By Karama Fadel

Despite the long coastline and the existence of seven crossings between its territory and Israel and Egypt, the Gaza Strip remains cocooned in a zone of isolation due to its neighbors’ punitive restrictions. Ships are not allowed by Israel to enter or leave, the lone airport was bombed in 2000, and no one may visit or exit by land without obtaining rarely given permission from the two countries’ military authorities...Thus, for Palestinians, trying to travel is arduous, slow and humiliating. But necessity knows no law, and we keep trying. Why? It’s about living with dignity and in peace. It’s about freedom. It’s about the health of our loved ones, uniting our families, studying for advanced degrees not available inside Gaza. There are multiple reasons why we insist on trying to travel, but the same ultimate goal.

Basman Derawi

In this post, reprinted from the We Are Not Numbers project, Basman Derawi describes some of the challenges that come with living under perpetual siege in Gaza.

By Osman Mohamed Ali

This post is part of our project, Holot: Crossroads of Global Violence.

I am one of the victims and survivors of the Darfur genocide in Sudan.

I was born in a small village around Zalingei in Western Darfur. Growing up in Sudan, education has always been something that helped me to overcome obstacles in my life, but obstacles have now arisen that stop me from even obtaining an education. My primary school was far from my village, and it took me more than two hours to get to school on foot every day. Despite all the difficulties and instances of interruption, I have never lost faith in the power of education.