Gaza’s resilient doctors: wedding amid war
Two Palestinian doctors held their wedding ceremony in the halls of Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, as their ceremony had been postponed amid the Isreal-Gaza war, reports the Middle East Monitor plus agencies.
Thaer Dababesh, and his fiancee, Asma Jabr, had been working side by side since Isreal declared war on the besieged enclave in October. It is estimated around 30,000 people have been killed, and tens of thousands injured since the war began.
In October, the couple’s marital home was bombed by an Israeli air strike, and their wedding, which was scheduled for November 15th, had to be postponed.
The couple chose November 15th as the date for their wedding ceremony to coincide with the anniversary of the late Palestinian President Yasser Arafat’s declaration of the Declaration of Independence, in which he announced the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.
As the war in the Gaza Strip is entering its sixth month, struggling with the absence of basic necessities of life and the absence of family, the determination of the couple was stronger than the deadly war machine.
The couple decided to perform the wedding ceremony at the Al-Shifa Medical complex, west of Gaza City. Instead of a white wedding dress, the bride wore her white medical coat and instead of being surrounded by family, the couple was accompanied by their colleagues, who have been facing massive challenges to provide medical services under extreme circumstances.
Dababesh and Jabr had hoped their parents and siblings would be present, however, the bride’s family was displaced and forced to move to the southern regions of the Gaza Strip and were unable to attend the marriage ceremony.
They also could not host a large feast, as is customary for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which is severely suffering from famine due to the tight Israeli blockade.
READ: Morocco sends 40 tons of food aid to Gaza and Jerusalem
Despite these obstacles, the couple still decided to continue with their lives rather than surrendering or resisting. The union of these doctors provided some light in the dark and bleak surroundings of war.
One of the doctors who announced their marriage during the celebration stated, “Despite the suffering, the bombings, the martyrs, and the wounded, we congratulate the marriage of the Palestinians, Tha’ir Dabbabesh and Asmaa Jabr”.
Middle East Monitor/ Agencies.
