Nothing to Return To

JVL Introduction

A short, poignant, personal and yet near ubiquitous story from Gaza by a teacher and writer in Gaza. As people are displaced they are walking among rubble, when they reach areas they knew well, that were vibrant with fruit trees or with commercial life, there is nothing by which to orientate yourselves.  Then there is the exhaustion and the thoughts for the future and the concerns as to whether this ceasefire will last. What, if anything is there to return to when their homes is gone, the neighbourhood is gone, the fig trees are gone, the schools, the Mosques, the Universities……

Those of us who are cosy and safe in our homes cannot imagine what it is like to be in Gaza but powerful writing provides a window and a lens through which to look beyond the statistics and the images of a flattened terrain.

LL

This article was originally published by The Electronic Intifada on Mon 20 Oct 2025. Read the original here.