GAZAN YOUTH’S REALITY: CHALLENGES AND HOPE
The youth makes up the majority among Palestinian society groups, especially in Gaza Strip. Youth between 15 and 35 years represent 36.5% of the whole population of Palestine. The youth are the mainstay of any society; they take responsibility and are the key actors of change. All over the world, young people proved that they are the new country and the revolutionaries.
This youth carries huge problems on their shoulders, which decreases their abilities in all fields; there are political problems like the rivalry between the Palestinian factions, and economic problems like unemployment, which have a deep impact on the society. And of course the siege has numerous negative consequences on the strip. All of that lead to a hopeless and frustrated youth.
THE BIGGEST NIGHTMARE: UNEMPLOYMENT
23 year old Matar Rezeq, an Arabic language/media graduate fromAl-Azhar University in Gaza insists that the biggest problem that a young person in Gaza faces is the unemployment. “The problem that I and many other guys have in the Strip is unemployment and it has an impact on the unemployed person, like economic and psychological damages”, he said.
Rezeq added that young Gazans are frustrated badly to an extent that they are afraid of graduation, because it might lead them right into unemploy- ment. Matar described that he and his friends waste their time on useless stuff. They spend the time nowadays in the city cafés or sitting in front of the computer. Time which should be invested in a way which is useful for their future.
The Palestinian center of statistics’ report showed on the global day of the youth that 32.2% of young people in Palestine, whose ages range from 15-29 years, are suffering fromunemployment.
The report showed also that the number of graduates from the Palestinian universities and institutes is reaching 26.000 graduates annually. 40% of them can get a job, which means the unemployment percentage among the graduates rose up to 46%.
THE BIGGEST OBSTACLE: THE SIEGE
With the beginning of the 5th year of the Israeli blockade on Gaza strip, this oppressing siege has destroyed all public and private life aspects. Especially the economy suffered severely, which rose the percentage of unemployment and poverty evenmore. Akram Murtaja from Al-Shojaea neighbourhood, a young man whom we met on his door step with his friends, said that there is a dilemma that the Gaza youth has been facing for four years: the intensely imposed siege on Gaza Strip. “The word siege itself is enough to make the Palestinian youth feel hopeless and frustrated and to bury their ambitions and aims.“ Mortaja pointed out that the youth is a group that is neglected by all sides, which are just fighting about leaders and politics. No specific organization or governmental entity feels responsible for Gaza’s youth.
PAIN AND HOPE
Muhammad Alsikaly, another young man from Gaza, is sure that the most difficult problem young people face here is the Palestinian division, because it does not allow young people to develop their abilities and skills. He says: "The blockade is a further severe problem, it causes depression, it results into migration to abroad, and paralyzes the youth which can’t work under the siege.“ But Alsikaly still sees hope: “There are huge problems and many obstacles to the youth‘s ambitions, and beside all this pain. But I still feel that there is hope and I’m optimistic because I believe that the situation will change in the future and that Gaza’s young people will achieve their future goals. But it will need that all the youth in our community stand together firmly”.
Mohammed Al-Seqily, 21, is studying journalism at Al-Azhar University. He participated in the project Youth Journalists for Human Rights. For the e-magazine, he proved his new gained knowledge by writing an article about the current situation of young people in Gaza Strip.
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