by Devin A.C. Dadah
Many centuries ago, during a time when the need for silk connected trade throughout the Old World, an invention so revolutionary made its way to England. It was a coarse silk fabric mixed with various wools primarily used for surgical dressing. The traders from Palestine and the Levant who began selling this cloth to Europeans called it qazz. By the time it made its way to England the Arabic word qazz morphed into gauze, adding to the lexicon of over 10,000 English words with Arabic origins. Gauze or qazz, was named after the place where it was invented, the ancient Palestinian city of Gaza.
During the Israeli bombardment of Gaza in 2021, an Iraqi poet by the name of Sinaan Antoon wrote this about the resilience of the Gazan people:
يَضرِبُونَ جُذُورَهُم في الأَرضِ وَيَحفِرُونَ في عَطَشِهِم بِئْراً لِيَشرَبُوا كَصُبَّارٍ خُرَافِيٍّ … لِلصُّبَّارِ دَمعٌ قَدِيمٌ وَشَوكٌ خُرَافِيّ لِمَنْ يُرِيدُ إِقتِلَاعَهُ
“They strike their roots into the earth and dig, in their thirst, a well to drink like a legendary cactus… For the cactus has ancient tears and fabulous spines (needles) for whomever wants to uproot it.”
Antoon recites a sublime truth unique to the existence of Gazans. The palpable reality that Gaza and its people are an ancient few which have shaped the world in ways we cannot fully comprehend. That when the people of Gaza are under attack, there is no room for doubt or instability or skepticism. One’s only choice is to strike roots into the soil and draw upon the ancient waters in defense of an inalienable right to exist.
The gauze, though it may not be immediately recognized as such, is a universal symbol of resilience. Instead of submitting to the fate of an open wound, the people of Gaza created a modern remedy for the potentiality of death. Gazans then shared their invention with the world, saving billions of people throughout the ages. This is to say we all have drawn upon the resilience of Gaza at some point in our lives. When you wrapped a swollen ankle or protected a gash from infection, the gauze acted as a material embrace of Gaza: seamlessly unrestricted by time and space.
In light of these revelations, it is equally important to recognize that this is the worst carnage Gaza has ever experienced in its 5,300 year history. We are here to witness a truly horrific moment in the history of humanity. That is a fact we must come to terms with if we are to move forward. That there is a unique display of violence that is totally unfamiliar and unexpected, yet for some of us not completely unsurprising. For it to befall the people of Gaza leaves even the most steadfast believers questioning the existence of a merciful god.
Despite such a confusion in thought, it has become apparent to the entire world the nature of such resilience. That as Gazans return home to bury the dead, they do so with a smile on their face. For perhaps it is more true now than ever that:
“There is a blessing in calamity that the wise man should not ignore, for it erases sins, gives one the opportunity to attain the reward for patience, dispels negligence, reminds one of blessings at the time of health, calls one to repent and encourages one to give charity.”
— Al-Fadl Ibn Saleh, Abbasid governor of Syria
