I am Yazan Al-Talatin, director of the Keffiyeh Palestinian Arts Band from Gaza. ~

Before October 7, I was living my best life. I was working in graphic design for a major company and was responsible for the publications department. I was in charge of my band, which was the Palestinian Keffiyeh Dabke Band. My band was famous in the Gaza Strip. The band was founded on November 1, 2017. The Zionist occupation completely destroyed the band's tools, equipment, clothing, and headquarters, and all of them became under rubble.

When the war started, I was with my family in our dear home, full of our beautiful memories. On the seventh day of the war, Israel informed us of the immediate evacuation of the Gaza Strip to the south. We evacuated Gaza immediately without taking anything with us and hid in a canvas tent in a place like the desert. There was no electricity. Or water and food. We suffered, suffered, and suffered a lot.

We stayed in the southern region (Khan Yunis) for about a month and a half. My mother started cooking on firewood because there was no gas, and she started washing clothes by hand. We would go far away so we could fill water for washing, and it was difficult when we got drinking water. We sleep on the floor because there are no mattresses, and we get sick due to lack of food.

Next we were in the city of Rafah suffering from indiscriminate bombing of civilians and innocent people, and here we are suffering from high prices due to the lack of goods. We suffered from widespread diseases, including Hepatitis C, due to drinking unsafe water. Due to the high prices of goods and the significant increase in prices, we ate one snack a day, and we remained hungry. Sometimes we did not eat because we did not have money.

When the indiscriminate bombing began in the east of the city of Rafah, the Israeli army informed us to evacuate to the western area and began a ground entry into the east of the city of Rafah. They demolished houses and canvas tents and vandalized the infrastructure, and there was no shelter. We went to west Rafah, and then two weeks later, the Israeli army informed us to evacuate from west Rafah because it would be a dangerous combat zone, and indiscriminate bombing also began. We fled as refugees to the Deir al-Balah area, believing that it was safe, but it was not. There is no safety in any area in the Gaza Strip.

Now, two years after the genocidal war began. The war has torn our hearts and tortured us. It is very painful. It is really difficult to live in an unsafe place like the forest. There is nothing. There is no food, no drink, no potable water, diseases are widespread, there is no place to rest, and everything is painful here.

Crossing the border requires $5,000 per person, unfortunately, and my plan so far is to evacuate Gaza and reside in Egypt because it is the closest to us, but after that I do not know anything, and I do not know what we will do in our lives and in our coming future. I certainly wouldn't mind us leaving together.

I have the ability to train a large number of people in Palestinian Dabke, which is the Palestinian heritage. I would like to create a full team for Palestinian Dabke until it becomes professional so that we can perform at parties and in public places among people. Spreading the Palestinian cause and teaching more about Palestine and its heritage, this is a dream for me. I hope so, so I can live a safe life.

~ Yazan

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Hello Friends, my name is Christen Napier and I am here to help organize this fundraiser for my dear friend Yazan Altalatine and his family. Please share this fundraiser with others, and follow Yazan's social media pages where you can learn more about him. Thank you!

Yazan on Instgram

Yazan on TikTok