Saint Valentina of Caesarea of Palestine Died: c.308 Feast Day: July 25 Saint
Valentina from Caesarea of Palestine (her name means strong and
healthy) died during the reign of the Emperor Maximian II.
St. Valentina
and her spiritual sister St. Thea, would not worship pagan idols,
kicking over the pagan fire sacrifice and incense before the altar in
protest.
They were immediately tortured, beaten and finally bound
together and burned to death.
Saint Valentina was from Caesarea of Palestine. She was small and known for wearing old, worn out clothing.
One day, when she was with her friend Thea,
they joined a group of Christians gathered to hear the Holy Scriptures.
Local officials broke up the meeting, grabbed Thea and tortured her.
Valentina
yelled, “How long will you torment my sister?” When the thugs heard
her, they grabbed her, too. Valentina was dragged away to be burned on
an altar which had already been prepared by the heathens. Kicking the
altar with her feet, she knocked it over. Then, Valentina and Thea were
tied together and burnt alive.
Saint Valentina’s Christian bond
with Saint Thea was so strong that whether or not they were natural
sisters, they were spiritual sisters. And, Saint Valentina was not going
to let Saint Thea be martyred without her.
The women died for their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ in 308.
The ancient Latin name “Valentina” means “strong, vigorous and healthy.”
Israel just massacred 21 Palestinians in a café at #Gaza City beach, among them journalist Ismail Abu Hatab and artist FransAl-Salmi.
This is Frans’s last post where she painted her friend Ismail
JournalistIsmailAbuHatabkilled by Israel 30 June 2025
Palestinian artist Frans Al-Salmi killed by Israel 30 June 2025
"The Israeli army killed renowned Palestinian visual artist FransAl-Salmi in the latest massacre on Gaza’s coast.
Frans was widely known for her powerful and expressive artwork that captured the soul of Palestinian life and struggle."
"29 others were also killed—including 2 journalist. Their lives, art, and voices were stolen. We must not look away"
" "How much I miss paintings and colors"
The last thing that the plastic artist and painter Frans Al-Salmi wrote on the Instagram story
She was martyred today in the bombing of the Al-Baqa cafeteria on the Gaza beach, for your soul peace" @mhmd_s09
"When you start painting again during the brutal genocide so a part of you can come back to life.
“Details that carry us to the life of Gaza between the sky and the
earth”, this was my friend’s idea to revive the spirit of life within
me, allowing the colors to return and tell fragments of his photos and
his exhibition on the BYPA platform. We still love life and our passions, despite all the hardships" francalsalmi
Ismail
Abu Hatab was a Palestinian photo-journalist and filmmaker, owner of
C-light TV production company, best known for his frontline coverage of
the Gaza war. He organized several photography exhibitions outside the Gaza Strip. He was killed by an Israeli air-strike on 30 June 2025
Deem holding a drawing she did of a child killed by Israeli forces
Deem Zurub, Palestinian artist - She didn’t just sketch martyrs —
she became one
Dina Khaled Mohammed Zaarab was killed in an Israeli strike on Rafah southern Gaza Strip, April 14th 2025.
Dina Zaarab—only 22 years old.
Dina—the talented painter whose brush captured the unspeakable pain of genocide.
Dina—the girl who brought color to children’s faces while the world around them was gray with ash and fear.
Dina—the dreamer who wanted nothing more than to help her people, to bring water, food, smiles… hope.
Israel kills 22-year-old Palestinian artist Dina Zaurub in airstrike on her displaced tent
Israeli forces have killed Palestinian artist Dina Khaled Zaurub in
an airstrike west of Khan Younis in southern Gaza. The strike hit the
tent where she and her family had taken shelter near the Sand Beach
resort, Quds News Network reported.
Zaurub received several honors throughout her life. In 2015, she won the
Al Mezan Center for Human Rights Award for the best drawing on
children’s rights in armed conflict. She was later recognized by the
Ministry of Education and UNRWA for her work. She specialized in
portraiture and used her art to document and honor the martyrs of Gaza.
All the Palestinian journalists in the photo were recently martyred in GAZA,
after showing the truth to a blind world.
Gaza in 2025- Palestine is the most well-documented genocide in history, yet the most denied.
