What would make you move to Gaza?

The small strip of land along the Mediterranean coast is run by Hamas, the Islamist group Israel and the U.S. consider a terrorist organization. Earlier this year the World Bank said Gaza probably had the highest rate of unemployment in the world. It can be difficult to get into Gaza, and, if you are Palestinian, very difficult to get the necessary Israeli or Egyptian permission to leave.

Three wars between Israel and Hamas since 2008 killed more than 3,000 Gazans, the majority civilians.

But the Aloul family was living elsewhere during those wars. In November 2008, Ihab al-Aloul and his wife, Somaya, left Gaza City and took their six children to Vancouver, British Columbia.

Last fall, they moved back.

The benefits and drawbacks to that decision play out differently for each family member and provide a glimpse into life in Gaza.

One benefit for the Alouls in Gaza is a private swimming pool. On a recent afternoon, workers installed a new lawn around the pool patio. The squares of grass were grown on a local sod farm. One drawback: the irrigation water is salty; much of the tap water in Gaza is brackish. Aloul says it's not the best for the grass, but "it's not killing that much."

In Canada, the family's apartment had no yard, let alone a pool.

A Weekend Home

The pool is part of what is essentially a weekend home for Aloul. His father bought the land, and Aloul built the home and pool more than a decade ago.

Below the flat rooftop, the Mediterranean sparkles blue, just a few blocks away. Bright cafe umbrellas line the beach, and a Ferris wheel rises high.

Just a few miles north lies Israel. During the war last summer, Israeli military strikes destroyed one corner of the property — and the house next-door. Militants with Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, were firing rockets into Israel.

Aloul and his family had been in Canada during the 2008 and 2012 wars between Hamas and Israel. They watched last summer's war on TV from Egypt. The plan was a long summer visit. But by the time they finally could enter Gaza in September, they had decided to stay.

Aloul says a big reason was family.

Ihab al-Aloul with his son Abdel Rahman outside the family's weekend house near the beach in Gaza.

Ihab al-Aloul with his son Abdel Rahman outside the family's weekend house near the beach in Gaza.

Emily Harris/NPR

"I miss my parents," he says.

Money, too, played a role. Aloul is a software development manager and had his own company in Gaza before moving to Canada. He says despite earning an MBA, it wasn't so easy to get on his feet there. Here, his father helps.

"Here my dad is rich, he has his land, he has business, so he can support me," Aloul says.

His father bought land relatively cheaply decades ago. With the population growing and the amount of available land for building shrinking, real estate became a source of wealth.

Besides the pool compound, which Aloul may turn into a business, Aloul's family has use of an apartment on the upper floor of a building his father owns.

The Kids Adjust

Aloul's two youngest sons are happy in Gaza. There are cousins to play with, though 9-year-old Abdel Rahman says he misses his oldest brother, who stayed behind to finish college.

Two other children, also college students, feel they have more freedom in Gaza than they did in Canada. Their father, Ihab, didn't like the influences of Western culture on teenagers, concerned they'd drink or start romantic relationships.

But in Gaza, 22-year-old Ahmed can hang out with his cousins in cafes past midnight. Nour, 20, says she does what she wants, too.

"My parents, they gave me all the freedom here. I go out, I do whatever I want," she says. "You walk in the streets, you know that no one will do something bad for you."

Although she says she liked the diverse range of friends she made in Canada, Nour says she feels more like herself here.

"I'm around people who really like me," she says. "People with same religion, people with same thinking. I walk around, no one talks about my scarf."

She says she was teased about her headscarf in her Canadian high school. Her mother, Somaya, 41, also loves Gaza and being with family, but calls Canada her other home. Cheerful and outgoing, she says she found more freedom and more opportunity as a woman in Canada. She studied English, volunteered and helped other immigrant women adjust.

Her days in Gaza are spent "just at home" caring for her children.

The Difficulty Of Traveling

Somaya calls Gaza a box with no exit. The border with Egypt is mostly closed. Even though they are Canadian citizens, each family member needs a permit to leave Gaza through Israel because of Israel's security concerns. Ihab wasn't allowed to accompany his sick father recently for medical care in Jerusalem.

After 10 months in Gaza, it is 14-year-old Kareem, who started first grade back in Canada, who seems to struggle with the blended identity most. He's nuts about hockey, while his friends in Gaza care only about soccer.

Just out of eighth grade now, he started the year far behind his classmates in Arabic literacy. He mostly feels different from his peers here because he has no experience with war.

He tears up as he talks about this. Friends have told him what explosions sound like. They sometimes sound confident, he says. But he can't really imagine.

