Ragheed and Rana Moharm, along with their little eight-year-old daughter Tulip, decided to open a small cultural salon and café in the Gaza Strip named Handl Hon, which means “we will stay here.”
Ragheed, 35, is one of the Palestinian refugees who still have faith in returning to his family lands in Jaffa, which was occupied by the Israeli occupation in 1948.
He is committed to staying in Gaza even though all of his relatives are in Europe.
“I got many invitations from my relatives in Europe, Brazil, UAE, and Sweden, yet I chose to stay in Gaza,” Ragheed told me. “Even with the hard life here due to the bad economic situation and the PTSD of wars, it’s still our Palestine.”
Ragheed says he doesn’t love Palestine more than the Palestinians who live abroad, it’s just that those who left could not live amid the Israeli wars and restrictions. Instead of running away from the pressure of living in the Gaza Strip, which is under the suffocating siege by Israel, he prefers to stay in Gaza.
Ragheed worked as a receptionist in a hotel in Gaza for more than 15 years. In September 2020, he quit because of the lack of guests due to the Covid-19 crisis.
Ragheed opened “Handl Hon” on Wehda street in the middle of Gaza on November 15, the same date as the Palestinian independence day. “I chose to open the cafe on that day because it means a lot to me and all Palestinians,” he said.
The small cafe is full of details. The walls of the cafe are adorned with photos of many Palestinian authors and artists such as Edward Said and Mahmoud Darwish. There are books and novels for Arab and foreign writers in every corner of the place, giving the patrons a chance to read. In addition to the classical music that is on all the time in the cafe, there are also musical instruments like an Oud and violin in the cafe if any of the guests would play music.
The cafe serves delicious hot and cold coffee drinks at reasonable prices, which are also affordable for all of Gaza’s people.
The little cultural salon is always full of young and old musicians, actors, writers, photographers, and Gazans who enjoy their coffee time getting in touch, reading books, working on their laptops, playing music, or singing heritage songs.
“As a freelance translator, I find Handl Hon the best cafe for me to escape from the noise of my house,” Basma, 24, one of the cafe patrons told me smiling. “I work on my laptop while drinking the most pleasant tasting cup of cappuccino made by Ragheed.”
“Listening to Fairouz, ‘a famous Arab singer’, I always enjoy the morning cup of tea with Ragheed every day,” Yehia, 30, an Oud musician, told me about the cafe.
Rana, Ragheed’s wife, is an administrative officer in a musical organization in Gaza. After work, she finishes her day in the cafe.
“Even with the precious chances of a better life outside Palestine, I always agreed with Ragheed to stay here,” Rana told me.
“As Ragheed and I built Handl Hon by our own hands, we will build our home in Jaffa,” Rana added.
Ragheed’s father was from Jaffa, and he used to tell Ragheed about Jaffa, Haifa, Lod, Tiberias, Ramla, Tiba, and the other occupied Palestinian countries and villages.
“Ezz, my father, told me about orange farming in Jaffa, which was popular in exporting citrus through Jaffa port to the whole world,” Ragheed told me.
He showed me many photos from his fathers’ photo album for Jaffa port, the Palestinian transport buses moved freely between Palestinian cities, and he showed me the Gaza train, which was connected between Egypt and Gaza.
“Ezz gave me his special photo album. He also gave me our land title document; I promised him to keep it until we return.”
When Palestinians were forced to leave their lands in 1948 they assumed they would return. So, many Palestinians took only their homes’ keys and land title documents because they were afraid they would be stolen.
Palestinians didn’t assume that the occupation intended to steal their land forever.
The dream of returning is in Palestinian’s minds at all times. “For me, “Handl Hon” is not just a name, but a message,” Ragheed said when I asked him about the name. He added, “it’s a message from me to my little Tulip that we have a home and we will return to it.”
Most Palestinians hope to pray in Jerusalem, celebrate in Bethlehem, eat knafeh in Nablus, sit on the beach in Akka, harvest olives in Nablus, and watch glass factories in Hebron. Most Palestinians hope to sleep without thinking that they will be a target, or that their homes will be stolen at any time for no reason.
All Palestinian refugees feel homesick for their own homes and lands. They pass their nostalgia and homesickness to their children, and their children will pass it to theirs.
Ragheed not only wants his little Tulip to grow up with the understanding that she belongs to Palestine, but that all Palestinians do.
Ragheed summed it as he looked at his father’s picture. He said “my father was the past,” then he put his hand on his chest and said, “I’m the present,” then he put his hand on his little girl’s head and said, “and she is the future.”
Ahmed Dremly
Ahmed Dremly is a creative writer and translator from the Gaza Strip. Follow him on Twitter at @ahmedhodremly.
It is so heartening to see these young people persevere and keep trying to make the most of their endless suffering, living in hope, and looking for a brighter future, which their occupier has deprived them of. The Palestinian people have show tremendous resilience despite the many obstacles they have to deal with, and the viciousness shown to them, throughout the years.
Good luck to Ragheed and Rana, hope they will be successful in their endeavors, and be the example to others.
The Palestinians have ever increasing world wide support! No surprise, given the thorougly documented past and present Zionist crimes commited against them!
Overwhelming support for artists’ boycott of Sydney Festival | Green Left
Greenleft: “Overwhelming support for artists’ boycott of Sydney Festival” by Vivienne Porzsolt, Sydney, Australia, January 12, 2022
EXCERPT: “There has been an overwhelming response by artists to the call to boycott the Sydney Festival.
“The call was made by the Palestine solidarity movement because the Sydney Festival sought and accepted $20,000 from the Israeli Embassy for the performance by the Sydney Dance Company of a dance work Decadance by Israeli choreographer Ohad Naharin. The sponsorship won the Israeli Embassy ‘Star Partner’ status on the festival’s publicity.
“The call was made by a strong coalition of artists, including the Arab Theatre Studio, the Sweatshop Literacy Movement, the Bankstown Poetry Slam, and leading individual writers and performers. They are supported by a broad coalition of solidarity groups, including the Arab Australian Federation, BDS (Boycott Divestment Sanctions) Australia, Greens for Palestine, Sydney University Staff for BDS, Independent Australian Jewish Voices, Jews against the Occupation, and the United Australian Palestinian Workers.
“To date, more than 37 performers have withdrawn and the list grows by the day. This is really impressive as artists and performers have had a very hard two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Sydney Festival is a major opportunity for them to showcase their work to a wide spectrum of the community.
“We all salute the sacrifice of these artists to support Palestinian rights. Some are still performing independently of financial support from the festival. People are encouraged to attend their performances both to show solidarity and replace the funds they have lost through their brave action. Keep abreast of the boycott on Instagram/ Boycott Sydney Festival.
“Major artists have swung behind the boycott. Well-known Arab-Australian writer Dr Michael Mohammed Ahmed had been invited to join the Board of the Sydney Festival, but withdrew his acceptance in protest at the Israeli embassy’s sponsorship.
“Comedian Tom Ballard tweeted: ‘I love the Festival and I love telling jokes, but standing up for human rights and standing against a system of apartheid is more important.'”
I am glad to hear that he is building a business that he will leave to his daughter and that his daughter will leave to her children. It’s nice to see people investing in their community. On the other hand it’s sad that he chooses to deny his daughter the opportunities she would have had in Europe, Brazil or the UAE. I am conflicted here.