Milan (AsiaNews) – On the eve of the anniversary of 7 October 2023 Hamas attack, which triggered a brutal Israeli response against Gaza, sowing death and devastation, the world is closely watching the Jewish State as it heads to the polls for a general election later this month.
However, in November, another electoral event crucial to the region's future is also on the calendar, amid uncertainty and doubt, as the vote is far from guaranteed, namely the long-awaited election (after a 20-year hiatus) to renew the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC).
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas announced the vote last July, yet it still faces the risk of further postponement.
Should the vote proceed as planned, it is worth noting that some groups in Palestine are currently working to move past the decades-long Fatah-Hamas dichotomy by running with new political movements. One of the most significant, already covered by AsiaNews, is Masar Jadid (New Path), a movement founded by Samer Sinijlawi that focuses (among other things) on youth and women.
Against this backdrop, AsiaNews interviewed the youngest of its 20 candidates: Hiyam Samir Ibrahim Taha. Born in 1997 in Gaza, where she still resides, the pharmacy graduate and member of the Palestinian Pharmacists Association, is active in the medical-humanitarian field and certified in digital marketing, representing a new generation that aspires to play an active role in shaping Gaza’s political future.
Her professional career combines public health, humanitarian work, project management, women's empowerment, and youth leadership. After it opened in 2020 until 7 October 2023, she managed the Al-Kamal Central Pharmacy in Gaza and coordinated professional training for students.
Reached by phone, she emphasised that voting is fundamental to overcoming factionalism. Below is Hiyam Taha’s full interview[*] with AsiaNews:
Tomorrow marks the third anniversary of 7 October, the day Hamas attacked Israel and war started in Gaza. What is the situation in the Strip today?
It's actually difficult to describe Gaza today with one sentence, because the situation keeps changing all the time. But as a healthcare professional, I could speak about the healthcare sector. And I'm not only going to speak about hospitals you see in the news or treating injuries. I'm going to talk about patients with chronic diseases. Patients who need dialysis, cancer patients, pregnant women with anaemia, children who need vaccinations, enormous amount of mental health issues. I want to mention a personal observation during my work as a healthcare professional. I have observed that there is an absence in breastfeeding. Women who give birth no longer can breastfeed their infants.
The devastation affects not only buildings and infrastructure but also people and families.
If we're talking about Palestine and the changing that happened in Palestine, we're not only talking about rebuilding the buildings, we're talking about rebuilding a human, rebuilding a whole healthcare system that's completely collapsed right now. Because behind every single number of Palestinians, there is a Palestinian who's waiting for his medication, for his treatment, or just simply see a doctor.
What do you mean when you say that the situation is constantly changing?
You don't know what's coming next. You cannot expect what's coming next. With everything collapsing, you feel the economic difficulties, you feel the healthcare system, the shortage of medication is turning into an absence of medication right now. If you had clinics at first, now the clinics are definitely under-resourced.
Amid a situation of severe crisis, why is voting important, not just regarding Palestine, but in the Gaza Strip itself?
It's very important for Gaza because we have especially a whole generation that has never experienced the legislative council election. The election is not about choosing a specific person or choosing a party. It's about giving people the feeling that they can make a difference and their voice matters. And that they have a role in shaping the institution, representing them.
We can’t wait 20 years without elections here in Palestine. That's why. So let people count, that they can do something for their land. And people are willing to.
The absence of the legitimate authority is something that we should address here in Gaza because we want to rebuild our future.
Elections, for many, especially the young, represent the first opportunity to head to the polls…
For that to happen, we need a legitimate authority. And we need transparency in institutions. I also want to add something else, as a young person and as a young Palestinian: I just want to stop observing. I want to start participating in politics.
Is there, then, a genuine desire to vote?
It's controversial, of course; there are questions and doubts and uncertainties. Surrounding the process, for example, how about the condition of Gaza, and so on. I think we should not ignore these questions. But I believe that it's very important for political participation right now.
How important is it to overcome the dichotomy between Hamas and Fatah that has dominated the scene over the last two decades? And what role does Masar Jadid play between these two historic factions?
I think it's very important for Palestinian politics and society to move beyond competing factions. I don't think the future of Palestinians politics should be limited to choosing between them. This is one of the reasons I joined Masar Jadid. We're not trying to compete with anyone or fight a battle with any faction. We're only trying to create space for a different political approach, especially for young Palestinians who want to participate in politics without being defined by the old divisions. For me, political competition should be about who can better serve Palestinians, build accountable institutions, and restore people's trust, not simply about which faction has more power.
What are the reasons that prompted you to run for office, including as a woman?