"I'm, like, so scared, because I haven't lived one," he says, one tear spilling over. Then he bravely adds, "So I'm gonna try it." And he laughs a little.

The Aloul family is still debating whether to stay in Gaza. Unless things change significantly, there is a presumption there could well be another war. If that happens while they are living in Gaza, they hope being Canadian would help them get out.

Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

As bad as conditions are in Greece, they are worse just across the Mediterranean in Gaza. That's a strip of Palestinian territory controlled by Hamas. Israel and Egypt impose limits on entry and exit. Repeated wars between Hamas and Israel have killed thousands, which makes this next story all the more striking. It is the story of a Palestinian-Canadian family that got out of Gaza and then decided to return. NPR's Emily Harris asked them to compare their year in Gaza with the life they left behind.

EMILY HARRIS, BYLINE: Here's something that might surprise you about Gaza - there's a sod farm there. A few weeks ago, workers helped Canadian-Palestinian Ihab Al-Aloul put in a lawn.

(CROSSTALK)

HARRIS: This is one pro of the Aloul family's life in Gaza versus their life in Canada. In Vancouver, Aloul's family apartment had no yard. One con here - the irrigation water is salty. Aloul says it probably won't kill the grass.

IHAB AL-ALOUL: It's not recommended, but it's not killing that much.

HARRIS: The water for their swimming pool - another plus - is salty, too. This is a weekend home for Aloul, steps from the Mediterranean. One minus - Israeli military strikes destroyed one corner of the property and the whole house next door during last summer's war. Militants with Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, were firing rockets into Israel. Despite the violence, Aloul says a big reason he came back to Gaza was family.

I. ALOUL: First of all, I miss my family. I missed my parents. I'm very close to my parents.

HARRIS: And he wasn't comfortable raising his six children in the West.

I. ALOUL: I didn't like to be, like, you know, in the West, boyfriend-girlfriend. I want them to be close to their religious beliefs. And that was very difficult there.

HARRIS: Money, too, played a role. Aloul is a software development manager and had his own company in Gaza before moving to Canada in 2008. But it wasn't so easy to get on his feet there, he says. Here, his father helps.

I. ALOUL: Here, my dad is rich. He has his land. He has a business, so he can support me.

HARRIS: Aloul's family now lives in an apartment on the upper floor of a building his father owns.

After nearly a year in Gaza, Aloul's 9-year-old son, Abdel Rahman, remembers some English.

ABDEL RAHMAN: How are you?

HARRIS: Two older children, both college students, feel they have more freedom here than they did in Canada. Ahmed, 22, can hang out with his cousins at beachfront cafes past midnight. Nour, 20 years old, says she does what she wants to do, too.

NOUR AL-ALOUL: My parents, they give you all the freedom here. Like, I go out, I do whatever I want because you walk in the streets, you know that no one will do something bad for you.

HARRIS: And although she liked the diverse range of friends she made in Canada, Nour says she feels more like herself here.

N. ALOUL: I'm around people who really understand me. I'm around people who really like me, people with same religion, people with same thinking. Like, I walk around, no one talks about my scarf.

HARRIS: She was teased about her headscarf in Canadian high school, she says. Her mother, Somaya, also loves Gaza as home. But she found more freedom and more opportunity as a woman in Canada. There was so much to do, she says - study, volunteer...

SOMAYA AL-ALOUL: Go out, do something, make volunteer, go to program, take the certificate, you know?

HARRIS: And here - what are your days like here?

S. ALOUL: Just at home, care about my kids, you know?

HARRIS: Somaya Aloul calls Gaza a box with no exit. The border with Egypt is mostly closed. Even though they are Canadian citizens, each family member needs a permit to leave Gaza through Israel because of Israel's security concerns. Ihab Aloul was not allowed to accompany his sick father for medical care in Jerusalem. But after 10 months in Gaza, it's 14-year-old Kareem who seems to struggle with the blended identity most.

KAREEM: People don't really realize I'm actually Gazian.

HARRIS: Mostly, he says, that's because he is crazy about hockey, which his Gaza classmates have barely heard of and care nothing about. But he also feels very different from his peers here because he has no experience in war. They've told him about it.

KAREEM: They're not so scared as much. But for me, I'm, like, so scared because I haven't lived one. So we're going to try it (laughter).

HARRIS: The Aloul family watched the last three wars in Gaza on television. There's a presumption there could well be a fourth. If so, they hope being Canadian would help them get out. Emily Harris, NPR News, Gaza. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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