The Tragic Cheapening of Palestinian Lives in “Letter from Gaza”
Mato
What is the value of living? Throughout human history, the answer has been reflected in our pursuits of existence; the Palestinian cause stands out as one of the most notable examples in modern times. Ghassan Kanafani’s “Letter from Gaza”provides a brief powerful insight into the Palestinian struggle and resistance. The concept of ‘cheapness,’ as Jason Moore and Raj Patel discussed in their book A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things, could enrich the analysis of Kanafani’s story to further examine the inquiry of ‘value.’ The cheapening of work and care, in “Letter from Gaza,” distinctly emphasizes the economic hardship and ethical dilemma surrounding dignity and the quality of interpersonal care within the Palestinian community.
To reinforce one’s comprehension of ‘cheapness,’ the term Capitalocene must first be thoroughly examined and bound to cheapness. The Capitalocene is a term that interprets the connection between economy, from a capitalistic perception, and ecology (Moore and Patel 4:30-8:00). Despite the human tendency to distance from nature, in reality, humans are agents in the destructive sequence of established modern-day capitalism. They do not merely cause planetary destruction through their actions, but the socially generated capitalist system, which has expanded beyond the control of governments and national borders, is causing a disastrous chain of events that threaten the extinction of humanity through many factors, like climate change. This form of capitalism has been largely shaped by the European colonialism of North America. In terms of establishing a divide between nature and humanity, the colonialists intended to dominate nature, disregarding the fact that they were part of the same system. This sort of approach caused the phenomenon of ‘othering.’ If the ultimate goal is to dominate nature, then everything and everyone outside of one’s society becomes an ‘other’ that needs to be shaped according to colonial desire. “Letter from Gaza” demonstrates how the Israeli occupation completely discards Palestinian lives through its cheapening of Palestinian work and their care for one another.
“Letter from Gaza” is presented as a letter from a man, the protagonist, to his friend Mustafa. In the letter, the protagonist explains why he cannot leave Gaza and travel to be with his friend in California. Although the protagonist was initially planning to immigrate from the defeated and humiliated Gaza to ‘green’ California, he narrates seeing his brother’s thirteen-year-old daughter, Nadia, wounded with an amputated leg, and how this instilled in him an unprecedented desire to stay in Gaza and resist the occupation. It is through this transformative event that he has learned the real meaning of life and its worth. A brief analysis of the story establishes the boundaries of the cheapening of Palestinian work and care by the Israeli occupation. The occupation does not give the Palestinians an opportunity for a stable, let alone decent, economic life. Nadia’s situation, although terrifying and alienating for the average American citizen, is a normal case in Gaza. The Israeli occupation, since 1948, deliberately targets and amputates Palestinian children, often mortally wounding them. The cheapening of work and care by the colonizers, the Israelis, is done in an effort to ethnically cleanse and drive the natives, the Palestinians, out of their homeland.
Moreover, the protagonist’s initial plan to leave Gaza was a result of the ever-worsening economic situation of the city. He was blinded by his economic situation to a degree that overcame his care for anyone and anything in his hometown. He writes, “The sympathy that bound me to my brother’s children, their mother, and mine would never be enough to justify my tragedy in taking this perpendicular dive” (Kanafani 113). After Nadia’s incident, however, he portrays Gaza as being ‘new.’ He announces to Mustafa, “You and I never saw it like this” (115). Not only does the protagonist choose to stay in Gaza, but he also invites his friend to return and learn from Nadia’s incident, imploring, “Come back, to learn from Nadia’s leg, amputated from the top to the thigh, what life is and what existence is worth” (Kanafani 115). Kanafani’s literary symbolism, juxtaposing Nadia’s leg with life, strengthens the emotional depth of the story. Although Nadia suffers from an amputated leg, she is still alive—in Gaza—and does not plan to leave. The suffering of children is used to symbolize the Palestinian people’s resilience and desire for a peaceful life, regardless of the cheapening of their work and care by the Israeli occupation.
Hence, Ghassan Kanafani’s “Letter from Gaza” is not merely a short story about a man’s letter to his friend; the narrative goes far beyond this. The story embodies the struggle of the average Palestinian. It serves to portray the destructive effects of occupation on both the occupied and occupier; the occupied is dehumanized and the occupier, intoxicated by control, becomes desensitized and blinded. If our hearts are blinded, are we really alive? It is abnormal for adults to amputate children, even if they are viewed as an enemy. Kanafani’s focus on the Israeli cheapening of Palestinian work and care illuminates a broader theme, the cheapening of lives. Unfortunately, the Israelis continue to savagely massacre the Palestinians to this day. Palestinians are reduced to numbers by the Israelis, the ‘other.’ Although this results from many factors, one particularly important factor is education. The Israelis, as in any case of colonization, are uneducated about Palestinians. They fail to see Nadia’s leg, instead perceiving a soulless group of savages determined to eliminate them. Little do they know that no one is hurting them but their own hands. According to the UNRWA, more than thirteen thousand children have been murdered, in Gaza alone, by the Israeli government between October 2023 and May 2024. Although thousands of tragedies like Nadia’s occur every day in Palestine, the Palestinian people are still resilient. Ultimately, the narrative reveals a paradoxical relationship in the struggle for human dignity and suffering: while the value of life is persistently undermined by violence, resilience—as portrayed by Palestinian people—stands as a powerful testament to humanity.
Works Cited
Kanafani, Ghassan. “Letter from Gaza.” The 1936-39 Revolt in Palestine, translated by Hilary Kilpatrick, The Tricontinental Society, 1980.
Patel, Raj and Jason W. Moore, “A History of the World in Seven Cheap Things with Raj Patel and Jason W. Moore.” Upstream, hosted by Robert Raymond, 11 May 2021, https://sites.libsyn.com/435210/raj-patel-and-jason-w-moore-a-history-of-the-world-in-seven-cheap-things-in-conversation.
“UNRWA Situation Report #100 on the Situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, Including East Jerusalem.” United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, 9 Apr. 2024, www.unrwa.org/resources/reports/unrwa-situation-report-100-situation-gaza-strip-and-west-bank-including-east-Jerusalem.
“UNRWA Situation Report #67 on the situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.” United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, UNRWA, 21 Jan. 2024, https://www.unrwa.org/resources/reports/unrwa-situation-report-67-situation-gaza-strip-and-west-bank-including-east-Jerusalem.
My name is Mato, and I wrote this paper in hopes of raising awareness about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict by exploring and comparing the intersections of culture, identity, and resistance through different texts and perspectives. I have always been interested in writing, history, and politics; the political perspective reflected in this paper is based on years of reading and researching the topic.
