I rode away on a camel with my grandmother, along a sandy road, and I started to cry. Ayish Younis recounts the moment he fled his home in 1948, the beginning of a lifelong struggle entangled with war and loss. At 89, Ayish reflects on a life shaped by conflict, as he now lives in a small canvas tent in Gaza after evacuation orders turned his family’s home into rubble.
Over 700,000 Palestinians became refugees during the 1948 war, and Ayish was among those forced to leave their ancestral lands, fleeing to the Gaza Strip. We were scared for our lives, he recalls, speaking of the fears that drove his family to seek safety.
As an adult, Ayish built a family of his own, becoming a teacher and a revered community figure. He married Khadija and together they had 18 children, now with a sprawling lineage of 79 grandchildren. Despite the resilience seen in his family, the specter of war has repeatedly shattered their hopes for stability.
Today, born again into displacement, Ayish wonders if Gaza will ever see the rebuilding it so desperately needs. I don't believe Gaza has any future, he states plainly, the sorrow of his years heavy in his words. With the legacy of displacement looming large, the Younis family’s dreams of returning to their former lives hang in the balance amidst the ongoing conflict.
As the region navigates ceasefires and hostilities, Ayish’s narrative echoes the desperation for peace and the longing for a life unmarked by war. The future remains uncertain, but the yearning for home, family, and hope remains a poignant part of Ayish's tale.
