A year after the Intifada began, Hussam joined a group in the camp. He became a leader in organizing demonstrations on Nakba Day and Land Day. Gatherings were held secretly as Israeli military law deemed group meetings illegal. His family understood his desire to be involved in the resistance to the occupation, but they insisted his obligation to his education was equally important. Regarding potential arrest, his father gave a major imperative: "Never implicate another."
In 1989, when Hussam was 16, soldiers came to his family's house in the middle of the night to arrest him and bring him to the Khan Younis military complex. On his twelfth day there, he was grilled on his activities. When he refused to give the names of others, he was beaten with wooden batons for several hours. His release came six days later, although sixty days after he was convicted of throwing stones based on the testimony of an IDF soldier. He was fined and sentenced to nine months at the Answar III prison in the Negev. This time period would cancel out his junior year in high school.
Upon his release, without an ID and with a prison record, Hussam focused on completing his education so he could attend university. From 18 to 21, Hussam worked on an undergraduate degree in English at Al-Azhar University in Gaza City. It was also a period of disillusionment for him. He believed that the Oslo Declaration was a "betrayal and an insult," with specific disregard for those who had fought for a Palestinian state during the Intifada. Hussam was denied an overseas scholarship for graduate studies because he wasn't a member of Fatah. He was demoralized by the actions of Palestinian political leaders, as he became acutely aware of the corruption and "cronyism" within all factions.
Hussam moved on to his first job, a teacher at the Palestinian Technical College, and at 22, he became engaged. Four years later, he was accepted at Brigham Young University to pursue a Master's degree. Students sought him out for information on Islam, as well as the situation in Israel-Palestine. During this period, Hussam delved into the roots, ethics, and doctrines of his religion. It was to ground him in a way that the vagaries of politics had not.
When Hussam returned to Gaza after a year abroad, he married his fiance'e immediately. During the following decade, he had five children, and within six years, he rose to the office of vice dean for academic affairs. Like Khalil and Hussam, everyday life was impacted by the Israeli blockade, higher food expenses, and sporadic electricity.
In 2010, Hussam went for his PhD in educational leadership. He received an offer from a university in Malaysia, a Muslim country, which was perfect for his family. He completed his dissertation in 2014, when he was 41.
That same year, an Israeli officer called the family's landline at 5 a.m. to inform his father: "Your house is scheduled to be bombed in ten minutes." With four levels above ground, each housing a different brother's family, they faced an agonizing choice: stay or leave. Were these calls a strategy of intimidation or an actual attempt to alert and save people? Either way, the result was paralyzing.
In 2017, Hussam was a full professor at a government college. Like Hammam and 70,000 other PA workers in Gaza, his salary (and his wife's) was cut in half. He saw his earnings decline due to the ongoing discord between the PA and Hamas, and he vigorously faulted both. By 2018, over half of Gaza's working force was unemployed. Hussam began exploring the possibility of leaving the Strip. Instead, at the age of 46, Hussam committed to remaining in Gaza. He bought property near his in-laws' house to build a home. The land was also next to an ongoing target of bombing by the Israelis-- a power plant.
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The second part of Barber's book is devoted to WhatsApp messages he had with Hammam, Khalil, and Hussam over the one-year period after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023. In his introduction to this material, Barber relates the details of Hamas assault, the reaction of Israeli military leaders, statistics on deaths (both Israeli soldiers and Palestinians in Gaza), and destruction (housing units, rubble and debris, cultural heritage). His footnotes are extensive.
Barber expressed his view of the importance of the material to me in his comment, "There's so much value and richness [in the correspondence]. I postponed publication to include them, a live reportage [of what it is like] to live under attack.
With Barber's permission, the following are brief excerpts from each man's messages. After getting to know them and their lives through their preceding profiles, their words are even more resonant.
Hamman:
"Brian, the situation is terrifying. We are dying a slow death. Oh my God, what's going on?...We may not meet again after today. We may all die at any time, my friend"No electricity at all for 27 days. Darkness is deadly"First time I am crying with sorrow. We have nothing. We are waiting. We are dying every day. Everything is destroyed. Khan Younis is destroyed"Life has become unbearable"Still waiting for a ceasefire"I have become unable to think. I don't know where these idiots will take us."
Khalil:
"Hi Brian, so far we are good. Hopefully we will be safe. The war has started to be more aggressive. It seems that they decide to invade"We are not good but we are strong enough"I am still waiting for an end of this foolishness"The news about Rafah is not good. They may invade Rafah soon"It is a real nightmare"The news focuses on the hostages and ignores the innocents who were victims for both Israel and Hamas"Nobody can imagine the stories of killings everywhere in Gaza"No one can know if s/he will survive this genocide. We live until when? Who will be next?...Death is the only certainty for the Palestinians in Gaza."
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