Gazan journalist says over 20 members of his family were killed in airstrike

https://www.npr.org/2023/12/06/ [login to see] /gazan-journalist-says-over-20-members-of-his-family-were-killed-in-airstrike
When Ahmed Alnaouq's brother Ayman was killed during an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in 2014, he said he spent a lot of time next to his brother's grave. As he grieved the loss of his brother, he said he became so depressed he lost all interest in life and wanted to die.

"I felt that we are unheard," Alnaouq told Morning Edition. "That people don't care about us, that our stories are not heard, that our suffering is not noticed from anyone in the world, especially the West."

One day, Alnaouq heard from one of his American journalist friends, who asked how he was really doing. He started crying, and said he was spending his time in the graveyard. She told him he should write about how he feels in English. At first, he didn't think it was a good idea.

"I told her, why would I do that? They will not care about our stories. They look at us as subhumans. That we are all terrorists," he said.

But he eventually decided to pen his story, and he got a positive response from readers.

"They read my story and they care about me. It made me feel better that I was wrong. Some people care about us. Not all the listeners think of us as subhumans," he said.