12 January 2009 – The Ayad Family | Palestinian Centre for Human Rights

January 12, 2012

12 January 2009 – The Ayad Family

“If there is another war I won’t be moving,
even if we die there, I don’t want to go through that again”

Mustafa,
Abdel Kareem and Rezeq Ayad

On 12 January 2009, the Ayad family home in the Zaytoon area of
Gaza City was bulldozed by Israeli forces. Rezeq Ayad, 60, his wife Yusra, 58,
and their four sons Mustafa, 16, Muhammed, 20, Abdel Kareem 26, and Khalil, 29,
and Khalil’s two daughters were left homeless as a result of the attack. The
family had left the area a few days prior to the destruction of their home, as
a result of the intense Israeli bombardment of the area.

Speaking to Rezeq Ayad and his son, Abdel Kareem, the relief they
feel having put their displacement behind them is clear. Now back in the family
home – which they started rebuilding in May 2010 and moved into in October 2010
– the two are glad and thankful that the family are now safe and relatively
secure once again. “I remember that time and I just thank God we are all still
alive,” says Rezeq.

“We had left the house with nothing but the clothes we were wearing
and a few blankets and mattresses,” explains Abdel Kareem, “we lost everything
with the house when it was bulldozed.” In the aftermath of the attack the whole
family were forced to find alternative shelter. “I and my wife moved to
relatives in Asqoula in Gaza City,” says Rezeq, “my son Abdel Kareem was forced
to move to the al Samouni neighbourhood and my son Khalil had no choice but to
spend two years in a tent camp with his wife and young daughters.”

Rezeq’s son, Muhammed Ayad, who was 17 at the time, built a small
structure among the ruins of the family home and stayed there so he could watch
over the house and his donkeys, which he kept in the area.

Abdel Kareem and his wife Shaheera, 22, spent a little over a year
in a makeshift hut that he built from corrugated iron and plastic. “My wife is
from the al Samouni family; after the massacre of the al Samouni’s in that area
during the war she didn’t want to move there out of fear of another attack
taking place. But we had nowhere else to go.” Abdel Kareem describes the
conditions the couple endured over that year as “intolerable.” “During the
summer it was unbearably hot, during the winter, unbearably cold.”

Shaheera was pregnant with the young couple’s first child at the
time the couple were homeless. “There was no running water or electricity in
the hut. Shaheera would have to wait for me to come home from work to bring her
water. Her pregnancy was very difficult. I was working selling vegetables and
transporting goods to save money to build my house,” says Abdul Kareem, “the
day we moved in my wife gave birth to my little girl Ru’al.” Reflecting on the
incident Abdul stresses that he would be unwilling to put himself and his
family through the same experience once more. “If there is another war I won’t
be moving, even if we die there, I don’t want to go through that again.”

Khalil Ayad, his wife Nabila and their daughters Islam, 5, and
Gadeer, 4, were also forced into haphazard makeshift accommodation after the
attack. “Khalil went to a tent camp in the Zaytoon area of Gaza. There were a
lot of families displaced during the war that moved there temporarily. But
Khalil’s was the last family to leave. They spent two years there in total”
says Rezeq. “They would collect firewood to cook and boil water and they shared
a common well with the rest of the camp residents for water.” During this
experience, Nabila gave birth to, Rezeq, now 1. Like Shaheera, Nabila’s
pregnancy occurred under very difficult circumstances.

Talking of the future, Abdel Kareem’s hopes are simple. “I hope to
be strong enough to continue my life and to be a good man” he says. As regards
the families complaint with the Israeli government Rezeq and Abdel Kareem are
dismissive of any potential for redress; “We don’t expect anything from the
case. The house was a small home in a quiet residential neighbourhood. It was
clearly not a military target. The soldiers knew what they were doing; they
just wanted to destroy it. They will not investigate.”

Discussing how he was able to rebuild the family home following its
destruction Rezeq explains that he had savings from his time as a school
teacher in a local UNRWA school. Talking about what he had planned to do with
the money he had saved over a lifetime, prior to spending it all on repairing
the damage caused by the Israeli military, Rezeq says that he had hoped to help
his sons with their marriage and their education. “I spent everything I had
saved,” says Rezeq with a smile and a shrug of his shoulders, “so now I start
again.”

PCHR submitted a criminal complaint to
the Israeli authorities on behalf of the Ayad family on 2 August 2009. To-date,
no response has been received.

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The Narratives:

–11
January 2009: The Hamouda Family

– 10 January 2009: Wafa
al-Radea

– 9 January 2009 – The Abu Oda Family

– 8 January
2009: The Al-Rahel family

– 7 January 2009 – The Mattar Family

– 6 January 2009: Al-Dayah
family

-5 January 2009: Amal al-Samouni

– 4 January 2009: The Abdel
Dayem Family

–3 January
2009: Motee’ and Isma’il as-Selawy