From Gaza to Australia: Mariam’s journey of survival

Mariam Dawwas and her family are among the fortunate few Gazans who have been granted visas to Australia for a year. BEN LYNFIELD hears their harrowing story.

When Mariam Dawwas arrives in Australia with her five-year-old daughter Sophie to open a new chapter in their lives, she will be carrying traumas, scars and guilt from surviving the war in Gaza.

Dawwas, 30, from now-devastated Gaza City, her mother, her two sisters and young daughter are among the fortunate few from Gaza to be granted visas to come to Australia and stay for one year.

At the moment, they are in Cairo, recovering from their ordeals and trying to raise funds for the airfare and expenses through crowdsourcing. They left behind many loved ones, including Mariam’s grandfather, aunts, uncles, cousins and close friends. Mariam’s father, Mohammed, a journalist and fixer with whom I used to work while covering Gaza during the second intifada uprising (2000-05), died during the war after suffering a stroke and being unable to access medical care.

Mariam is hoping Australia will be a safe space to raise Sophie. She worked as a translator for journalists and on women’s issues in Gaza for Euro-Med monitor, a Geneva-based human rights group She has a cousin in Melbourne, Omar Dawwas, an Australian citizen who had power of attorney to follow up with officials about the visa applications. “I want to get Sophie everything she needs to start with,” Mariam told The Jewish Independent.

She also wants “to help present the Palestinian case” in Australia. “I want to tell our story.” But first, Mariam has to recover. In an interview with The Jewish Independent from Cairo, it became clear that she will for some time be processing the horrors of the war and dealing with her fears for the safety of loved ones left behind.