To be clear- Wikipedia on what a MARTYR was and is:
A martyr (Greek: μάρτυς, mártys, 'witness' stemμαρτυρ-, martyr-) is someone who suffers persecution
and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or
advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external
party. In colloquial usage, the term can also refer to any person who
suffers a significant consequence in protest or support of a cause.
In its original meaning, the word martyr, meaningwitness, was used in the secular sphere as well as in the New Testamentof the Bible.[4]
The process of bearing witness was not intended to lead to the death of
the witness, although it is known from ancient writers (e.g., Josephus) and from the New Testament that witnesses often died for their testimonies.
In Palestine, the word ‘martyr’ is traditionally used to mean a person killed by Israeli forces, regardless of religion.[15][16] For example, Shireen Abu Akleh was a Palestinian Christian journalist who was killed by Israeli forces, and Arabic media calls her a ‘martyr’.[17] This reflects a communal belief that every Palestinian death is part of a resistance against Israeli occupation.[18] Children are likewise called martyrs, such as the late children of journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh who were killed in an Israeli airstrike.[19]
How Western media silence enables the killing of Palestinian journalists
Hossam Shabat and Mohammad Mansour were the
latest Palestinian journalists to be assassinated in Gaza.
Responsibility for their killings rests in part on their Western
colleagues who have failed to accurately cover Israel's genocidal
assault.
Palestinian journalists lift placards during a rally in protest of the
killing of fellow reporters Hussam Shabat and Muhammad Mansour in
Israeli strikes a day earlier, in Gaza City on March 25, 2025. (Photo:
Omar Ashtawy/APA Images)
On March 24, 2025, we witnessed the deliberate killing of yet another
Palestinian journalist. Hossam Shabat, a 24-year-old reporter for Al
Jazeera Mubasher and contributor to Drop Site News, was assassinated in
an Israeli airstrike targeting his vehicle in northern Gaza. Hours
earlier, Mohammad Mansour, a correspondent for Palestine Today, was also
killed in Khan Younis.
These were not accidents. These were not casualties of “crossfire” or
“clashes.” These were targeted assassinations designed to silence those
who document the truth about Gaza.
“If you’re reading this, it means I have been killed—most likely
targeted—by the Israeli occupation forces,” wrote Hossam in a final
message shared by his team. His words now stand as both testament and
indictment. “I documented the horrors in northern Gaza minute by minute,
determined to show the world the truth they tried to bury.”
The Israeli military placed Hossam and five other Palestinian
journalists on a hit list in October 2024. He regularly received death
threats by call and text. Yesterday, that threat was carried out.
When this genocide began, Hossam was just 21 years old—a college
student studying journalism who could not have imagined his future.
“Little did I know I would be given one of the hardest jobs in the
world: to cover the genocide of my own people,” he wrote about a year
ago.
Since October 2023, at least 208 Palestinian journalists have been
killed by Israeli forces. This is not collateral damage—it is a
systematic campaign to eliminate witnesses. By targeting journalists,
Israel seeks to control the narrative, to ensure that its actions in
Gaza occur in darkness, free from the scrutiny of international law and
public opinion.
The idea that Western journalists are responsible for Hossam’s
martyrdom today is not a slogan. Their total journalistic malpractice
and regurgitation of Zionist propaganda has left Palestinian journalists
exposed, as a precious few who publish the truth, and, therefore:
targets. Their failure to accurately report on the targeting of their
colleagues, their reluctance to challenge Israeli narratives, and their
tendency to frame these killings as unfortunate byproducts of conflict
rather than deliberate acts—these journalistic failures have real
consequences. They have left Palestinian journalists vulnerable, bearing
alone the responsibility of documenting atrocities that many Western
outlets refuse to acknowledge.
Hossam embodied resilience in the face of this isolation. “I say to
the world, I am continuing. I am covering the events with an empty
stomach, steadfast and persevering,” he once said in an interview. Hours
before his death, he filed a story about Israel’s renewed bombing
campaign that killed over 400 people, including nearly 200 children, in
just hours. “I want to share the text urgently,” he wrote, desperate to
ensure the world would know.
For 492 days, Hossam survived in conditions most journalists will
never experience. He “slept on pavements, in schools, in tents—anywhere I
could,” he wrote. “Each day was a battle for survival. I endured hunger
for months, yet I never left my people’s side.”
