With the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, many of the Muslim citizens of Gaza were left without the proper food and water supplies to celebrate this year’s Ramadan safely, all while Deep Run’s Muslim students had substantial food and water to celebrate the holy month comfortably. This has caused many, including me, to struggle with wrapping our heads around the dystopian situation.
Ramadan is celebrated by fasting for 30 days, from sunrise to sunset. During this time, Muslims try to improve themselves both spiritually and religiously. Ramadan this year started on March 10 and ended on April 9. However, with Ramadan beginning at the height of the conflict and a famine taking root, many in Palestine have been deprived of the correct conditions to practice Ramadan to its full extent. Traditionally, the Palestinian people would break their fasts with dates, water, and flavorful Palestinian dishes. This year, citizens have had to break their fasts with very little water and semi-edible food, many even resorting to eating cooked grass, according to “A Ramadan no Palestinian will ever forget” from the popular media network Al Jazeera.
Along with others in the local Muslim student community, I have been deeply affected after seeing fellow Muslims in such a dire state. It’s caused guilt, distress, and hopelessness, affecting school work and the fasting experience. With the stress of knowing that my Muslim brothers and sisters across the ocean have been experiencing famine while celebrating such a holy month, it’s difficult to pay attention in class. Guilt hits you for feeling hungry when many are deprived of sufficient food and water.
Despite trying as hard as I could to pay attention, the words would go through one ear and out the other. The hunger from fasting was a constant reminder of the state of the world. And as much as it affected the community and me mentally and physically, it also affected me academically. As someone whose grades float between As and Bs, my grades dropped drastically. I could not focus on anything and the importance of getting my work done no longer felt so urgent. The privilege of education and proper supplies to go through Ramadan has been something that many Muslim students have not been able to overlook.
“I hate school” is a phrase that most students have probably heard or said at some point, but during Ramadan, I couldn’t quite muster up the phrase without feeling even a tinge of guilt. I kept feeling both guilt and gratitude, congealed into an indistinguishable feeling. My awareness of my privilege hit harder than ever before. My friend, junior Alveena Khan felt the same way.
“Seeing what the people in Gaza are facing made me feel more grateful that I at least have good food to eat at the end of the day and a place to learn,” Khan said.
The situation at hand has made the students want to work hard despite fasting at the time. I would go through spells of not feeling any motivation, but every time I realized that I was taking my privilege for granted, I got spikes of productivity, which would then drop when realizing that I had that privilege and the Palestinians didn’t. It was a constant loop of feeling unmotivated and extremely motivated without any warning of which one would make an appearance. Ignoring the feelings of hunger and fatigue, I tried my best to continue my education with proper effort and time. Senior Nusrat Jahan spoke about the familiar feeling.
“I work as hard as I can in school for the Palestinian children who don’t have an education to look forward to to keep their minds off fasting,” Jahan said.
Despite the struggle, the Muslim community is grateful for the opportunities and blessings they have. Food to keep them full and water to keep them quenched, especially during Ramadan, when many in Palestine are starting their fasts without anything to break them with.
Many Muslims had struggled during Ramadan due to current events, but it has changed perspectives among the community. It hit me harder than I expected it to, and it made me reflect on the times that I took what I had for granted. One of those things is that the school that I’m in gives me something to build my future on and look forward to. The experience made me realize that there are some blessings that we don’t quite account for until one sees the effects of not having them.
