DEIR AL-BALAH, (PIC)
Mu’taz Yahya Barzaq chose to build a mud hut instead of a tent to alleviate the pressures of displacement nearly a year after the Israeli war on Gaza.
On the shores of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza Strip, the elderly Barzaq constructed his hut using hundreds of sand-filled bags, stacking them like stones before smoothing them with a layer of mud and roofing them with asbestos sheets.
A mud hut
Barzaq, who has been living through an ongoing extermination campaign for 11 months, managed to break free from his cycle of suffering after the land became too constricted, with high apartment prices and the miserable reality of tents. He decided to create a mud hut to face the harsh winter ahead.
Barzaq said, “The idea of building something from the rubble of the Israeli bombardment came to me, but I hesitated because it felt wrong. Then I started constructing a mud hut, using 700 empty flour bags.” He added that he and a relative began filling the bags with sand, stacking them systematically, and once finished, they covered the outer walls with mud to give it strength and durability.
He noted that after completing the hut, he found its walls to be half a meter thick, which provided it with strength. He stated, “I have been living in it for over a month.”
Pride
He emphasized that he does not suffer in the hut; rather, he feels proud to have created a home for himself and his family, defying the occupation that seeks to displace and destroy Palestinians materially and spiritually.
He confirmed that the hut resembles old houses; it is cool in the summer and warm in the winter. He also mentioned that he built a short wall using the same method in front of the hut to fend off any potential waves as winter approaches.
He asserted that the occupation will not be able to break the will of the Palestinian people. As long as there is a heartbeat in a Palestinian’s chest, victory will be ours, no matter the sacrifices.
Palestinian Mu’taz Yahya hopes for the end of the extermination war and the return of life to normal, with the Palestinian people gaining their freedom and the occupation being cleansed from their sacred land.
