When I first stumbled upon this image, I found it to be incredibly powerful before even reading anything about it. I stumbled upon it attached to an article on a news website. Apparently this is a girl’s school on their first day of class in Gaza, Palestine. These are Palestinian girls just trying to enjoy an education, but it is obvious in this photo the kind of adversity they face every single day. First, I think it is important to note that the girls in this photo are Muslim, as is the majority in Gaza.This is obviously a really heated region where official government is unclear. The Gaza strip is an enclave of Palestine which is not formally recognized by the entire world as an actual country. The terrorist group, Hamas has been forcing Islamization of the Gaza strip for over a decade. Therefore, the government of this region enforces strict Islamic law. These girls are not allowed to learn in a classroom alongside boys and they must wear the hijab (head-covering) when they are in public.

Even worse than this strict Islamic law and thus lack of freedom, is the violence that these girls must face everyday simply because if where they were born. These girls have never committed any crimes. They are not responsible for the centuries-long conflict facing their home territory. Nonetheless, they are forced to live in fear of bombs and other attacks by Israelis. Clearly, the terrorist group Hamas that is present in Gaza must be eradicated, but current methods are just not working. Israel has relentlessly bombed the region and hurt so many civilians in its path.

This image makes the argument to stop the violence. Girls deserve to go to school and learn without violence and bombing staring them in the face. They deserve to got to school that does not have a huge gaping hole in the chalkboard because of bombs from the Israelis.

The image also points out the importance of resilience. Even though their lives may be at risk, these girls push through and try to live life as normally as possible. It is education that will allow these girls to speak out and fight back the injustices of their circumstances.