They see the futility of a younger sister's hopes to become a doctor, the almost laughable nature of a little brother's desire to fly a plane, to get out. Their future holds little promise. Many of these boys learned a cynicism that is not without reason. They know that there are few choices and diminishing prospects for their lives, rare are the possibilities which normally spur a young person to work, to look ahead, to hope for something better. This is their reality and all the children with ears to hear and eyes to see know it.
Survival is what most hope for.
But, for many, even that simple aspiration has been snuffed out by the pressures of daily life. These are not unreasonable fears. The children's voices on the loud-speaker continue. All the children know Mohammad Al-Dura. These girls are not from Gaza, they didn't go to school with Mohammad, they never met him.