid al-Adha, I call ‘the fun one’ (Well, not fun for vegans and vegetarians!). Muslims slaughter animals (often sheep or cows) in a way they believe is kind and humane, and the meat is distributed to the poor.

But in Gaza today, the families who used to give are the ones who now have nothing to eat. Our creators are surviving on rice alone. No meat. No vegetables. Just rice.

And this is important to say, again and again: Palestinians weren’t always living in tents. Before this, they had homes. Fridges. Cars. Jobs. Air conditioners. Eid feasts. Their lives looked a lot more like yours than mainstream media ever wants you to believe.

But the media has always shown them as sandy, desperate, poor - as if they were always this way.

They weren’t. I’m not saying the 77-year occupation isn’t horrendous. But somehow, they carved out an existence. Traditional media don’t want you to see their lives as ever being similar to yours. It makes them too human. And it’s hard to approve of a genocide when you see someone you can relate to.

This Eid, I shared pictures of my own meals - ridiculous amounts of food. Obscene stuff. And then I deleted all the posts. Because my followers were right: it’s painful for people in Gaza to see that kind of abundance right now.

The truth is, it’s hard to see an end in sight.

The moment this genocide stops, Netanyahu faces jail - whether in Israel or at the International Criminal Court. So he keeps it going. But even as the violence continues, the fire outside is growing.

Flotillas set sail to break the siege, with Greta Thunberg and others kidnapped soon after. Land marches have begun toward Rafah, with protesters arrested and deported from Egypt. Sounds bleak? Maybe. But every failed attempt to deliver aid only strengthens the movement.

It grows louder. Braver. More determined.

At Seen Palestine, we feel that momentum. We’re telling stories mainstream media refuse to tell.

These films aren’t cheap, even though they’re made on mobile phones. Paying creators. Editing the films. Bringing them to cinemas near you. It all costs. We’re deep in the red, but we see the impact. We see hearts soften. We see minds change. So we won’t stop.

Because when someone watches a mother in Gaza trying to prepare an Eid meal with nothing but rice, they begin to ask:

Is Israel fighting Hamas, or just starving civilians?