Eight-year old remains in Gaza

For most Canadians, the conflict between Hamas and Israel is a battle being waged in a foreign land, thousands of miles away. But for a mother in Brantford, it is a war that hits close to home.

The woman’s 8-year old daughter is in Gaza, trapped amidst the ongoing attacks and so far, efforts to get her home are going nowhere.

Weeks before the kidnapping of three Israeli teenagers which triggered the latest round of violence in the Middle East, Hassan Abuzaiter and his 8-year old daughter Salma, left Canada to spend the summer with relatives in Gaza. Hassan is an emergency room doctor specializing in pediatrics. In order to maintain his licence, he periodically practices in Gaza.
This summer, Salma accompanied him, a chance for the young girl to spend time with her cousins and grandparents. But weeks after arriving, the tense situation in Gaza erupted into all out war, leaving Hasan torn between saving the lives of innocent Palestinian children or leaving with his own child to the safety of Canada.

Wesam Abuzaiter is her mother: “My husband actually he is in a big conflict ethic conflict I would say. Being a physician is not an easy job at all and because you have to hold your ethics before your own life and priorities. One day he actually told me he wanted to tell the mom and dad that their kid is fine but they told him the mom and dad are dead, the whole family is dead, he is the only survivor a kid who is two years old crying for his mom.

Wesam Abuzaiter has been told by authorities the only way her daughter can leave Gaza is to travel by bus, alone, for five hours, crossing the border into Israel and Jordan. Wesam says that is impossible for such a young child. Instead, she has asked the Canadian government to make arrangements allowing a relative to escort Salma to Egypt where she would board a plane to Canada: “I just asked them to communicate with the Egyptian side and let them know about that not more than that. I didn’t ask for more than that. (And they said?)
They didn’t get back to me.

Although she wasn’t born here, Wesam and her family have been Canadian citizens for five years. To people who challenge her loyalty: “I told them I love this country. I am Canadian first, second and third and I am Canadian as same as them. And inside myself, I sometimes consider myself more Canadian than anyone.