A former journalist from Gaza becomes the new chargé d’affaires of the Palestine Embassy in India

Abed Elrazeg Abu Jazer, chargé d’affaires of Palestine Embassy in India, shares emotional journey from Gaza to New Delhi.

“I am from Gaza.” This is how Abed Elrazeg Abu Jazer, the chargé d’affaires of the Palestine Embassy in India, introduced himself to External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar at a Deepavali event organised by the External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi on October 29.

The idea of emphasising his origin, as Mr. Abu Jazer would later recollect, was to grab attention, and he did succeed in striking a conversation with both Mr. Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri.

Mr. Abu Jazer took over after the previous Palestinian Ambassador, Adnan Abu Al Haija, retired and left for Tunis to be with his family.

In normal circumstances, becoming the chargé d’affaires would have called for a celebration, but for Mr. Abu Jazer, this new responsibility came with its own emotional weight. The conflict in Gaza, where he was born and educated, has profoundly affected him and his family, just like everyone else in the area.

For the first seven months of the war, he was not able to sleep peacefully as his wife, Naela, and their children were stuck in Gaza. They lived in Rafah that was less affected by the Israeli bombings initially but as the bombings spread and the food scarcity deepened, they called Mr. Abu Jazer to do something. After weeks of trying, they managed to leave for Cairo, where he met them in May. But the concern that has been draining Mr. Abu Jazer at present is the well-being of his 90-year-old father, Mohammad Abu Jazer, who has moved with his youngest son from Rafah to Khan Younis.

“The condition of Rafah is extremely difficult. I can barely speak with my father in a week or 10 days as he has been moving from place to place and now has been displaced to Khan Younis. He told me that there is no food. Money is useless as they can’t get any food anywhere. There is no food in the markets, no food at any home,” said Mr. Abu Jazer, explaining that telephone connection is possible only occasionally as there is no electricity or Internet. “I don’t know if I will meet my father again and in what condition,” he added.

His other concern is his residence in Rafah that he built while working as a journalist. Before being posted to New Delhi in 2014, for more than two decades he worked as a journalist in Gaza. He started with Al Qabas, a Kuwaiti newspaper, and worked with Qatar’s Al Watan and Al Hayat Al Jadida and covered the 1996 election in Palestine that Yasser Arafat’s Fatah won.