For the last two years, my social media algorithm has been relentlessly dominated by Gaza, particularly by the voices of ordinary Gazans, displaying a blend of emotions that centers on two core principles: grief and defiance.

Grief has characterised life in Gaza for many years, a consequence of successive Israeli wars, the unrelenting siege, and habitual bombardment. The last two years, marked by genocide and famine, however, have redefined that grief in a way almost incomprehensible to the Palestinians themselves.

Yes, Palestine has endured numerous massacres before, during, and since the Nakba – the tragic destruction of the Palestinian homeland. But those massacres were typically episodic, each distinctively marked by specific historical circumstances. Each is incorporated into the Palestinian collective psyche as proof of Israeli barbarity, but also as a demonstration of their own enduring resilience as a people.

I grew up in a Gaza refugee camp where we commemorated each massacre with rallies, general strikes, and artistic expressions. We knew the victims and immortalised them through chants, political graffiti, poetry and the like.

The war of extermination launched by Israel against Gaza in the last two years has fundamentally changed all of that. On a single day, 31 October, 2023, the Israeli army killed 704 Palestinians, and 120 in the Jabaliya refugee camp alone.........

© Middle East Monitor