Mohammed Moussa survived the Israeli attack on Gaza in 2014, but now he is watching from afar. “I feel broken while I watch my memories burn along with the soul of Gaza,” Moussa writes. “They kill us twice, inside Gaza, and they kill us outside Gaza – when we die worrying about our families there.”

Mohammed Moussa recounts his harrowing attempt to travel from Gaza to Turkey, which included interminable waits, abuse, and extortion. “I did not feel alive again until I arrived at Istanbul airport, and was considered and treated like a normal human being. ”

Arabic is the fifth-most-commonly spoken language in the world, with an estimated 250 million native speakers. It’s a useful language to know, and a university in the Gaza Strip is offering to teach it via Skype — while reducing the isolation imposed on it by a decade-long Israeli blockade.

Mohammed Moussa writes: “On Wednesday, August 29, Gaza woke up to news of the death of Mohanned Younis in the Tel Al-Hawa neighborhood in Gaza City. The 22-year-old short-fiction writer decided to escape this pain-filled place and leave not just his sorrows but also his dreams, ambitions and goals behind. One of the contributing factors to Mohanned’s depression was unique—namely, a total rejection from his father. Yet, like all youth in Gaza, he became despondent over the lack of future prospects while living under siege. And when he took his own life, it was as if we had all failed to survive the disappointment; his death sent ripples throughout the Strip.”