A Bottle in the Gaza Sea and the 8 Stages of Genocide

In A Bottle in the Gaza Sea,  stages of Genocide are represented. In the book, groups of Palestinians are separated by the land of Israel, this would represent Polarization, which is when people are separated from each other and from the rest of society, this can also be seen as Preparation for when the bomb the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, or kill their residency. Another stage of Genocide is Classification and Symbolization, meaning that they are classified and forced to do other things. In the book, they are classified as Terrorists because their government is Hamas, whom are classified as terrorists in the U.S. They, the Palestinians, are forced to drive cars with Palestinian license plates and to cross check points the have to have the right paper work and be searched.

A Letter to Naim Al-Farjouk

Dear Mr. Naïm Al-Farjouk,

Hello, sir. My name is Katelyn Moe and I am a 10^th grader attending the Dayton Regional STEM School and have read the book, A Bottle in the Gaza Sea. Your character, Gazaman, or yourself, is a very interesting character to me. I would like to discuss your character with you. Gazaman’s attitude and personality intrigued me and caused me to wish to learn more about him. Knowing who he is, his age, and his life is not what I wish to learn more about, though. I am wishing to learn more about his personal life, his true personality, and how he feels about the person he begins to write to.

Gazaman, or yourself, found an Israeli wine bottle in the sand on the beach in the Gaza Strip, a part of land owned by the Palestinians. He opens it and reads the letter it holds. The letter is from an Israeli girl, a high school graduate, named Tal Levine, she left an e-mail address as she wished and hoped for a reply. Eventually, she receives an e-mail reply from you, Gazaman. She asks you several questions and you evade answering them until the end when you tell her that you are going off to college and will not be speaking to her for three years.

In the book, during one of your narration sections, you mention something about feeling like you are falling in love with her, as you did with a different Tal. Did you really feel this way about her? Do you believe in a thing such as love? Did you think that you should have told her? Do you wish you could turn back the clock so you can tell her? Did you ever think of the possibility that she could have had the same feelings for you, even though she had a boyfriend? I do look forward to your response and learning more of your character.

Sincerely,

Katelyn M. Moe

DRSS Student