This is Osama’s story

Osama Adnan Abu Kwaik was a beloved father, brother and friend. He was gunned down on Friday at the Al-Noor Mosque in Christchurch. This is Osama’s story, recounted by his brother Youssef Adnan Abu Kwaik, to Charlie Mitchell.

Osama’s story cannot be told without starting from its origin: our father. We come from a Palestinian origin. Our city was attacked before the declaration of Israel in 1948. This is when my grandfather was killed while defending the city.

My father became an orphan at the age of 4. They walked all the way from Lydda to Gaza, where he was taken care of by his uncles and my grandmother.

He went to Egypt to study at the age of 16. While he was studying in 1967, Israel attacked Egypt and Gaza, stranding my dad with no resources in Egypt.

He was declared a refugee, a title that stuck all the way to Osama and his children.

Osama was born in 1981, and spent his childhood and teenage years in Cairo. He studied engineering at October 6 University [in Cairo] followed by a masters of engineering at the American University, also in Cairo.

As Palestinians, we heavily invest in education, which is a lesson that refugees learn early, in order to justify and carry our own weight.

He worked at Etisalat [an Egyptian communications company] and climbed the ladder until he became a project manager.

Three years after the Arab Spring, Osama was called into his manager’s office and was told the government had issued an order to all communications companies to discharge all Palestinian and Syrian workers.

He couldn’t find a job in his field afterwards, obviously. He was already married with two baby girls at that point. He got a job that paid much less, and wasn’t befitting his background, to provide for his family.

That’s when Osama started talking about immigration.

This wasn’t the Osama that I knew, I thought at the time.

Osama never left Egypt, except to visit Gaza. To live away from family was completely out of character. But it was understandable. He needed to provide for his family. The girls were growing, and he wanted to provide the best education.

The main rule for refugees: lift your weight.

He used all his savings in applying to go to New Zealand.

The plane tickets ate up all the remaining cash Osama had left after two years of low salary.