His daughter was born in Gaza during the war. In Toronto, they finally met
CBC
Over the past few weeks, Ahmad Abualjedian has been in Brantford, Ont., preparing to hear that his wife and daughter, who was born in the waiting room of an overflowing hospital in Gaza, had died.
After communications in the besieged territory were cut off, he couldn't get in touch with them for days at a time. His wife, Yara Abualjedian, gave birth in the city of Jabalia on Oct. 23, in a hospital with no electricity and without anesthetic. Now, he said, both she and the whole family are finally getting some relief.
On Friday morning, Ahmad, a Canadian permanent resident who is visually impaired, stood in the Pearson International Airport arrivals area with a bouquet of flowers clutched to his chest, a Canadian flag poking out of the foliage, and for the first time in either of their lives, touched his baby daughter.
"I don't know what to say, but finally I got my dream," said Ahmad.
After initially being told Global Affairs Canada couldn't help the family, Ahmad's wife and baby, named Sila, were eventually taken to the Canadian Embassy in Cairo before flying to Toronto. Yara and Sila are among the Canadians and family members who have been able to leave Gaza through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt since the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7.
Amid the pain the fighting has brought to thousands of families — Ahmad has lost a sister and cousins during the war — he said on Friday he wanted to focus on happiness.
"We have to be positive, we have to be looking, not to the past, [looking] into the future now," he said. "We will start [to] build our future in Canada."
Yara and Sila have been granted temporary permanent residence status in Canada. To help build their life here, Ahmad is looking for work so he can support them, but that has proved difficult due to his impaired vision, according to friends with him at the airport.
Speaking through Ahmad as a translator, Yara said the feeling of being in Canada was indescribable.
"I was dreaming to be with my husband," Ahmad said, translating for Yara. "To be with him and help him as a blind person."
Yara described the terror of living in Gaza during Israel's bombardment. She was worried for her life, worried about giving birth, and then worried for her daughter.
"We were just running, running from place to place to get safe," Ahmad said, translating for Yara.
WATCH | What it's like to reach the Rafah border crossing:
While in Gaza, she said she stayed in the Jabalia refugee camp, which a spokesperson for the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) confirmed was hit by an airstrike on Oct. 31. The director of a nearby hospital told Al Jazeera that more than 50 Palestinians were killed and 150 wounded. The IDF says it was targeting a senior Hamas leader.
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