For the past six months, I have been moving from one address to the next across the Gaza Strip with my husband and two children, aged 7 and 9, in an elusive search for safety. Our home in the Tal el-Hawa neighborhood, southwest of Gaza City, was bombed soon after the war began, and since then we have been homeless.
At first, we moved between residences in the north. But sooner or later, every neighborhood in Gaza City became a target, and every apartment in which we sought refuge was damaged by Israel airstrikes.
Eventually, my husband and I decided to flee south with our children, to the city of Khan Younis. It was a journey filled with adversity. Again, we moved from one address to another, until we ended up at Al-Amal Hospital.
Sheltering at the hospital grounds in the middle of winter, we slept only on a blanket, with a second blanket on top of us to provide warmth for my children and I. It was the first time I had felt extreme cold; the severity, along with the fear I felt for my children, brought me to tears.
After the occupation army besieged Khan Younis, we fled in early February through the so-called “safe corridor” under their control. On that journey, we experienced abuse, insults, humiliation, and the theft of our belongings. We continued back northward to the city of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, prolonging the bitterness of displacement until this day.
It has been six months, three cities, and countless places of refuge — and with the war showing no signs of ending, we know that we may not be able to shelter in our current spot for much longer.
So tumblr staff didn't just delete 1 blog of Med's without warning (fairuzfan), they deleted 2. The first blog was helpgazachildren, which was Med's blog to campaign for donation drives for Hussam who distributes basic necessities on the ground in Ghazzah. They have consistently shown proof of acquisition and distribution of goods as results for every donation drive. There is no reason to kill this blog other than to kill the Palestinian children and adults alike that rely on it for survival. Make no mistake, the actions of this company, Tumblr, and its CEO have real life consequences for the people who use it as a lifeline for survival.
That makes up an entire section of the people trying to survive genocide in Ghazzah. And now with both of Med's blogs gone, there is no recourse.
Tumblr is going to be the reason for the death of several Palestinians. And if I'm right in suspecting they're taking my blog down next, this will happen to the groups served by both Mona, and Hussam, and the families who have contacted me through this website and are relying on my fundraising campaigns to get to safety. This is not a minor issue.