Little Fishies in a Tank. What is life without conflict? A series…
By: Ons H Nader
Tags: Unemployment, Life Lessons, Israel, Youth, Gaza

What is life without conflict? A series of static consecutive picture-like projections repeated once and over again. Conflict adds flavor; a certain kick that distinguishes an otherwise bland, dreary concoction. A person in a healthy atmosphere normally experiences the perfect blend of the mundane and the unique happenstance. Just enough to test them, keep them on their toes whilst going about life with a steady heartbeat. A run-of-the-mill Gazan undulates from days so slow and dreary you might as well be under the surface of a lake lake (moving slow-mo, pretty much like fishes eating, mating and swimming back and forth from one rock to another in an endless cycle, detached from life outside the boundaries of a guinea pig-like testing tank while time counts days off your life) to a movie action scene with bombs falling like summer rain, not so-harmless fireworks going off in the middle of the night and a re-current notion of your ceiling roughly kissing your face at any moment of the day. Life for the normal Gazan oscillates between a pull-your-hair-out state of waiting to my-heart-almost-quit-working due to overwork; in both cases: unlivable. I dare say my own generation of Palestininan/Gazans didn’t have it the absolute worst compared say… to the generations that lived through the 1917 British Mandate, the 1948 Diaspora, or the 1967 war Diaspora, as well. I mean I wasn’t marched pregnant out of fear for my life and kids across the Jordan river in winter when the water rate increases with my few belongings on my back — God rest your soul grandma — but all the same, my generation was handed its own quite unique set of misery. . My ancestors were deprived of all that makes them, them and kicked out of all they knew. My generation is wasting away. The normal Palestinian is born worrying about whether they’ll get a job after they get their degree. The notion of it is akin to winning the lottery. Of course, not all Palestinian-Gazans go through the expected anxiety of an uncertain future. Hurrah for you if your parents know the right people in the right places or a double Hurrah if you can actually travel or — gasp — are a holder of a dual citizenship; the golden ticket out of the dungeon.

Back when I was still in university, I spent a considerable amount of time serenading of when I shall be liberated of student life and all of its vexations. The occasional graduate veteran did issue the following warning (with life-hardened eyes and deep sighs): ‘Enjoy being a student while you can’. It finally dawned upon me in my last year at university that soon the badge of ‘student’ with all of its special quirks shall be withdrawn from me, most important of said quirks is: not one more unemployed bloke on top of an ever-evolving, ever-growing pyramid of unemployment, 52% of the population to be specific according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

Living in Gaza means you have to be a Jack-of-all-trades and a master-of-all-trades, as well. At the very least, 2 or 3.You see, only in few cases (save for doctors and dentists and other related fields) that people here get a job relevant to their university degree. Ever heard of adages that emphasizes the point of employees suiting the market’s needs? Well, it’s never been truer than here. I have a BA in English Literature and 2 Diplomas under my belt: one in Web Development, and the other in Graphic Design. And, I am considering heading into marketing. Living here takes spreading horizontally to a whole new level. Oh, and do I actually like the stuff I studied? As in: Is this what I would like to spend my life doing for a job? The answer would be a firm no. I think I would like to write, but I’m not sure. Sadly, the notion of taking a year off after high school to think things through and find out what we like and hate in order to make an enlightened decision about what to study later on isn’t a popular trend. It’s quite sad that after graduating from university, I still don’t know what I actually like to do. A lot of the skills I learnt were out of necessity but not out of love and passion.

Weirdly enough, despite the limited options and opportunities available to Gazans in their early to mid 20s, and even more so past their mid 20s, there still is a sense of socially enforced urgency to do and accomplish (Job after university! Car and home! Marriage after Job! Kids after a year of marriage! And on, it goes!)

Flexibility and adaptability; that’s what one must acquire and learn by heart to live in my city. When the ground underneath you wobbles and quakes, one must learn to shift and keep steady. It’s not an easy life here, but it’s life nonetheless and we make the best we can out of the hand dealt to us.