This video features an interview with Palestinian writer and journalist Ahmed Aborta, who recently secured evacuation from Gaza to the Netherlands after surviving a prolonged period of genocide. Aborta, known for inspiring the 2018 Great March of Return, recounts his devastating personal losses, including the murder of his 13-year-old son, Abdullah, in an Israeli air strike. He details the anxiety-ridden two-month evacuation process coordinated by the Dutch government and describes the horrific destruction witnessed across Khan Younis and Rafah, emphasizing that two million people remain "trapped under death." Aborta shares his profoundly complicated feelings upon reaching safety, particularly his first face-to-face encounter with Israeli soldiers at the Kerem Shalom crossing and the emotional impact of seeing the contrast between their casual normalcy and the crimes they symbolize. He vividly describes the extreme deprivation and danger faced by Gazans seeking aid and concludes with a fierce condemnation of the international system for enabling the ongoing atrocities and the systematic dehumanization of the Palestinian people.
Ahmed Aborta on Surviving Genocide in Gaza
0:00 Introduction: Ahmed Aborta is introduced as a Palestinian writer, poet, and journalist whose vision inspired the 2018 nonviolent Great March of Return, which Israel suppressed violently, murdering over 200 people.
0:44 Personal Tragedy: Aborta lost his 13-year-old son, Abdullah (Abud), who was murdered in an Israeli air strike on their family home in Rafah in October 2023, just weeks into the genocide.
1:15 Evacuation: After surviving the genocide alone in Gaza, Aborta was evacuated to the Netherlands on August 27th by the Dutch government, facilitated by a work contract with the newspaper The Correspondent.
2:48 Evacuation Context: Aborta was one of 130 Palestinians who left Gaza that day, noting that this is a "very small number" compared to the two million people still "trapped under death."
5:55 First Encounter with Israeli Soldiers: Aborta discusses his deeply complicated experience leaving Gaza via the Kerem Shalom (Karm Abu Salam) crossing—the first time in his adult life he saw an Israeli soldier face-to-face.
8:39 Dehumanization at the Crossing: He notes that most of the crossing procedures were handled remotely by cameras or non-Jewish Arab workers, suggesting Israel refuses to treat Palestinians as humans deserving of face-to-face interaction.
10:15 The Soldier's Contradiction: He struggled with the "strange" sight of the Israeli soldiers laughing and eating normally, despite being the symbols of the war and the murderers of his son. He avoided looking at their faces to prevent "psychologically normalizing" them.
13:36 Pervasive Destruction: The journey through Gaza revealed horrible, widespread destruction in Khan Younis and Rafah—complete neighborhoods were "wiped out from the map."
15:43 Israel Built on Rubble: He compares the Israeli bulldozers paving military roads through the destruction to the founding of Israel itself, built "on the rubble of the Palestinian villages."
16:40 The Aid Seekers: Aborta saw thousands of people risking their lives to reach dangerous locations for food, revealing a story of "despair." He cites UN statistics showing 2,000 Gazans were killed in three months trying to reach aid.
21:23 The Luxury of a Meal: Receiving a basic meal from the Dutch embassy outside Gaza caused him to cry, realizing children in Gaza view food as an impossible "dream."
25:12 Israeli Normalcy and Dehumanization: He criticizes Israelis for maintaining a normal daily life just kilometers from the genocide in Gaza, attributing this contradiction to the systematic dehumanization of Palestinians (citing the description of Gazans as "human animals").
29:24 Life Under Siege: He details the extreme difficulties of daily life in Gaza, including the constant, annoying sound of drones, the scheduled efforts to charge a mobile phone, and the struggle to find a quiet place or a hot cup of tea.
34:51 Feeling of Betrayal: Despite being physically safe, he feels a sense of "betrayal" enjoying basic necessities (shower, electricity, quiet) while his loved ones remain in the horrifying situation in Gaza.
38:53 Extreme Starvation: Aborta reveals that he had to count his steps to conserve the minimal energy obtained from scarce food, prioritizing writing over walking to find a meal.
44:40 Leaving His Soul Behind: He notes that he left a part of himself, his "soul," in Gaza, specifically the grave of his son, Abdullah. He was forced to leave behind the few remaining personal belongings of his son, which were later destroyed with his apartment building.
48:58 Repressed Grief: He recognizes that in Gaza, he and many other grieving parents were unable to find the time or space to mourn their murdered loved ones.
35:21 Key Takeaway: The language is "crippled" and unable to describe the full horror of the situation, which he calls a "scandal of the world." The genocide exposes the lack of legitimacy in the international system, which must be changed to prioritize human rights and international law.