For over 75 years Palestine Refugees have endured loss and hardship- UNWRA- Until there is a just solution to their plight, a world where Palestine refugees thrive: Families newly displaced by the escalation in northern Gaza, including Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, are facing dire conditions. With limited food and water, some of them now live in makeshift tents on the main street near the UNRWA Gaza main compound. #CeasefireNow

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Families newly displaced by the escalation in northern Gaza, including Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun, are facing dire conditions. With limited food and water, some of them now live in makeshift tents on the main street near the UNRWA Gaza main compound. #CeasefireNow

For over 75 years, #PalestineRefugees have endured loss and hardship.

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Until there is a just solution to their plight, a world where Palestine refugees thrive.

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UNRWA USA lifts up the voices, experiences, and humanity of Palestine refugees to secure American support for resources essential to every human being, for the promise of a better life.

voices of unrwa blog

We aim to shed light on the daily realities faced on the ground by Palestine refugees and the impact of our work in providing humanitarian relief and support. Here, you will find insightful articles from our staff, partners, and beneficiaries about UNRWA’s education, health, and emergency assistance programs. Join us as we share inspiring stories of resilience, hope, and determination from Palestine and beyond. https://www.unrwausa.org/voices-of-unrwa

Gaza, My True Home: A Palestine refugee’s story of hope and return

Feb 19

By Amjad Shabat

Amjad Shabat, a former freelance content producer for UNRWA USA, reported from Gaza before she was evacuated in 2024. Now residing in Texas with her husband and young daughter, she contributes as a guest writer for the Voices of UNRWA blog. Through her writing, she reflects on her identity as a refugee and her longing to return home.

The phrase “no place like home” has echoed a lot in my family. I remember my late father saying it the moment he stepped through the door after a long day at work. To keep the tradition, I hung the tapestry at the entrance of my apartment. This simple phrase is deeply rooted in my consciousness now. No matter where I live, if I’m away from Palestine, I can't feel home.

As refugees, our perspective of home is complicated. We move around while remembering our homes are temporary, until we return back to our rightful, ancestral land. And yet, despite its challenges, life as a refugee has taught me resilience and profoundly shaped my identity.

Growing up in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, I remember the winters were the most difficult. Our metal-ceiling houses and narrow streets used to sink and float each time it rained. We never had a playground to play in. Our most joyful games took place in the alleys. Gaza has been under an illegal blockade since 2007, and at one point early on in the siege, our resources were so limited that we could not even get paper or pencils to write down our lessons. 

I went to UNRWA schools where classes were crowded. This pushed me to work hard so I could stand out. My passion for writing emerged, and with the encouragement of my UNRWA teachers, I joined storytelling competitions across elementary schools in Jabalia. I felt proud of myself as I heard my classmates’ applause after winning first and second place. Their little hands clapping is a memory I cherish as the true sound and image of success. 

Appreciating the value of education is a core concept in our lives as Palestinians and as refugees. My parents always told me that education would lead us toward a better future—a lesson I now strive to pass on to my own young daughter. Through education, our generation is able to tell our narrative in different languages, playing a major role in the growing global solidarity movement for Palestine. 

I learned other lessons watching my people find creative solutions to life under siege. I admired the countless female nurses and doctors who treated injuries with scared and shaky hands under fire. In devastating conditions, UNRWA workers continued their efforts to deliver life-saving aid while trying to survive themselves. They arrived at our makeshift tents and camps under the continuous massive bombings to deliver the only food available. My daughter, who was two and a half years old at the time, would have an egg every three days delivered by UNRWA. During these days, this single egg was her only source of protein. 

What also left a strong impression on me were the female journalists and UNRWA humanitarian workers—women who, while carrying the weight of their roles as mothers surviving a military assault— prepare and pack their children's meals before heading out to document what experts know to be a genocide or deliver life-saving UNRWA aid. They balanced motherhood with the immense responsibility of helping others, all while trying to survive the same brutal conditions and stay strong for their children.... READ MORE https://www.unrwausa.org/voices-of-unrwa/gaza-my-true-home

 [AS 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]