Turning 6 in a Gaza under siege: No presents, no candles, but precious memories made on my son’s birthday

An Islamic Relief worker* in Gaza recounts the joys and sorrows of celebrating his son’s birthday amid the ongoing crisis.

Today is my son’s birthday. He has just completed 6 years of life. I went to get some toys and gifts for him and the other kids in the house, heading to an ATM to get some cash as all the shops here have stopped accepting electronic payments. But the enclave is under a total blackout right now, so ATMs are not working. I tried to find a gift shop, but everything was closed… it is going to be hard to celebrate this birthday in our complicated situation, I thought.

I wonder why celebrating birthdays is so hard for us. It is just a simple thing that all children should enjoy no matter their nationality or ethnicity. Yet, in Gaza right now, it is not possible. In the end, we could not get a gift for my son, but we at least tried to make good memories that we’ll remember forever.

My wife managed to get some ingredients to bake a cake at home, ensuring there’ll be something of a celebration no matter what. She and my sister were busy preparing the cake when my daughter decided that it should be a surprise. She made everyone in the house agree to keep the cake a secret from my son until the preparations were ready, so, when he asked us, we all pretended we would not be able to celebrate this year.

I can confirm that at least 1 of the kids leaked some information to my son but, as he is an innocent child, he believed what his father was telling him and felt sad that he was missing out on his birthday this year.

We can celebrate at home if we get to return. You can invite your friends if they survive

As well as keeping the secret, my daughter assigned me the task of keeping my son away from the kitchen. We sat outside and had a competition playing Subway Surfers. Playing offline games is pretty much the only thing we can do with our phones right now.

My son said to me, “will we celebrate my birthday when we go back to our home?”. “Inshallah,” I said. “If we are able to go back to our home and find it still standing, we’ll hold a big birthday party for you.”

“Can we invite my cousins?” (his favourite friends), he asked. I told him he can invite anyone he wants. If they survive this brutal situation.

Moments later the kids invited us into a room and started singing Happy Birthday. My son was so surprised, this was a completely unexpected turn of events for him, and his smile was huge. I felt that this must be one of his happiest moments in a long time. The children laughed and sang and made a huge racket in the house. They took photos with the other kids and our cat, who is now part of all our special moments.

Unfortunately, I could not find any candles to put on the cake, so we asked my son just to make a wish as he cut it. I asked him what his wish was. “To stop the war,” he answered matter-of-factly.

A big family hug

His wish is shared by everyone in Gaza. In fact, it’s the wish of millions of people around the world. Yet, those with the power to make it happen remain indifferent or ignorant.

Later that night, after our little party, we gathered in our room – me, my wife, my son, my daughter, and the cat, of course. We talked about lots of things.

My son asked about my family. He has met many new people through relocating to my parents’ house and he wanted to know who they all were and how they related to each other. He asked about Israel and why it is attacking us. He asked about his school and his friends. Totally simple, childish questions and worries mixed in with very serious and troubling questions for a child to have. It’s troubling for him to have so much to worry about in the first place.

We all sat together and had a big family hug. I was hiding my tears, thinking that this might have been the first time we’ve been together enjoying quality time since these events started and our lives took a huge turn.

In my mind, I thanked Allah for all that he gives and hoped that this all would end soon and that we can get back to our normal lives. We really are people who love to live our lives. We are not people who like death and want to see innocent people subjected to any harm.

We wish for peace, but we might not be given the chance to live and to teach our children humanitarian values and rights. They might not be given the chance to learn them.

Please help Islamic Relief support people in desperate need in Gaza: Donate to our Palestine Emergency Appeal now.

*This blog is anonymised to protect the safety and security of our colleague

Editor’s note: This blog was submitted amid a fast-changing and deteriorating situation on the ground. The information was correct as of the afternoon of Sunday 19 November.