First Person: "We Are Now Unable To Distinguish Joy From Fear"

Journalist Safa Joudeh’s Time magazine account of the bombing of her family’s apartment building in Gaza sent chills down our spines.

She and her family fled the building, only to be turned away from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency headquarters. They finally found out that the explosion they heard came from an off-target rocket, and even though a small boy was injured, they felt relieved. Joudeh writes:

We are now unable to distinguish joy from fear. My 11-year old sister laughs as she imagines how people all over the world watch the horrific events taking place in the Gaza Strip. “Its like we are a scary movie. I’m sure people eat popcorn as they watch,” she says. My 12- and 14-year old brothers act out scenes from our reality while quoting Metal Gear Solid 4 and Guns of Patriots, their favorite video game, and we laugh hysterically at their performance. Moments later we tense up at the sound of a violent, close by earthquake-like explosion, and resume our laughter when the building stops shaking.