That's important. That's for me. It wasn't a spontaneous moment where I felt like, now I want to enter politics, like it's a cakewalk. It was more of a gradual process. I've always been involved in working with people up close, instead of from a distance.
So the more I work with people, the more I realise that some problems that we face cannot be solved on a community level. There are some political and institutional decisions behind them. And here came my question. So instead of trying to respond to the consequences of these problems, why shouldn't I be a part of the process that makes the decision which affects my life and shape our lives?
This is what encouraged me the most. And I feel, I truly believe that politics is an extension of community work, not a departure from it. It's just another way of serving your community and trying to leave an impact.
On the Israeli side, too, new faces have emerged, with varying degrees of success, who have chosen to play an active role ahead of the 27 October elections. How important is it for a generation to emerge with alternative and complementary ideas and projects?
Right. It's very important for the young generation and for women in particular. See, women try their best to face the expectations of what a politician is supposed to look like. It's not exclusive for a certain generation or a certain gender.
The participation of women in politics is very important, but also the young. Young people have passion. They have ideas in education. This generation is very smart with tools they didn't have in the past.
By that, I don't mean removing any old Palestinian leaders. They will always be the mentors. But I want young people to participate as well, to have a say in the political background or in the political decisions.
What are the main internal challenges facing Palestinian society, in Gaza and in the other occupied territories?
Let me just conclude and summarise everything in one word. I would say fragmented. And I don't mean the Palestinian people themselves are divided by nature. I mean that the reality around us created some form of fragmentation – from political division, from economic difficulties, from a whole generation experiencing uncertainty. And this generation has a major gap between them and their political institutions as they no longer feel like their voice matters. So we should try to change this political frustration into a constructive participation.
We have to rebuild a sense of common purpose where Palestinians can politically disagree as much as they can, but be managed within a democratic process and find an area at the end of the day, find an area that we can all work together.
Over the past three years, have you felt a sense of abandonment by the international community and the West, given the tens of thousands of civilian casualties and the destruction?
We did not feel abandoned. We felt like we have been victimised. And that's something I mentioned before.
Okay, so I will speak about this. The changes that happened in Gaza for the past three years are enormous, in every aspect of our daily life, socially, physically, psychologically, and even economically. But of all this, I don't want to talk about destruction only because during those tough times, I have witnessed people trying to rebuild, trying to help each other, trying to create initiatives to support women and children, trying to support the healthcare system.
Personally, I have been displaced five times during the three years. One of my displacement journeys was in a place where I knew no one. During my displacement, I've heard kids talking about how hard is it for them to learn English without schools or without teachers. I kept listening to those students.
And then one day I decided to connect all my integrators that were in the place I was staying at. And I asked them a question, what is the most difficult subject you're facing at school? They all said English. We were struggling with English. So I told them, starting from now, we're starting lessons three days a week. And I started with them intensive English lessons until they entered the exams. And I made sure that everyone was successfully passing.
Stories and examples of redemption that bear witness to the determination to rebuild one's personal life as well. Why are they important?
During that time, I lost my pharmacy. It didn't stop me. I lost my pharmacy and that didn't stop me from giving hope to others. And that itself is a form of hope. I really think that we should be careful with the word responsibility because I don't want responsibility to become blame.
OK. The circumstances Palestinians are living were imposed upon them. It's not their choice. But at the same time, we are responsible on how we represent ourselves to the world, how we educate our young children, how we build our institutions and how we tell our own stories.
Speaking of hope, schools are reopening for children after three years. How have they experienced the return to the classroom?
Of course they're happy. I have a niece and a nephew and they are enthusiastic about going to school and having their backpacks and feeling like normal children again.
Sometimes the international image of Palestinians becomes so focused on suffering. And of course, suffering is real. It exists and it needs to be seen. It needs to be addressed and it needs to be seen. But Palestinians are much more than their suffering. They're doctors, pharmacists, researchers, artists and hope holders.
I think one of the things that we need to change or to make a difference is to get the Palestinians out of the small box that's labelled humanitarian assistance, and to have a better image where Palestinians are citizens who are trying to rebuild their community and trying their best to live peacefully and freely. I think this is a really great and important political programme.
In recent years, polls in both Palestine and Israel have increasingly rejected the two-state solution, deeming it a failure. Is it truly impossible to envision a future of coexistence?
It's a very difficult process… Yes. Okay. But there can still be hope. The first foundation has to be human life and dignity. We cannot build a sustainable future on continuous violence, for example, because violence means more trauma. So there has to be a serious political framework that recognises both peoples' rights and security and also create accountability.
For direct negotiations with Israel, between Israelis and Palestinians, I believe that Israelis and Palestinians should take the ownership of negotiations with everyone around the world acting as an observer and a supporter.
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[*] The text was edited for clarity and concision.
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