Kayed Hammad already knew Spain. A Palestinian journalist and translator, he learned Spanish years ago in Malaga and has worked with many Spanish media outlets, also as a “fixer” (guide). He was here in the 90s, but also in 2010: he could have stayed, but he didn’t. But now, do … five or six months since he moved to Segovia with his family, for whom everything is a discovery. “This is the first time they have come out of the cage, the biggest prison in the world, Gaza,” he said.
There are five of them at home, because with him his wife Amal and three of his children came: Monjed (22 years old), Dalia, 20 years old, and Mohammed, 17 years old. The fourth and oldest of all, Omar, could not because he died in a bombing in this “hell”, which gave them the impetus to leave the occupied land where they were born. “In the last 21 months, we have had to move 17 times, as if it were playing hide and seek with death”Kayed admits. In lost homes, the dull pain of frameless memories also remains, he explains, but “this has no point of comparison, there are no words for the loss of a child.”
So, even though he never liked the word “refugee” – inherited from his parents, who “came from rich families and one day they lost everything”, which led him to be born in the Jabaliya camp – he was convinced of this change of life. “Out of responsibility”, so that his wife and children can build “a normal life”, he says.. “I can still save them,” he adds, even if they suffer for everything they left behind: “Our hearts and minds are divided between Gaza and Spain.”
Six months after their move, the holidays mark the contrast of all the changes they have taken on, for the better. These are “Christmas of discovery”, describe the Gazans, who comment that they see “everything with great affection and curiosity”.. He admits that they had lost “the meaning of holidays” in general “because people were desperate and sad.” His Christian friends in Palestine barely obtained the necessary permits to go to Bethlehem or celebrate these dates, he says. For the first time, Kayed’s family considers the celebration “the way it should be.” “My children are surprised by the preparations, the streets… they tell me that it is now time for nougat,” he smiles.
The change of scenery was also powerful for the family of Fayad Abumuaileq, who echoed his efforts to bring his family to Valladolid with an online petition. And finally, he succeeded. It’s been a few months since everyone’s emotional reunion at the airport. Marjad came with Fayad from the capital of Pisuerga, Mohammed left Galicia for Barajas and Ayed left Barcelona to welcome his parents, his sisters Danya and Lina and the latter’s two little ones, Mohammed and Aseel, who are only six and four years old.
Kayed Hammad, his wife and children walk with friends in Segovia
48 hours of travel could not stop the cries or the tears of happiness: “It was fantastic, so moving that it felt like we were dreaming,” Danya said. Just two days before boarding the plane, the family home was bombed and they moved in with Lina. Her husband is still there, for the moment without permission from Israel to leave the area.
“Leaving is very difficult”underlines Kayed, who indicates that there are many cases of “people who want but are trapped”. From your readings, part of the explanation is that The Israeli government “is angry” with the Spanish government and that is why the embassy “makes things more difficult for the Spanish than for the French or the Italians.”. He does not have much advice to give because their authorization follows a letter addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs by several journalist friends, who were pursuing a strategy based on “making noise”.
Now that the horror is behind them, Fayad’s family matriarch, Widad, says only that she feels “safe” and “looks forward to enjoying life with her grandchildren.” Another is on the way and Valladolid can only blame the cold, he admits, coming from one of his children’s living rooms. The same day, they leave for Barcelona, to spend a few days with another of them. But little Mohammed has already been dazzled by the lights of the Plaza Mayor in Valladolid. “He must have ridden the carousel at least five times,” admits his mother, amused. Meanwhile, Aseel loves going to supermarkets. “When they started going to school, she cried a lot because she said ‘they speak Spanish and I don’t understand anything’, but now she gets up saying that she wants to go to school”, illustrates Lina, to assure that the teachers are “very kind” to her.
She herself feels good “just walking the streets”. “We’re looking forward to improving our Spanish, settling in, calming down a bit.”sums up this thirty-year-old. Then, perhaps, find a job thanks to his chemistry studies. Danya, at 21, would like to resume her studies of English and French literature, which the “war” prevented her from continuing. “Normally people don’t ask where you’re from, which I appreciate,” he says. “But when they know that you come from Palestine, they smile,” he illustrates, to positively enhance the welcome.
Building a new life takes time. Although associations like Accem work with resources including centers and meals, Kayed and his wife decided to rent an apartment themselves. But international protection marks the stages: it is only when they obtain the right of residence that they will be able to work. “We have to stabilize, but we have to be patient,” recognizes the Gazans.
They are happy in Segovia, “less hot” than Malaga, close to Madrid but “cheaper” and without the “double language”, which would mean “double difficulty” if their children also had to learn Catalan or Basque. “The people here are very friendly and familiar, they treat us very kindly,” he admits. Christmas lights, trains, sleeping without the constant drone of a drone or having a key (the obsession of the young people at home) are already signs of peace for them, at least for their families.
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