We’re Not Here for Future Documentaries: We Want to Live Now
Date
June 2, 2025
Ironically, I’m watching Chernobyl – as if the reality that unfolds before my eyes isn’t enough.
Years from now, there will be documentaries about Gaza, as well.
Just like there are documentaries about Chernobyl: a disaster people watch with horror, shaking their heads, asking, how did this happen? How did the world let it happen? How did the world let people suffer and die while pretending nothing was wrong?
But here’s the ugly truth: they did.
The bombs didn’t fall in silence. The blockade, the destruction, the starvation, it all happened while the world was watching. No one and I mean no one can say “we didn’t know” because everyone did. And believe me when I say history is a harsh judge.
Again, and again.
We aren’t waiting for cameras or hashtags to validate our pain.
Gaza is not a story for later. It’s a living, breathing reality.
We don’t want to be a tragic episode in a documentary series.
We want to live fully, now.
To walk our streets without fear of bombs.
To build homes, schools and cooperatives, not just memories.
To exist with dignity, not just survive on scraps.
So, when those documentaries come – and they will.
I hope people view us not as victims, but as stubborn survivors.
Not as a headline, but as mothers, fathers and children who still had a dream.
Remember then: we never stopped living.
And damn, we never stopped being human, even when the world refused to see us as such.
Mariam
About the blog
Get a glimpse into the reality and everyday life of our colleague in Palestine. Follow Mariam Ikermawi, Programme Officer for Gender Equality & Advocacy at We Effect in Ramallah. Mariam is a respected and beloved team member — she is also a friend, a daughter, a sister, and all the other roles that make up a human being. With unwavering dedication to human rights, gender equality, and sustainable development, she carries out her work under circumstances that many find hard to imagine. In this blog, she offers a unique perspective from within a deeply scarred and vulnerable country — sharing reflections and thoughts, shaped by her own experiences and those of the people around her.