His face is familiar to his 850,000 Instagram followers. Even though he is only 9 years old. For months he narrates his harsh reality every day war in Gaza. Through the eyes of a child.
Her name Lama Abu Jamous– a rising Palestinian journalist – became the voice of Gaza. “I love the profession of journalist, because in this way I can help the voices of Palestinian children to be heard throughout the world”, says Lama confidently in the Lebanese L`Orient le Jour.
Lama’s family was forced to leave their home in Gaza City when the Israeli invasion began and taking refuge in Rafah.
And since then, the girl, wearing an oversized bulletproof vest, has stood in front of her cell phone camera, delivering news and commenting on the chaos and destruction unfolding around her.
A brave girl
On Lama’s Instagram account no more happy photos from birthdays and school holidays. In their place are now short videos about the horrific conditions around them. For the more than 16,000 children who have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war.
In an area recently named by the UN as “the most dangerous place in the world for a child to live”, Lama’s work is incredibly brave and inspiring.
“Llama is a social person” and from a very young age she had this wonderful talent for conversation”, says her uncle Ahmed Abu Jamous, revealing that she “learned a lot from her father”, who is a journalist. “When the war started, she took her mother’s phone and started make short videos to talk about the situation in Gaza, the bombings and the displacement of people”, explained Ahmed.
“Let children’s voices be heard”
“I love holding the camera and photographing people…to take the images around me to the whole world,” Lama said in an interview. “I post videos about the war on Instagram… I want the world to hear the voices of the children of Palestine… We are facing torture, hunger and forced displacement in the midst of it all and we want the world to hear us,” she says with a look full of courage.
In a recent video, Lama captures the lives of displaced people living in camps in Rafah. With little access to water or food. He interviews children and adults around him. In a video, your voice is not heard. An Israeli military plane flying very low almost drowns out his voice. “My message to the world is to stop the bombings,” he says. “Everywhere we go, bombs fall. We need a safe zone. We don’t want war.”
The beautiful smile
In one of her videos, Lama is interviewed by award-winning Al Jazeera journalist Wael al-Dadouh. He asks, “What’s your message, Uncle Wael?” al-Dadouh speaks of the pain and “high price” paid by the Palestinian people. But at the same time, as he looks at the Lilliputian reporter in front of him, he says, “As long as we have people like you with a beautiful smile, then, God willing, we will overcome this ordeal with dignity and tolerance.”
Without her knowing or caring, the nine-year-old Llama is hope for all of us, professional journalists: “If I must die, you must live to tell my story”