#OutlookMagazine Anniversary Issue | They didn't even let us say goodbye to him - video Dailymotion

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00:00 "I am Pragya and I bring to you excerpts from the year-ender issue titled 'We bear witness'

00:06 The issue is dedicated to the people of Gaza and what they went through."

00:10 They didn't even let us say goodbye to him, Paiha Salash, as told to Abhigpatacharya from Outlook.

00:18 West Bank-based journalist Paiha Salash recounts her family's harrowing ordeal.

00:24 "It was the day of my graduation ceremony. Mohamed wanted to surprise me by coming from Hebron.

00:31 But no, he couldn't make it. The Israeli army arrested him at a military checkpoint and

00:37 sentenced him to prison for 16 months. What was his offence? Wanting to attend his fiancé's

00:44 graduation ceremony. However, this was neither the end of it nor the beginning.

00:49 Before the 2000 Intifada, I used to see cruel scenes of Palestinian youths and children being

00:56 killed by Israeli army only on TV. But this time, it was our turn. They invaded West Bank,

01:02 and for the first time in my life, a tank passed near me while I was playing with my friends in

01:08 the neighbourhood. An Israeli military checkpoint was placed near my family's house. And to this day,

01:15 we watch soldiers forcing vehicles to stop for long hours and preventing them from exiting the

01:22 city of Ramallah to the northern West Bank. This is our daily reality. At the entrance of our town,

01:29 they had placed red signs with the words, 'To Israeli citizens, you are forbidden from

01:34 entering this area because that will expose you to danger.' Are we monsters? Are we killing,

01:40 setting up barriers, arresting or confiscating land? I remember there was a beautiful hill

01:47 in front of our house on the opposite side of the town. Year after year, Israeli bulldozers

01:53 began to level it and turn it into a settlement. It is now forbidden for us to even approach it.

02:00 If we do, we will be killed. But even in occupation, love finds its own way. I fell in

02:07 love with my journalism colleague, Muhammad Al-Khik, in 2006 and announced our engagement.

02:13 Our journey, nevertheless, was not meant to be easy. In 2008, we were preparing for our marriage.

02:20 So we bought everything, including the wedding dress, a house and furniture for it. And then,

02:27 just before a month of our wedding, he was arrested. Even after the struggle,

02:32 we dreamt of building our lives. In 2009, we got married, had our children. Whereas I continued to

02:39 work as a journalist, Muhammad became a political analyst. But a peaceful journey was perhaps the

02:45 last thing that we could expect. In 2015, Israeli soldiers stormed into our house and arrested him

02:53 after blowing up the door. They didn't even let us say goodbye to him. Islam, my son,

02:58 was just 3 years old at that time and my daughter, Lua, was 1. A few days later,

03:05 Muhammad began a hunger strike while he was in the interrogation center. He was subjected to

03:10 psychological and physical torture. His strike continued for 94 days. He lost two-thirds of his

03:17 weight and returned to us like a skeleton. However, still life goes on, perhaps in the hope

03:24 for a better world. For this and more, read the Year-Ender issue of Outlook.