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"My Dream is to Make Gaza Proud." | Gaza Diaries | Renad Attalah and Dr. Omar Suleiman
Gaza Diaries with Dr. Omar Suleiman
"My Dream is to Make Gaza Proud." | Gaza Diaries | Renad Attalah and Dr. Omar Suleiman
Renad Attalah inspired hope with her cooking videos set in war-torn Gaza. Now, she has sought safety in the Netherlands while her mother remains behind. Join Dr. Omar Suleiman to hear from Renad and her mother, Um Firas, learn about what life is like in Gaza as the world moves on, and hear the stories of a mother and daughter separated by a needlessly cruel conflict.
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings.
00:00This story was actually based on a true story.
00:10If you watched this year's Ramadan series, you saw that there was a powerful micro-drama that played out as we went through the names of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. And as I said, every single one of those clips related to one of the names of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala being
00:23discussed. And many of you caught on to the connections. But we wanted to put the people of Gaza at the forefront once again as they've disappeared from so many of our algorithms. And
00:32as we said at the end of the series, the story was actually based on a true story. And that story is only one of the many stories of the people of Gaza. Some families that have been martyred
00:43altogether. Some that remain as refugees in exile. Some that remain with children without limbs. And some that remain separated with parts of their family in Gaza and other parts in different parts
00:54of the world scattered and wondering when they will be able to be reunited. We wanted to actually bring forth one of those families. And you may have seen this young sister from Palestine,
01:04from Gaza, that does cooking tutorials on Instagram and puts out videos and images from her new life after Gaza. Rinad, who has taken her tragedy and taught the world not just about
01:18resilience like so many of the people of Gaza, but shown this incredible degree of happiness. Well, Rinad lives in Holland while her mother remains in Gaza, Um Firas. And we wanted to
01:29actually do an interview with Um Firas while she is in Gaza and talk about what their life has been like despite that separation. And as you can imagine, trying to get all of them on a stream
01:43at the same time is very difficult considering the circumstances in Gaza. And the internet was choppy and was cutting up. And we tried very hard to capture this interview. But you will notice
01:54the technical difficulties. And while we tried to clean up the recording, we couldn't clean it up altogether. And that's probably a good thing for us to recognize once again that life in Gaza is
02:04anything but normal. And so this is what we were able to salvage from that interview. And I want you to pay close attention inshallah to these words and again be inspired by their resilience
02:15and continue to make du'a for them and to stand with them. Please do tune in inshallah and keep them in your du'a. Jazakum Allahu khayran. Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
02:45Wa alaikum assalam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh.
03:15The market is still closed, and most of the time the crossroads are still closed. It's rare that when you open the crossroads, goods come in, and the prices are still high.
03:28It's above the reach of people. Not everyone can buy the products and goods that are inside the crossroads, because the prices are still high. There is still no hope.
03:41The name of the war is still there, but the war is still going on, and life is still in danger. We can be attacked at any moment.
03:54The fear is still there. May Allah bless you. Mother Firas, as a mother, you have endured a lot in these difficult circumstances.
04:04Of course, it was very difficult for you to send your daughter to the Netherlands. What helped you to stay strong in these circumstances?
04:13The experiences we had and the scenes we saw gave us strength. We have endured a lot.
04:23We have seen scenes that are difficult for anyone in the world to bear. Alhamdulillah, we saw death a hundred times a day. We pray and say, "O Lord."
04:35Alhamdulillah, it is our Lord who gives us strength. We always see that the people of Gaza have an extraordinary relationship with the Lord of the Worlds.
04:47How was your relationship with the Lord of the Worlds during this journey? Alhamdulillah, our faith is strong in Allah. We are always grateful to Allah. Whatever our Lord has written, we are satisfied with it.
05:01Alhamdulillah, everything is good from our Lord. In the worst of circumstances, if we have lost our martyrs, we consider this to be a great blessing from our Lord. Alhamdulillah, we are satisfied with what our Lord has written.
05:15Of course, it will be good for us. Alhamdulillah, Allah has written for you a unique relationship. Rinad, can you tell us about yourself?
05:28Who is Rinad? Okay. Should I start from the beginning? As you wish, inshallah.
05:42Or let your mother tell us about you. Okay. Mom, tell us about me. May Allah protect you. I miss my mother a lot.
05:54Whenever she visits me, I miss her a lot.
06:01Alhamdulillah, we are seeing our children through the screens. We can't bear this anymore.
06:13Alhamdulillah, in any case. Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah.
06:46May Allah protect you all. May Allah bring you all together soon.
06:58We are praying for you. We are learning patience from you. Rinad, when you hear your mother talking about you,
07:13tell us about your mother, Rinad. My mother was very close to me when I was young. She taught me everything that was difficult for me.
07:30She taught us things that no one expected. How can a mother do this to her children in the most difficult circumstances? In the war, there was no food.
07:42Honestly, I don't know how she was able to give us food. She didn't let us know we were hungry. We can't even say that we are really hungry.
07:53My mother was the best mom in the world. She did everything for us. My older brother was thirty years old. We couldn't even depend on her.
08:05I feel like a different person. I can't describe my mother. I can't even describe her like this. I want to see her again.
08:19I want to go back to Gaza when the war is over. Or if my mother comes here. I want my mother to see the things that I have found.
08:31The rivers, the nature. In Gaza, people cook. There are still people who cook on fire. We sometimes cook on fire because we don't have gas.
