Izz Café manager to spend Christmas worrying about his family in Gaza
Habib Al Ostaz, manager and chef, in Izz Café, Cork, said: “We wish this war will end soon and all the children will be safe.” Picture: Denis Minihane
As soon as Habib Al Ostaz wakes on Christmas morning, he will check the news to see what is unfolding in Gaza while he desperately tries to make contact with his family there.
His only Christmas wish is an end to the war.
He has already watched from afar as entire neighbourhoods he once knew were obliterated by Israeli bombs, every day hoping the onslaught stays away from the UN school in southern Gaza where almost his entire family has sheltered for two months.
Originally from the north, they fled south when Israel warned it would attack and later heard news that their home was pulverised by air strikes.
Habib, who lives in Cork, can only maintain intermittent contact with his family because there is little to no power to charge phones and very poor network connectivity in Gaza.
His family had planned to move to Raffa, where there is a border crossing to Egypt through which some aid has been transported and through which some people in Gaza have been getting out. But the roads between Khan Younis, where they have been sheltering, and Raffa were bombed, he said, so he does not think they could leave.
“My biggest hope is that they’re still ok," he said.
“When I last spoke to my 11-year-old brother, he said his wish was for peace and to be able to play a soccer game again.
“We have two days off from work for Christmas, I will spend the days watching the news, wishing this war would end.
“We cannot be celebrating and happy when people are dying and suffering.”
Habib’s Irish friends have invited him to spend Christmas Day with them, to share in his pain and to make sure he is not alone.
“They will invite us to be all together, to share our sadness and concern about our families and people in Gaza. And we appreciate their solidarity and support. When you have friends, they are there for the happy times and the sad times.”
Many Palestinians in Ireland celebrate Christmas, he said.
“Jesus was a Palestinian so we have to celebrate. And there are many Palestinians who are Christians. I have Christian friends from Gaza living in Belfast. We celebrated Christmas together last year. And our Christian friends celebrate Muslim Eid with us.
“We share our cultures as people. And celebrating together makes the communities stronger.
But this time of year can be lonely and jarring for Palestinians separated from their families, acutely aware of the bloody genocide in their homeland.
“You see everyone else celebrating, happy,” Habib said.
“You see all the children holding the hands of their parents here. And at the same time, you see the news, you see the children who lost their parents. That's really painful when you see this.
“We wish all the children everywhere around the world can be safe.
"The children in Gaza, even before the war, were living in a really bad situation. Because we are suffering for a long time, not just the past two months.
“So there are many, many of the children who have no father, no mother, no house. Who lost their brothers who lost their sisters.
“So we wish this war will end soon and all the children will be safe.”
