Growing up in Gaza, I didn’t realize that the siege I was living under was unique or that others didn’t face a constant threat of death. It was only after I left that I understood I had grown up in a concentration camp, and that it shaped my life.

A Palestinian family sits on the rubble of their home destroyed during Israel's 22-day offensive in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on February 16, 2009. The attacks came despite ceasefires declared on January 18, 2009, after a three-week Israeli offensive against the territory's Hamas rulers that killed 1,330 Palestinians (Photo: APAIMAGES PHOTO / Ashraf Amra)Growing up in Gaza, I didn’t realize that the siege I was living under was unique or that others didn’t face a constant threat of death. It was only after I left that I understood I had grown up in a concentration camp, and that it shaped my life.

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