Gaza 2009. - Gaza City - A deaf boy, Bilal talking about the war

Gaza 2009. - A deaf boy, Bilal talking about the war from bogARTphoto on Vimeo.

Bilal Banar is an eleven-year old little deaf boy. He lives with his uncles and cousins in one building in Shegaeia area in the Middle of the Gaza Strip. Bilal's family has been living in extremely difficult economic conditions since his father has been unemployed for many years.

During the war over the Gaza Strip, Bilal's cousin and best friend was killed by the Israeli bombardment. Bilal has been shocked and felt so sad, but he insisted to attend the funeral in order to have the last look at his cousin. Unexpectedly, Apache helicopter targeted the funeral. Bilal's father's first concern was to keep his kid save during the air strike. When this massive wave was finished, Bilal and his father checked the other family members. Shockingly, they discovered that four uncles and two more cousins have just been killed. This terrible disaster has turned the whole family life to a painful tragedy. Bilal's parents were completely heartbroken, therefore; they could not give him the needed support in order to get over this crisis.

When Bilal came back to school after the war had ended, he was very confused. He could not believe that his uncles and cousins where gone. He said "I am waiting for them, they will come back". Atfaluna's counseling knew about Bilal's story, and they tried hard to help him to pass this hard situation through the counseling session for him and his mother. Finally, Bilal start to recover from what he witnessed during the harsh war over Gaza. Recently, he is able to contact with his friends and teachers. Step-by-step, he gets back to his normal routine. Hopefully one day, Bilal and other children in Gaza can overcome the disaster they went through.

This video is part of my documentary about Gaza after the war.

Preedited version. English subtitle coming soon.