The father of Mohammad Mansour, the other journalist killed
yesterday, spoke words that should haunt every newsroom: “Stand up and
speak, tell the world, you are the one who tells the truth, for the
image alone is not enough.”
Yet most Western journalists remain silent about the systematic
killing of their Palestinian colleagues. The International Federation of
Journalists has documented by name those killed or injured, but these
deaths rarely receive the coverage or outrage they deserve. When
journalists are targeted anywhere else in the world, press freedom
organizations and major news outlets rightfully condemn such attacks.
The silence surrounding Palestinian journalists speaks volumes.
True journalism means acknowledging uncomfortable truths: that these
journalists were not killed accidentally but deliberately targeted; that
their deaths serve to obscure war crimes; that the weapons used to kill
them often come from the same countries whose media fails to report
accurately on their deaths.
In his final message, Hossam made a request: “Do not stop speaking
about Gaza. Do not let the world look away. Keep fighting, keep telling
our stories—until Palestine is free.”
Western journalists have a moral and professional obligation to honor
this request. They must accurately report on the targeting of their
colleagues. They must challenge narratives that dismiss these killings
as unfortunate accidents. They must recognize that their silence makes
them complicit.
Hossam concluded, “By God, I fulfilled my duty as a journalist.” The
question now is whether Western journalists will fulfill theirs.
News on Palestine you can trust
Thank you for reading this article. Before you go, we want to ask for your help. The Israeli government announced they will spend an additional $150 Million on propaganda in 2025. With the help of mainstream media, they are trying to sway public opinion over the genocide in Gaza.
[AS
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"This is Hossam’s team, and we are sharing his final message :
“If you’re reading this, it means I have been killed—most likely targeted—by the Israeli occupation forces.
When this all began, I was only 21 years old—a college student with dreams like anyone else.
For past 18 months, I have dedicated every moment of my life to my people.
I documented the horrors in northern Gaza minute by minute, determined to show the world the truth they tried to bury.
I slept on pavements, in schools, in tents—anywhere I could.
Each day was a battle for survival. I endured hunger for months, yet I never left my people’s side.
By God, I fulfilled my duty as a journalist. I risked everything to report the truth, and now, I am finally at rest—something I haven’t known in the past 18 months .
I did all this because I believe in the Palestinian cause. I believe this land is ours, and it has been the highest honor of my life to die defending it and serving its people.
I ask you now: do not stop speaking about Gaza. Do not let the world look away. Keep fighting, keep telling our stories—until Palestine is free.”
— For the last time, Hossam Shabat, from northern Gaza."
Israel targets and kills Hossam Shabat hours after killing his colleague Mohammad Mansour
124 journalist were killed around the world in 2024, around two-thirds of them were Palestinian.
Hiba Abu Nada. Writer from Gaza. born 1991. Her first novel, Oxygen is not for the Dead, was published in 2017. On the evening of October 20, Hiba Abu Nada was martyred with her family under bombardment in their home in the Manara neighborhood of Khan Yunis.
7 October, 6:54am
We
go to sleep thinking about very ordinary things, a university exam,
buying a new piece of clothing, worrying about applying to a job, then
suddenly the sound of the alarm changes, exams are cancelled, schools
and universities are shut down, gunpowder blasts everywhere, Al-Jazeera
turns red, we turn on the radio, Telegram, in our minds we start to
reschedule all our plans. In Gaza, everything changes in an instant.
8 October, 11:30am
Our newsfeeds are funeral homes / memorial services / obituary pages. We move from page to page as if walking through a square full of funerals packed side by side. God, the weight of these days.
8 October, 10:02pm
America wants to send an aircraft carrier to support the Zionist entity. Good, inshallah when we are liberated we will turn it into a floating restaurant in the sea. ...READ MORE
All rights reserved to the people of Palestine كل الحقوق محفوظة لأهل فلسطين
With
crediting the authors and without editing, we encourage you to publish,
print, and distribute the texts by all possible means in support of the
Palestinian struggle for liberation. Any financial income generated
from these texts is the property of the people in Gaza and must be
directed back to them in full. For questions and further coordination,
please contact us.
ArabLit #CeaseFireNOW
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ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO
READ GOOD ARTICLES or quotes IN FULL: HELP
SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and
conversations) THAT EMPOWER
DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE &
PEACE... and hopefully
Palestine]
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