Testimonies from The Gaza Testimonies Database
The latest form of death in Gaza is heat stroke. Tents have become like ovens and, on top of dehydration, people die from the effects of a blistering sun. These families have endured starvation, bombing, sniper fire, assassination from AI directed drones, total destruction of homes, schools, medical centres and the refuge that religious sites could offer. Sumud has its limits and the miracle is that this limit may not yet have been reached. Some tents have become schools and play centres where efforts continue to recreate normality. Young people, active on social media, are producing blogs, recording all experiences for posterity and reaching out to their links across the world to share their stories.
PTC(UK) is proud to be associated with The Gaza Testimonies Database which gathers accounts like these blogs of the ongoing genocide. It collects and preserves records of individual ordeal and resilience. Began on 9th October 2023 by Dr. Caitlin Proctor, a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre on Conflict Development and Peacebuilding in Geneva, the database was taken up by Dr. Nora Parr with the Rights for Time research network at the University of Birmingham partnered to expand and support it.
These testimonies will be a resource for understanding how genocide transforms the mental health landscape. The information is stored anonymously, but a record of contributors is kept for lawyers and experts to access in the future.
PTC(UK) is privileged to share an extract from one of these blogs. This is how the author introduces herself:
“I am Farah Thabet, a 17-year-old dreamer from Gaza. My heart, like the ancient stones of our land, bears the weight of untold stories. The ink of my pen dances amidst the relentless bombardment, its rhythm echoing the sway of olive groves.
I’m not a hero, I’m a surviving soul, clinging fiercely to a fragile hope. In this fractured world, I yearn for a different melody—a symphony of peace that transcends borders.
I write not for fame, but to ignite empathy—to remind the world that we are more than headlines and statistics.”
Read More: Farah Thabet - ‘A Living Tesimony’
See More Posts: The Ink of Survival - War Diary from Gaza Blog