08:46We have gas. I want my mother to come back and cook for us. I can cook, but my mother's food is different. Mashallah. Mashallah.
09:00Is it the opposite, or is it fair? It's all the same. May Allah gather you all together well.
09:12Rinad, what makes you strong when you miss your family? I talk to my mother every day. She gives me hope that I will get better.
09:24I miss my family. I miss my sister Nurhan. I try to be like my mother.
09:37When we were in Gaza, my sister cooked for us. I miss my mother.
09:48My sister tries to fill this empty space. When I was in Gaza, I was with my mother. I was with my sister. We ate with my sister.
10:02We tried to fill this empty space. It's not just me. My brother and sister tried to do the same. I want to ask you the same question, Rinad.
10:16How was your relationship with Allah during this period? Do you think it was in Gaza or elsewhere? As you wish. When you were in Gaza, when you went to the Netherlands...
10:29Your relationship with Allah will be permanent.
10:41In Gaza, when there was a bombing, we would pray. It was at the end of Ramadan.
10:55We would pray at night. We would pray for Gaza. We would pray for the martyrs.
11:08We would pray for a better life. Before the war, I went to the mosque. I memorized six parts of the Qur'an.
11:19The mosque was closed because of the war. I am trying to memorize what I had memorized. When we left Gaza, we would pray.
11:32We would pray at the bus stop. We would pray for a better life. We would praise Allah.
11:44We would pray for our family in Gaza. Praise be to Allah. God willing, you will memorize the whole Qur'an. God willing.
11:56Tell us about the moment you left Gaza. When they told us that we were leaving Gaza, no one believed it. It was like we were walking.
12:09Then they told us that we were leaving. At that moment, we realized that we were leaving. My mom had never done this before.
12:20Two hours before we left, we cried. We said goodbye.
12:29Our neighbors told us to wake up before we left.
12:40Our family was full of sadness. When we left, it felt like we were away from our family, our dreams, our country. When we boarded the plane,
12:54it was the first time I had ever boarded a plane. It was a strange feeling. It was nice, but not nice. I wanted to live in peace like the rest of the kids.
13:06It was not nice that I was away from my family and my country. When we arrived here, it was also very strange. There were different customs, different places, and everything was different from our country.
13:20I said that I wanted to learn Dutch. My Dutch became A2 or a little more. God willing, we will try to adapt to this country.
13:34We will try to adapt to a country that is different from ours, with different norms and a different culture. Aunt Firas, I would like to ask you, why do you want Rinald to always be remembered,
13:47her origin and roots? I want her to always be remembered for her land and her Palestinian blood.
13:57 I don't want her to forget her identity, her country and her land. I don't want her to forget that we are Palestinians,
14:09and that the occupation took our land and occupied us. Secondly, I don't want her to forget her belief, no matter what circumstances or places she is in,
14:21even in the West, she must have a strong belief in God, just like Ziyad. I want her to always be remembered for her people,
14:33her children who were forced to live in Gaza, or who were deprived because of the war. I want them to live the life that Rinald achieved, and to say Alhamdulillah,
14:45God willing, every Palestinian child, may God bless them as much as we have seen and endured in Gaza. May God bless you. The last question for you, Um Firas.
14:58The love of a mother for her children does not stop, even with distance. What do you want the world to understand about this love? I want the world to understand that the love of a mother for her son or daughter
15:10does not separate with any distance, or any obstacle, or weakens with any circumstances. The love grows with distance,
15:23it does not decrease. My heart is attached to Rinald's heart, and to Adam's heart, and I miss them a lot.
15:43May God unite you in this world and in the Hereafter, and we pray for you, and at the same time, we are proud of you,
15:55despite your shortcomings. A lot of people ask me this question, and I can answer it, but they don't know what's inside a person.
16:07Of course, he has a lot inside him, but we try to live with the current situation, because we are forced to live like this, and thank God, we will get over it.
16:19We pray to God to unite us with our children, and may God make this war end in safety for everyone, not just for us. Thank God for everything.
16:31Rinald, one last question for you. What do you want the world to understand about children in Gaza? I want the world to know about the children in Gaza,
16:43that we were very smart in school, but the war closed this down, and also the children of the world, they don't know how many children are in Gaza.
16:55I hope they live less of what they experience. I mean, the least thing, for example, the children here, they go to school,
17:07they walk, but I found that the children in Gaza carry more responsibilities than them. A child brings food to his parents,
17:19a child works from the age of nine years old just to make money for his parents. I mean, there are many families, and more than 15,000 children were killed in Gaza.
17:31I don't want them to live the life that people here live. Many mothers have lost their children. Thank God. Thank God for everything.
17:43What are your dreams for the future, Rinald? My dream is to be proud of all of Gaza. I want to deliver the message of my country.
17:55I want to let the whole world know that Gaza and Palestine are not a small country. I also want to grow up and become a chef
18:07 and have my own restaurant. Of course, my biggest dream is to be with my mom and see each other.
18:19Of course, this dream will only grow without her. Even if she gives me hope, the biggest hope is to be with my mom.
18:31God willing, if she were with me, everything would be easier for me in life.
18:43May God grant you peace and mercy. May God bring you together in this world and the Hereafter.
18:55I want to pray two rak'ahs in Al-Aqsa. May God bless you. Thank you very much, Um Firas.
19:07May God protect you and preserve you. I know that your situation is difficult. God bless you.
19:19May God protect you.
