Karim is a 29-year-old Palestinian-Ukrainian surgeon currently living in Germany. Originally from Jabalia, Karim and his family are no strangers to the tumultuous conditions of living in an apartheid state.
Karim was able to leave Palestine to continue his medical training abroad with his Ukrainian passport. He remembers hearing the news about the Russian invasion and immediately calling his mother. Luckily, his Ukrainian family was able to escape most of the horror brought on by the Russia-Ukraine War.
Then, October.
Karim received news about the attacks and immediately called his father, a renowned vascular surgeon (formerly) at Al Shifa Hospital. His father, having grown up in Palestine, was well familiar with the continual assaults from the occupation and assured Karim that all would be well. However, the violence continued to escalate beyond what anyone had previously known.
The family home was completely destroyed during the first carpet bombing of the Jabalia area. Karim’s family were displaced, leaving only with their lives. They would be displaced a further five times before Karim was finally able to evacuate them to Cairo - just two short days before the Rafah invasion and border closure.
Karim flew down from Germany to surprise his family. You can view the beautiful moment in the video below.
The moment Karim and his family were reunited in Cairo.
Now in Cairo, the family faces new challenges. Karim’s father and stepmother cannot work legally in Egypt despite being highly skilled in their respective fields. Karim’s younger siblings, 15-year-old Hayat, 16-year-old Nada, and 17-year-old Karim-Abed, are all eager to return to their studies and resume some semblance of normalcy. Karim-Abed wishes to follow in his father and brother’s footsteps and study medicine. Hayat has begun teaching herself Python. Nada is teaching herself English and is determined to start school in the fall.
Karim and his sisters, Hayat (left) and Nada (right)
Karim has assumed all financial responsibility. He has returned to Germany and is awaiting exams to continue with his specialized residency. He has worked a variety of jobs and sent all his earnings back to his family. However, it is barely enough to cover rent, food, and essentials. With school about to begin, even more expenses need to be covered: tuition for the schools, books, notebooks, backpacks, pencils, and more.
Let’s face it: we humans are walking contradictions. We love (and hate) without reason. We are capable of grotesque horrors and yet are capable of the gentlest of kindnesses. We want to change the world, and in the same breath, we focus only on ourselves. We question everything, yet nothing important. We graciously welcome those displaced from one country and yet turn our backs on those from another. Why are we this way?
When Karim told us of his travels outside Palestine, he said he would be treated completely differently depending on which passport he showed. He was considered harmless and welcomed into the country without hassle if he showed his Ukrainian passport. And yet, he could travel through that same border crossing with his Palestinian passport and be treated as less than human. He is the same person - Ukrainian or Palestinian and yet one-half of him is deemed worthy of saving, and the other half is a death sentence.
Let this design serve as a reminder, in the good Doc’s own handwriting:
