Inside an Internet café in Gaza, Baraa’h Qandeel fights for survival and justice

As the Israeli genocide in Gaza expanded, individuals across the world decided to take on the responsibility for justice and accountability into their own hands. 

At an internet café built between the debris of Deir al-Balah, writer, poet, and recent university graduate Baraa’h Qandeel, 25, spends her days searching for jobs and university courses to apply for, connecting with friends abroad, and taking a break from the overcrowded tents and shelter facilities.

Over the past year, Qandeel lost her home and her best friend, who was killed by Israel’s bombardments. She has experienced constant loss and displacement, just like everybody else in the Gaza Strip, including a lost job opportunity and the only chance to leave Gaza to continue her education in a safer place. But, still determined, Qandeel gathered her friends and contacts overseas for fundraising efforts and raising awareness, pushing for Palestinians’ rights to be recognized in Gaza and across the West.

“I want to share my own story. It’s not about being a weak victim. We are being targeted by a brutal and unlawful occupation that has deliberately put us in this nightmare for over a year now,” says Qandeel, who spoke to Raseef22 from Deir al-Balah.“We need the world to unite, and if institutions are not moving, well, we, the people, are."

Building a solidarity network for Palestine from abroad

Before October 7th, 2023, Qandeel found her first job after completing an online business development training course at Talent Acceleration Platform (TAP), an international start-up preparing young Palestinians for highly skilled remote jobs.

When Israel's ‘retaliatory’ campaign began last October, the whole Strip blacked out. With unreliable electricity and internet connection, Qandeel lost her job.

The unemployment rate in Gaza was over 70 percent for young graduates before October 2023. Remote jobs were an increasingly important option, but due to geopolitical tensions, IT companies have avoided hiring Palestinians, making programs like TAP crucial for Palestinian livelihood.

Over the past year, Qandeel lost her home and her best friend, who was killed by Israel’s bombardments. She has experienced constant loss and displacement, just like everybody else in the Gaza Strip, including a lost job opportunity and the only chance to leave Gaza to continue her education in a safer place.

"It feels helpless. I can go and protest, stand up and raise my voice, but what really makes a difference is ensuring that people are safe and can look toward their future. It is about being there, listening, and helping,” says Tabea Müller, a mentor at TAP currently based in Berlin, who has been supporting Qandeel and several other Palestinian youths with access to job opportunities.

Müller regularly speaks with Qandeel, and shares messages and fundraisers from Gazans on the ground. She has also reached out to local representatives in Germany, engaging with several community members in grassroots organizations and fellow activists across Europe. But thousands have been investigated and arrested in Germany for joining protests and other events advocating for Gaza, and sometimes for wearing a scarf or carrying a Palestinian flag. Charges against protesters have included propaganda and ‘supporting terrorist organizations,’ but all that they repeatedly ask for is a permanent ceasefire.

"It’s tough here, both in terms of the authorities and media discourse. There are Palestinians living in Berlin, so it’s important to be there by their side," says Müller.

The ongoing struggles of crowdfunding for Palestinians

Despite the urgent need for funds to tackle the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, most fundraising platforms are blocked in Palestine. As a result, Gazans need to coordinate with somebody they trust abroad to help them build and publicize their campaign, and then transfer the money into Gaza.

“The platform was constantly asking me to provide my personal documents, bank statements and prove the nature of my relationship with Qandeel," says Serena Savini, a TAP trainer in Milan, who helped Qandeel set up her crowdfunding campaign from Italy.

"A simple bank transaction took months, which tells us a lot about how difficult it is for young Gazans to have control over their lives,” says Savini.

Most European banks do not allow transactions with accounts in Gaza, forcing Palestinians to pay high transfer fees, even for donations toward a charitable cause. By contrast, trades between Rome and Tel Aviv are frequent, even with the ongoing genocide. According to investigations from Altreconomia and Acta Bellica, the Italian government has also permitted national military contractors to continue supplying Israel with arms components and logistics. But despite the mounting challenges, Müller and Savini updated the GoFundMe page with good news in April.

 "Baraa'h made it! We are waiting for her to be added to the list of Gazans allowed to evacuate, and we are so close to the campaign's goal of $50,000 to evacuate Baraa'h and her family."

Funds secured, but nowhere to go

In May, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) began a ground invasion in Rafah, killing hundreds of people and displacing 1 million of civilians, and destroying the Palestinian side of the border.

Qandeel was displaced in Rafah when she received her acceptance letter for a Master's degree in Malaysia, a safe country that would allow her to travel and remain with her Palestinian passport. The money raised with the crowdfunding campaign would have allowed her to pay the fees required to evacuate with her family in Egypt to later reach Malaysia, but Hala Company, an Egyptian travel agency, which was asking for $5,000 to $10,000 dollars in bribes to help evacuate Gazans, suddenly stopped operating. This was the only chance for many Palestinians to leave the besieged enclave.

Qandeel’s only hope has been left on hold since last spring.

While the border with Egypt remains closed, Palestinians face significant challenges in applying for asylum in Europe. Those registered with UNRWA are not granted refugee status since the responsibility to guarantee safety falls under the UN agency. Even if UNRWA's protection fails, access to humanitarian visas, which are needed to physically reach any EU member state safely and legally, are extremely limited.

Although most European states do not officially recognize Palestinian statehood, in May, Norway, Spain, and Ireland finally recognized Gaza and the West Bank as sovereign states.

Most European banks do not allow transactions with accounts in Gaza, forcing Palestinians to pay high transfer fees, even for donations toward a charitable cause. By contrast, trades between Rome and Tel Aviv are frequent, even with the ongoing genocide. 

"Our government, universities, and industries still hold ties with Israel. Investments are in the millions. We are not going to stop yelling in the streets against Europe's complicity in this genocide," says Katinka Eide, an employee at a local company in Bergen, Norway. Eide has been distributing flyers with Qandeel’s poems translated into Norwegian during mass student demonstrations held in solidarity with Gaza. 

"We want to make sure that people do not forget. What is happening is under everyone’s eyes. We should be aware about the occupation and the rightful resistance of the Palestinian people," adds Eide.

While she’s still hoping to reach Egypt, Qandeel must now use the crowdfunded donations for her living expenses. Out of 9 family members, her sister is the only one still working and providing for the others, while prices constantly increase for every basic necessity, including vegetables.

"It helps a lot to have people from all over the world eager to help me reach my goals. I'm trying not to be too harsh on myself because what is happening is not my fault.

"I want to survive, I want to live! It feels like it will take thousands of years to get back to normal. Even if the war stops, no one will be able to go back to any place. Our houses simply do not exist anymore. I don't see any 'day after,' and it doesn't matter who will be in charge of Gaza. We have nothing left to hold here." 

Writing poems has helped Qandeel organize her thoughts, and to try and find solace in the hardest moments. In one of her poems, she writes:

I'm becoming a walking memory, backing up all the sadness, all the destruction, all the madness. 

And I will not forgive, I will not forget.

And now I'm so exhausted that I can't shed a single tear, nor give this poem an end.

Our pain isn't poetic. Not anymore!

Not this time.