Reference :
V-P-IL-E-03246
Date :
13/03/2019
Caption :
Nablus. This woman lost her brother during the Intifada.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
ICRC web site, article of 28.05.2019: Time does not heal the wound - it teaches you to live with it
Losing someone you love is the worst nightmare every human being dreads. When you lose a loved one to conflict and violence, there is more than pain. There is anger and frustration. There is trying to make sense of a senseless loss, that leaves a gaping hole in your heart for the rest of your life.
For several decades, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been wreaking havoc in people’s lives. Members of the Parents Circle, an Israeli-Palestinian organisation of families, who have lost a family member to the ongoing conflict, share their stories of grief hoping that no other family has to live the horror they have been through.
"When I was a girl, I took care of my six brothers and two sisters. Mahmoud was the one closest to me. He worried about me, protected me at school. He was also the person who always pushed me to study. Our father wasn’t rich and preferred to give education to the boys. But Mahmoud insisted. Because I took care of them, my brothers and sisters, became like my children to me.
During the first intifada Mahmoud was seventeen. He went to visit the house of our uncle when clashes started in the street. A bullet entered his heart. At the hospital, the surgeon told us to pray for a miracle. And by miracle, his heart kept beating. But the doctors didn’t tell us for how long his heart would last. On the day he died, I was overcome by the feeling that something tried to take my soul away. I couldn’t breathe. I went to Mahmoud’s house. When he saw me, he said: “It’s good you came. I need you to be with me all the time.” He put his hand on his heart and died. I felt that I lost my child. I felt this was the end for me. I didn’t want to go on living", she tells.
Original material :
digital
Resolution :
5710x3807
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
black and white