I would not die.

“I would not die, unless for the Palestinians”

        It was a chilly March morning when I was walking down Road 9 Old Maadi Cairo, alone. I’ve spotted a bookshop a few days earlier so I thought why not I buy some postcards to send home. But my eyes caught a group of kids. They were sitting on the shoulder of the road. Clearly they were the street kids. By then I’ve been there for quite some time that I knew already a street kid when I see one. 

        It was still too early for them to be waiting in front of shop lots, waiting for people coming out after buying groceries, with the hope of getting at least LE1 (USD 0.20). But of course they were hungry already, and so, they kept waiting. When they saw me, they smiled and ran towards me. It was a warm feeling that they’d recognized me. I wasn’t trying to encourage begging (especially if it is a syndicate. My sis warned me not to give money cos the money might go to the thugs who abuse and take advantage after these kids, but I couldn’t help it. The kids were just hungry).

        So after they got food, they said thank you (I could understand a lil bit of their Arabic though the Egyptian Arabic is way different from the kind of Arabic I learned in school) and off I walked away. But before I got too far, I over-heard their conversation. I could hear a lot of mentioning of the word “Phyllisteen” (Palestine in Arabic). I was curious what it was all about. So I went inside a nearby shop, asked the person at the cash register to help me translate what the kids were talking about.

        Here are they:

        -    “When I grow up, I won’t live on the street anymore. I would go to school. I would break away from that son-of- a-gun (ok, it was a different word, I candy-coat his word.  I think he was describing his abusive care-taker).  Then I would find a job. Then I would find a good husband for my lil sister. After she is safely married with a good guy, I would go to Palestine to fight the Israelis. I would not die unless for the Palestinians”

                -    This coming from a kid who looked about 11 years old (I didn’t see his sister though)

        -         “So you want to be a martyr? I want to be a martyr too.  But I don’t know. Hanaad (probably his late friend) died yesterday. He was what? 12? 13? I saw him last two weeks, his wound was bleeding so badly. I don’t want to die as young. I want to live till I become an adult and go to Palestine and die there, like the rest of the martyrs.”

                -    This coming from a beautiful beautiful pretty face boy of about 10 or 11 years old.

            -         “The Israelis will rot in hell. The martyrs will go straight to paradise”

                -    This coming from another boy, he looked a lot younger than the rest of his friends.

        (The man who translated for me said the kids probably heard all these Palestinian issues from the local masjid’s Jumaah khutbah, and they were just repeating some points, “Cos for street children they sounded too articulate about the issue”, he said).

        Yeah I know that, kids repeat what they hear. But, these kids are different. They are the street children. They don’t have the privilege to go to school, have proper food and shelter, access to medications, yet they seem to know that other people (in Palestine) are suffering and they want to go help and die for others.

        True, it is very unlikely they would ever go to Palestine (it is very unlikely they would ever have the chance to go anywhere at all), but the thoughts of others’ lives worth more than their lives, are beyond pure and kind….

“…I would go to Palestine to fight the Israelis. I would not die unless for the Palestinians…”

- Hadija4Peace2 -