In more than eight months of war, Gazans have already spent Ramadan and Eid under bombs. And since yesterday, in these same disastrous conditions, they have been celebrating the second Eid of the year: Eid al-Adha, the most important holiday for Muslims. Destitute civilians, who live in makeshift tents, with little food and very limited access to water. Eid al-Adha also marks the period of Hajj. But there are no Gazan pilgrims this year in Mecca. Impossible to leave Gaza, because of the Israeli siege.
2 mins
Report from Rami Al Meghari in Gaza, with Sami Boukhelifa in Jerusalem,
“ I have dreamed of performing the pilgrimage for a very long time », confides Zahra as the Eid prayer ends. She stood in the street, in the middle of the rubble. Like the rest of the buildings in the enclave, the mosques were also pulverized by the bombings.
“ Elsewhere, women of my age have the right to dignity, and I have the right to live under bombs and die buried. Whether you are a woman, a child, a young man or an old man, here, you die in indifference “, she says.
Oum Ziyad, 26, was also due to go to Mecca in June. The war happened there. She is a widow and must take care of her three children alone.
“ My husband registered us for the pilgrimage over a year ago. But he was killed in an Israeli airstrike. I still have my daughter and my two boys », Explains the young widow.
The priority: feed yourself, clothe yourself
In the markets in the center of the strip Gaza, nothing indicates any celebration. People buy the essentials. The priority: feed yourself, clothe yourself.
Raghda, who has three children, confides to RFI: “ I’m not here to buy clothes for Eid. We fled the fighting in Rafah, and we left without being able to take anything with us. I’m just trying to find clothes for my kids. Our daily life here is to survive by avoiding bombs, then finding food, then wood to make a fire and be able to cook, and finally finding enough water to wash. Nobody here thinks about Eid “.
Nor does anyone have the means to perform the ritual sacrifice. A lamb costs $2,000, a calf, $17,000.