Cinta Tidak Mengenal Sempadan: Luahan Hati Isteri Asing Di Gaza

Love knows no borders for foreign wives in war-scarred Gaza

• By Majd Al Waheidi , MediaCorp
• POSTED: 02 Nov 2014 14:59

Although war and conflict became the new realities of their lives after moving to Gaza, foreign wives in the city are prepared to make the sacrifice for love. 

GAZA: Living in an area which has been dubbed "the world's largest open-air prison" is fraught with challenges. Gaza is a hard place to thrive, and even more so for foreign-born women married to Palestinian men.

However, although the culture clash can be a shock, growing numbers of women are prepared to make that sacrifice for love. Elena Louzon has called Gaza home for almost 20 years. She met her Palestinian husband while he was studying in Ukraine and followed him to Gaza in the name of love.

The 38-year-old from Ukraine has made a good life for herself in Gaza running a successful beauty salon, but she has not forgotten her native land. “The war that you know, is better than the one that you don’t know about – I’m afraid about my country. I fear they will have the same destiny as Syria. I’m also sad about Palestine. Sometimes I feel like I’m an orphan from both sides,” she said.

Nearly 2,200 Palestinians were killed in the 50-day war in Gaza between Hamas militants and Israel. On the Israeli side, 73 people were killed, mostly soldiers.

Israeli border restrictions mean that Louzon has visited home no more than twice in two decades. But with the current political turmoil, Ukraine is nowadays not so much calmer than Gaza, and hundreds of Ukrainian and Russian-born women continue to move here.

After marrying a Russian woman, Dr Mohammed Badawi was inspired to establish the Compassionate Hearts Association, which provides support to foreign wives. “We found out that the biggest problems facing foreign wives here are related to employment and travelling. The economic situation in Gaza doesn’t allow them to see their homeland each year,” said Dr Mohammed Badawi, director of the association.

But not every foreign wife is longing for home. When Dr Anastasia Ghaben moved to Gaza from Russia, the devout Muslim was happy to be living in an Islamic society. “Thank God, I was ready for all social and religious changes. Regarding the religion, I was a Muslim since I was in Russia. I was very happy because I moved to an Islamic society,” she said. Dr Ghaben now practices as a specialist obstetrician and gynaecologist, but she still finds the time to teach her children Russian.

For Dr Ghaben and the 15,000 other foreign wives in Gaza, love and faith made their lives liveable in a city under blockade. When they moved here, war and conflict became the new realities of their lives, but most are prepared to pay the price. There might be restrictions everywhere, but love knows no borders.