Youth of Palestine... Don't let despair steal the future. Dr. Ahmad Hamdan
In Palestine, there is a whole generation of youth growing up in harsh conditions they did not choose, trying to live a normal life in a reality that does not resemble normal life. Youth who want to study, work, marry, build homes, achieve their dreams, travel, discover the world, and return to build their country, but many of them find themselves in a daily battle with fear, anxiety, lack of opportunities, and tight circumstances. However, despite everything our people have gone through and continue to go through, there is still something that no one can take away from Palestinian youth, which is the dream.
Education may be disrupted, job opportunities may be lost, scholarships may be delayed, a young person may have to leave university or postpone their ambitions for years, and a graduate may find themselves holding a degree in hand without finding the door that opens their path, but all of this does not mean that a person has come to an end. Sometimes we do not lose our dreams; rather, their timelines change. The road may be delayed, but it does not end.
To every Palestinian youth who feels that time is passing and they have not achieved what they hoped for, do not be harsh on yourself. Do not compare your life to that of a young person living in a stable country, and do not compare your beginning to that of someone born in better circumstances. You did not start from the same point, and you did not carry the same burdens, so it is not fair to judge yourself by the same standards. Perhaps you are a year or two or more late, but that does not mean you are late for life. Perhaps your studies have stopped, but your mind has not. Perhaps you lost a job, but your ability to work has not died. And perhaps many doors have closed in front of you, but the door that will change your life may still be waiting for you.
The real problem is not that our circumstances are difficult, but that we allow these circumstances to convince us that we are incapable. When a person is convinced that they cannot, they begin to surrender even if they have the ability. However, when they believe in themselves, they start looking for a way, even if the road is long and tiring.
Therefore, O youth of Palestine, do not wait for life to become perfect before you start. Do not wait for all crises to end before you learn, do not wait for all possibilities to be available before you start a project, and do not wait for someone to tell you that the time is right. Start with what you can. Read a book. Learn a language. Develop a skill. Write a research paper. Follow a course. Look for a scholarship. Connect with a university. Learn from the internet. Help a colleague. Teach a child. Do anything that makes you better than yesterday. These things may seem small, but over time they create a different person.
The world has not always changed because of people who had everything; it has changed a lot because of people who started with little and believed they could do something. Stephen Hawking did not allow his illness to prevent his mind from reaching the depths of the universe, and Malala did not allow an attempt to silence her to end her message in defending education, and Nelson Mandela emerged from many years in prison carrying the idea that the future could be better than the past. Their lives were not easy, but they realized that a person does not always choose the circumstances they live in, but they can choose how to deal with them.
And here I say to the youth of Palestine: No one is asking you to change the whole world. It is enough to change something small around you. A student who succeeds and continues their studies is a success story. A young person learning a new profession is a success story. A girl completing her education despite difficulties is a success story. A researcher writing a new paper is a success story. A doctor serving a patient, a teacher instilling hope in a student, an engineer contributing to reconstruction, and a young person establishing a project and providing job opportunities for others, all of these are shaping the future in one way or another.
We do not want the world to see Palestinian youth only through images of pain, destruction, unemployment, siege, and war. Yes, these are painful realities that cannot be ignored, but behind these images is a whole generation with minds, dreams, and talents. There are youth who want to be scientists, doctors, engineers, university professors, programmers, writers, artists, and entrepreneurs. Some want to complete their master's and doctoral degrees, some want to start their small projects, and some just want to find a decent job through which they can live and support their families. These simple dreams are not a luxury; they are a natural right for every human being.
Most importantly, we must stop looking at ourselves as mere victims. Yes, we have suffered, and we still suffer, but we are not just pain. We are also the ability to rise, the ability to learn, the ability to build, and the ability to turn difficult experiences into a motivation for a better life. Do not let what has happened to you define everything you will be.
We may not be able to change everything around us right now, and we may not be able to stop all crises or open all closed doors, but we can keep our minds from surrendering, our hearts from despairing, and our dreams from dying. And these are not simple things. A person who maintains their hope in the toughest circumstances is a person who still possesses great strength.
O youth of Palestine, do not say that the opportunity has ended. Perhaps the opportunity you were waiting for has not yet come, and this is completely different from saying that life has ended. Do not say that you are late, for every person has their own timing. Do not say that you have nothing, for the mind that learns, the hand that works, and the idea that is born in a young person's head can be the beginning of a complete project and a complete life.
We must believe in ourselves more, and we must believe in each other more. We must cooperate instead of discouraging each other, and we must encourage each other instead of diminishing each other's dreams. If one of us succeeds, let us rejoice in their success. If one of us stumbles, let us extend our hands to them. A strong community is not the one that does not let its members fall, but the one that helps its children rise.
And I say to every young person who feels that circumstances have broken something inside them: It is okay to be tired, it is okay to cry, it is okay to sometimes feel that you can no longer. We are human and not machines. But do not let fatigue be a final decision. Take a breath, rest, and then try again. Perhaps today you cannot take ten steps, but one step is enough. And tomorrow you may be able to take two steps, and the day after three. The important thing is not to stop completely.
Palestine needs its youth, not only to carry its burdens but also to carry its future.
