‘There was a target on my back — I had to flee Gaza,' says Palestinian student who became ‘accidental war correspondent'
Abubaker Abed, whose starving family were reduced to eating pet food, feels there is still a threat to his life, even in Ireland
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A young journalist from Gaza who was evacuated from the war-torn territory last month and fled to Ireland believes his life remains under threat because he continues to speak out against the Israeli regime.
Abubaker Abed (22), from central Gaza, said he was heartbroken to leave his parents, brothers and sisters behind. He fled at his mother's urging after she told him his presence was putting the entire family in danger.
Mr Abed, who described how he became an 'accidental war correspondent', said leaving his family, friends and homeland was the most agonising decision of his life.
'I was evacuated on April 16, very reluctantly. I came to Ireland as a student to finish my education, but the main reason I came here was so that my life might be saved,' he told the Sunday Independent.
'The Israelis had put a target on my back because of the reporting I was involved in. I was reporting on the genocide that's happening in my homeland.
'I was left with no choice but to go. There was a smear campaign against me. I was threatened that I would be killed.
'What changed for me was my mother saying, 'If you stay, this will harm our family'. There was a threat to my life in Gaza. And now, in Ireland, I feel there is still a threat to my life.'
Mr Abed said he was working as a sports journalist, covering football, when the war began in Gaza. He soon began writing about it and the impact it was having on people living there.
'The starvation and the bombings, the effects have been devastating. I evolved into a war correspondent because of the situation around me,' he said.
He applied and was accepted on to a journalism course in Dublin last year, but declined to leave Gaza until last month.
He hopes to start the course in September, having been awarded a scholarship. He previously studied English literature before becoming a sports journalist and commentator.
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'I refused to leave Gaza around 10 times. I wanted to help my people and my homeland. Eventually, I had no choice and I very reluctantly left. It was the most impossible decision,' he said.
When he arrived in Ireland, he was malnourished.
'It is the same for all my family. It is the same for everyone in Gaza. Starvation is the big problem at the moment. There is an ongoing starvation being inflicted on the population. All of Gaza is starving,' he said.
Mr Abed feels guilt that he is now in a safe country with an abundance of food, water and access to medicine.
'I'm worried about my family all the time. I just hope the genocide ends soon. The renewed media coverage in the West has come too late, but I do have hope,' he said
'I feel very welcome here in Ireland. It is a beautiful country. But it is really hard to be without my family. I still have to recover from the trauma of what happened to me, and that will take time.'
Mr Abed recently met Social Democrats TD Rory Hearne to discuss the situation in Gaza.
The politician told the Dáil last week: 'Abubaker is only out of Gaza a month. He described [in a podcast] how he had sat down with his family about two or three months ago. They had no food left and had to eat pet food.
'That was the moment when he and his family were completely dehumanised and humiliated.
'He has been broken, like so many people in Gaza. We have a responsibility to act.'
I feel Ireland is the Palestine of Europe. War planes, they should not be allowed into Irish airspace. The Occupied Territories Bill needs to be passed
Mr Abed said: 'I feel that 95pc of people in Ireland support Palestine, but the Irish Government is not listening to its people. Ireland needs to help persuade Europe that Israel should face sanctions. Silence is complicity.
'I feel that Ireland is the Palestine of Europe. War planes, they should not be allowed into Irish airspace. The Occupied Territories Bill needs to be passed.'
A government-revised draft of the Occupied Territories Bill is to be presented to the Cabinet on Tuesday, Tánaiste Simon Harris said last week.
Speaking in the Dáil, he said the legislation is being 'well progressed' within the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Mr Harris has backed Taoiseach Micheál Martin's call for the immediate suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement. The Taoiseach described the continuing bombardment of Gaza as 'an affront to human decency'.
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