"Our Smile Is A Kind Of Resilience": Palestinian Journalists Wael Dahdouh And Motaz Azaiza
Motaz Azaiza shared a picture of himself with Al Jazeera Gaza bureau chief Wael Al Dahdouh, when the two had a chance to meet each other in Qatar. Azaiza and Dahdouh are two brave journalists from Gaza, of whom the world will never forget. Taking to his X (formerly twitter), Azaiza shared smiling pictures of him with the veteran reporter, and captioned his post as “Our smile is a kind of resilience”.
Our smile is a kind of resilience @WaelDahdouh pic.twitter.com/VdNhY0RhG0
— MoTaz (@azaizamotaz9) January 24, 2024
Motaz Azaiza and Wael Al Dahdouh are the two names that has been etched into the hearts of many since Israel started its war on the civilians of Gaza. Palestine supporters across the globe call them the real face of bravery.
Weal Al Dahdouh evacuated from Gaza to Qatar to receive medical treatment. Dahdouh is a symbol of Gazan resilience. He continued to stay committed to his duty as a journalist. Within hours of losing his wife and children in an Israeli airstrike, he sprung back to his work to show the world what is happening in Gaza. He then lost his another 27-year-old son in a targeted Israeli strike, who also was an Al Jazeera reporter. Despite the unspeakable trauma forced down upon him and being continuously targeted and severely injured, Wael Al Dahdouh kept reporting the horrendous realities of Gazans in the bloody war, until he was evacuated from his homeland.
Motaz Azaiza is an independent journalist who now works for United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA). Motaz Azaiza is a name that has been reverberating ever since the current Israel-Hamas war started spiralling into another genocide. The 24-year-old Palestinian photojournalist is known for his sedulous commitment in bringing out harrowing ground realities of war tyrannized Gaza. Reporting from the land of catastrophe, Azaiza struck hearts of millions with his photographs spitting raw images of the gut-wrenching realities forced upon the people of Palestine.
On Monday, Azaiza shared the news that he decided to evacuate from Gaza. He said he is evacuating for reasons that may known to everyone, though not all reasons. He said, “I had to evacuate for a lot of reasons you all know some of it but not all of it”. He left his beloved Gaza with a promise to come back to rebuild it once again.
It is pertinent to note that, no external journalists were allowed to Gaza independently. Without journalists like Dahdouh and Azaiza, it will become extremely difficult for the outside world to get an understanding on what is Israeli aggression is doing to the tiny besieged coastal enclave.
