This time last year Ramadan came and was welcomed by Palestinians in Gaza with the typical excitement and glee of every preceding year. Decorations were plentiful and Ramadan songs were heard in every taxi and in every street corner you’d visit. Ramadan brings with it a certain necessary spirit to be able to withstand the long fast under the blistering heat of the unrelenting summer sun. This certain spirit is the one also needed during troubling times when a family has not one shekel to buy Eid clothes for their children. And sadly this same spirit too was the one needed to be able to withstand those 11 days of non-stop bombardment that graced the people of Gaza in May of last year days after the beginning of Ramadan. The spirit that endures all. This year everyone hopes for a different Ramadan, one especially that happens without the prospect of war.
This year in Gaza’s oldest market Souq Al-Zawya, which is located in Gaza’s old city, people from all over flock in the thousands every day to purchase their necessities and specific Ramadan items such as ‘Qatayef’, ‘Kharoub’ (a Ramadan drink), and ‘Tamiya’ (a falafel-like food filled with onions in the center) among other Ramadan necessities. As you walk in Souq Al-Zawya you will also see and experience the Great Omari mosque where hundreds go to pray, read Quran, or simply play and pass their time during the holy month.
It is in immersing yourself in these parts of the city that you become a part of the people. These old markets are for the majority of the people who don’t earn much. You see people walking the streets that people have walked for a 100 years or so, a truly overwhelming experience if you take a second to look around in wonder and awe. Walk these same streets before or after Ramadan and it seems a certain energy is missing, there is something about this month that has its own captivating aura. These photos can never do justice to the true experience of Ramadan in Gaza but hopefully a glimpse of it might suffice.
Mahmoud Nasser
Mahmoud Nasser is a documentary/street photographer born and raised in Gaza City. He was lucky to leave Gaza for Canada with his family during times of turmoil in 2008, but even luckier to see himself back in even worse times in 2021 after nearly 13 years of living abroad. His love for photography has seen him back in a place where many are literally dying to leave at the drop of a dime.
