Pregnant woman flees Palestine for better life
When the gates of Gaza opened last December a 25-year-old pregnant woman, along with her two young children and her mother, seized the opportunity to escape a country which felt more like a prison.
Alla Hejji obtained a travel visa for herself, her two children and her mother to visit the United States. Hejji had to make the decision to leave her husband behind in a wartorn country when he was unable to acquire a travel visa for himself.
She said it was difficult to leave, but the couple wanted to give their children a safe life.
The four of them headed to the Egyptian border once they knew the gate was open, but were separated in a large crowd of people trying to leave.
Hejji and her daughter Alma Alhorkali, 3, entered Egypt before the gate closed; Hejji’s mother, who was holding her eldest child Ayoub Alhorkali, 4, were pushed back and didn’t cross through the gate. “When she passed and she realized her son and her mother were left behind, she went to speak to those that were conducting the gate and said ‘My son, my mum are there, can you open it?’ And they said ‘No that’s not possible, there is going to be a lot of conflicts if we do that,’” said Sima Nahli, youth diversity co-ordinator and translator for the Welland Heritage Council and Multicultural Centre.
Hejji wasn’t able to return to Gaza because her travel visa would expire, so she made the hard decision to go without them.
Hejji said Palestine has two borders, one with Egypt and other with Israel. The border to Egypt opens once every few months and can take as long as a year to reopen – they never know when it willl open.
Palestinian citizens can only exit the country into Egypt. They are not permitted to enter Israel.
Hejji said when the borders are closed there are no imports, which means there is limited access to food. During border closures, Palestinians must make or grown whatever they can within the Middle Eastern country.
“Local farmers garden and they do whatever it is they can with what they have and then once that border opens they have more,” Hejji said.
The family chose to seek refuge in Canada because of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, lack of jobs and the strict rule from Hamas, the political party in control. She said there were certain political parties which created a danger for her and her family. Hejji said she was afraid for her children.
She is happy her children are in Canada and will keep some of the traditions she had growing up in Palestine. Hejji said she wants to have her children practise their religion of Islam freely and she feels they can do that in Canada.
In Palestine Hamas controls many aspects of people’s lives, another reason Hejji wanted to leave. Women and men are arrested and sometimes tortured for the way they dress. Men are not allowed to wear coloured pants and their clothes must be plain in colour. Men are not allowed to cut their hair a certain way. If they are caught with an unusual hairstyle, police will arrest them and shave their heads.
Hejji said Muslim women must wear the hijab, but Christian women don’t have to. Women are also told to wear certain types of clothing that are loser fitting.
“There is no freedom. If anyone is out of the norm, has a certain style, they will take them to prison,” she said through a translator.
Hejji said living in Palestine felt as though she was living in a prison because it didn’t matter if you went left or right, you were enclosed. There was no way out.
“It’s not having anything, no electricity, no water, it’s no work also. Lots of material’s like rockets. There’s nothing because all borders are closed, the border is closed always,” Hejji said.
When Hejji and Alma arrived in the United States they were greeted by Hejji’s father who has been living there and has a green card. Despite having her father’s support in the U.S., she chose to move to Canada because of the great things she had heard about the country.
She first moved to Fort Erie in January, finally relocating to Welland in February.
“Even in Gaza her plan was to get to Canada. In Gaza sometimes she would go on the internet and she would search about Canada, and she had an idea that Canada had many opportunities for education for her children, and it was the best option for her and her family,” Nahli said about Hejji’s decision.
“She said an important point for her was it didn’t come off as being a racist country.”
Hejji, Badr and Alma moved to Welland after she was told they could no longer live at a shelter in Fort Erie.
In Welland Hejji was unable to find suitable housing, but staff at the Welland Heritage Council and Multicultural Centre heard about Hejji and her children living in terrible conditions and decided to act. The family was immediately placed in the centre’s shelter because the apartment Hejji was renting had poor heating and was not properly insulated.
“She is happy to live in the shelter for a subsidized cost, where as it is difficult to find something here that is in her budget. We are working on housing, though, but it is hard to find housing in the Niagara region – affordable housing. But at first it was tough, too,” Nahli said.
Hejji waited six months to be reunited with her son and mother when the gate was finally reopened in June.
“It was hard, but I’m happy now, not too much because my husband is not here,” Hejji said.
When her mother and Ayoub arrived in the United States in June her parents drove Ayoub to Fort Erie to be reunited with Hejji, Ayoub’s sister Alma and his baby brother Badr Alhorkali, who is now six months old.
Since moving to Canada Hejji’s mind has been at ease. She no longer has to worry about her children’s safety or how they will be able to find food. Hejji said she still worries about her husband though, and things would be much easier if she had him with her.
Hejji has applied for permanent residency, which will allow her to sponsor her husband. The process could take up to 16 months. Hejji said it might be two years before she will see her husband again, and she is worried about his safety because the situation is not stable in Palestine.
“A couple days ago there were rockets firing, they are not going to stop She is saying there is potential there is going to be another war,” Nahli said.
It was hard, but I’m happy now, not too much because my husband is not here.” Alla Hejji