Ahsan Bari, Dina Zelaya, Gaia Guatri, Mashal Baloch, Thais Matos
“We have two options now. Dying or dying”
This was a text sent out to Salahaldin Eleyan (alias Salah) by his brother from Gaza, Palestine. 27-year-old Salah is currently doing his Masters in Quantum Physics at Denmark’s Aarhus University.
In addition to managing his academic responsibilities just like any other student, he is struggling with the constant uncertainty of his family’s well-being back home.
It has been an agonizing two months for the people of Palestine since the conflict in their land resumed – and that agony and overwhelmingness has crossed borders in Salah’s case.
“War in home countries impacts on individuals who have fled”
– Dawn Chatty, FBA, Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and Forced Migration at the Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford.
“This is, of course, a significant issue as those who have managed to flee are often plagued with a sense of guilt for those who have been left behind. They suffer not only nightmares reliving the violence they have witnessed before they fled but also imagining worse happening to those left behind.
“In this day and age of immediate reporting and social media, it is very difficult to move away from being fixated on the news and other social media reports. This all leads to depression and deep anxiety for the future,” she added.
It is beyond the human mind to dwell on and understand the “hell on earth” that is being experienced thousands of kilometers away in Gaza. Yet, there are people who, despite being thousands of kilometers away from Palestine, live firsthand the complex situation that has been unleashed in the Middle East.
Those are the expats, who for various reasons, left their homeland Palestine before 7 October without ever imagining what would befall their families.
“The Gaza War – as it is called – has deep impact for both Israelis who feel an existential threat to their existence,” said Chatty adding, “Although some have likened the October 7 attack to a prison break out, for Israelis, their sense of security has been irrevocably shattered.
“While for Gazans, there is a real sense of genocide taking place, an ethnic cleansing of the territory of the Gaza Strip, and a ‘domicide (the deliberate destruction of a home or homes)’ – creating a cratered wasteland that no Gazans can return to. For Palestinians from Gaza who have a family now under Israeli bombardment, this is a terrifying situation,” she added.
Between failed phone calls to his parents, not knowing the whereabouts of the people he once laughed and cried with, sharing the same dinner table to break bread back in Gaza and nerve-wracking news headlines, Salah is trying to thrive as one of the thousands of students living in Aarhus.
Salah with his two-year-old nephew Karam in Gaza, Palestine.
As per research studies collected by the US National Library of Medicine, the mental health of people involved in war found the prevalence rates of anxiety, depression, and PTSD were “two- to three-fold higher amongst people exposed to armed conflict compared to those who had not been exposed.”
While modern technology allows regular contact, Chatty explained, “It also leaves little to the imagination. Our TV screens and iPhones are bombarded with evidence of war crimes, and indiscriminate shelling of civilians by Israeli military forces.
“We are seeing schools, bakeries, and UN shelters come under attack from Israeli munitions. These are terrifying to watch. It means there is no safety anywhere and civilians are paying the price.”
A nearly two-decade-long study by Middle East Current Psychiatry (MECP) has concluded that trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are “a common occurrence” among Palestinian refugees.
“Inevitably,” Chatty, an expert in anthropology and forced migration, said, “those who are viewing [the conflict] from the safety of a country like Denmark will become depressed and anxious. They need support from the community around them whether that be simply company or active protest for a ceasefire, or fundraising to send out relief supplies, etc.”
Although Salah does not fall into the refugee category per se, trying to keep his composure in the face of almost non-existent communication with his family while pursuing his studies is taking its toll.
Thru The Lens – Salah and his days in Aarhus
Photos: Gaia Guatri and Ahsan Bari
During his lectures at Aarhus University, Salah found himself grappling with a persistent challenge: maintaining focus amid a whirlwind of distracting thoughts. He referred to the constant worry about his family’s situation back in Gaza and said that he is finding it very difficult to have any balance in his life.
“The chronic and enduring nature of trauma caused by the conflict,” emphasized Professor Chatty, “exacerbates the situation.”
To put things into perspective, while in 2014 more than 2,300 Palestinians were killed in clashes with Israel, the total number of victims in 2023 is 7.5 times higher than that in 2014 and 100 times higher than the average number of casualties from this war over the last 15 years – these numbers represent real people, families torn apart, dreams shattered, and futures lost.
Besides, videos of the bombardments and raids on the Gaza Strip are widespread in different global media outlets; of parents who have lost their children and of Palestinian children who have lost their dreams (who also make up 44% of the total reported casualties).
With all the difficulties that come with being an international student and living away from home, Salah faces the constant uncertainty of his family’s well-being (in this case, in the face of death). But this did not stop him from becoming a well-known activist in Aarhus, giving a voice to the millions of Palestinians who still, to date, struggle to find one.
Among many of the pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Aarhus, Salah can be seen taking part in them. Expressing a heartfelt plea, Salah pondered on the profound impact of the conflict and in what ways he could contribute to making a difference.
