Oxfam worker escapes Gaza prison

Oxfam’s Mohammed Ali reflects on his first weeks living in the UK after working under fire in his homeland for the past 2 years.

The moment I left Gaza I felt like I’d been let out of prison. It’s like the feeling a bird must have when all of a sudden, after years of living in a cage, someone opens the door. It flies away into the world, finally able to go where it wants and explore new things. That is how I feel as I write these words from a desk in Oxford.

I’ve now been here in the UK for nearly two weeks. It still feels like a dream! I waited two years to leave and I can’t believe I’m finally here. I keep thinking I’ll wake up back in Gaza, trapped, and unable to escape the misery we have all endured there since the Israeli blockade began two years ago.

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