A conversation with Abu Yazan, one of the founders of Gaza Youth Breaks Out

In December 2010 an anonymous group of students from Gaza created a civil society movement called Gaza Youth Breaks Out (GYBO) and wrote a manifesto. It was a real cri de coeur, which touched people around the world: “We are youth with heavy hearts…” it read; “There is a revolution growing inside of us, an immense dissatisfaction and frustration that will destroy us unless we find a way of canalizing [sic] this energy into something that can challenge the status quo and give us some kind of hope…”

Members cried out in rage against the occupation and their imprisonment, against rampant corruption within Palestinian political parties, against a silencing by Hamas of freedom of thought, and against hatred. The movement gained momentum and a demonstration in March 2011 was held—an estimated 50-100,000 people attended—allowing Gazans to “break the wall of silence. People were afraid to think or to speak before,” said Mohammed Matter, one of the founders of GYBO and known until a month ago as Abu Yazan, an alias chosen for a friend who lost his life.

Last September, Facebook blocked Abu Yazan’s page and then required him to use his real name. “I’m the only one in the organisation who is no longer anonymous, but actually it made it easier for me, now I can speak in my name,” he said.

Matter has a way with words, and although English, of course, is not his first language, there is sincerity and rawness to the way he expresses himself, which has resulted in 12,000 followers on his Facebook page with people from South Africa, Poland, Morocco or the US commenting on his posts.

A political science student in Germany, Matter left his affairs in limbo last summer after Gaza had been under attack for several weeks and precipitously made his way home: being with his family while they were under fire was more important to him than anything else.

Throughout the next few terrible weeks until the ceasefire, Matter faithfully posted a running commentary on his Facebook page (under the name Abu Yazan) describing the situation and his thoughts in a heart-breaking yet informative manner, and not without a sense of humor. In his posts Matter developed the character of his mother whom he calls Mrs. Broomstick because she affectionately threatens him with her broom.

Sitting in a café in Paris recently where Matter had been invited to speak at a demonstration by the Association France-Palestine Solidarity, Matter said his mother had always been his best friend and had been hugely influential in his life. “She is my best advisor, she tells me what’s right and what’s wrong,” he said.

This summer his mother, who is not originally from Palestine, saved the family, said Matter. “My family lives in a building with five floors and 10 flats, there are about 200 people living there. When Israel called to say our family should evacuate, my mother said she wouldn’t leave; on the contrary she would bring more people into the house. I have about 5000 people in my family. She called everyone and told them to come. Every time Israel called we called more people. It would have been the biggest massacre ever. They [Israel] couldn’t risk it.”

Israel did bomb Matter’s uncle’s six-floor building, which was flattened several days before the cease-fire; the family escaped.

Matter said he comes from a highly politicized family, and not all members hold the same political views. The third of six siblings, he said: “when we have a political situation I’m the mediator, I chose to be neutral.”

The role of family mediator goes a long way in explaining how his work in a civil society movement came about. GYBO members are “against everyone and with everyone.”

When GYBO was founded it was in part because Matter felt that “people outside Gaza needed to know what it was like there. I felt like it was my responsibility.”

Following their manifesto, GYBO received thousands of emails from international organizations. They gave interviews to the media under the cover of anonymity, and once the Guardian published an article, others followed suit. Hamas began to keep track of the members and several were arrested, including Matter, who was held by Hamas for four days in August 2011. Hamas continued to harass him until he left for Germany two years ago.

“I don’t like being in Europe,” said Matter, “I’m more attached to Gaza. I don’t feel my life is here; everything is organized, you don’t need to fix anything. In Gaza everything needs to be fixed, it’s my duty to be there.”

That said, “Most people in Gaza don’t know how to run or organize anything, or how to be independent. I am learning this here and it can be helpful. I’ve learned how to speak about conflict and how to talk calmly. In Gaza things degenerate very quickly.”

In answer to the question of how he avoided becoming enmeshed in a cycle of violence, Matter replied: “I didn’t decide to stay away from violence. I just know [non-violent resistance] is the best way to fight. Every time we use armed resistance we get hit more and more by Israel. It uses the armed resistance to justify its attacks on Gaza and the killing of its people. We can learn from history and look for the best solution. Mandela and Ghandi were good examples of what our resistance should look like.”

Predictably, Matter is showing signs of battle fatigue, and has not had a moment to rest following the drama this summer, an exhausting exit from Gaza via Rafah and Egypt, and a whirlwind tour of several European countries where he spoke about what it is like to be young and from Gaza, and Israel’s devastating war last summer.

In France, besides Paris, he travelled to the northwestern Notre Dame des Landes airport site that has been occupied for six years by local residents and environmental activists opposed to the development plan.  Matter said he found their sense of community and resistance “energizing and inspiring. Every time I feel exhausted I say I can give more…you have to have hope, you have to be optimistic.”

(When Matter is down, his solution is to listen to Bob Marley’s Three Little Birds.)

“Every once in a while I remind myself I am just a person. But if many of us think the same way then one day we will reach an understanding.”

If he had his way, what would he do in Gaza?

“As a normal person? I would dismantle the political parties, I would take away all weapons, I would rebuild the economy. I would work on education—people need exposure to the outside, and culture, most people have never seen what a developed society looks like. Oh and water…and electricity…”