My friend Yousef and I have been best friends since childhood. For us, everything began as two teenagers dreaming of our financial futures.

We shared the same classroom since we were in elementary school together. We long had the dream of starting our own business. However, the Israeli military had a different plan, destroying our homes and shattering our dreams along the way.

The launch of a bold adventure

I grew up in Gaza and remain here to this day. Yousef had spent several years of his life in Egypt before his father decided to return with him to Gaza, for many reasons. One was to allow Yousef to take the Tawjihi exams in Gaza. This is an important test for high school students in Palestine that determines university admissions and future career paths.

I took several courses in design and marketing and looked forward to working as a freelancer. Because of Yousef’s deep love for his city and his desire to be with his friends during this challenging year, he was committed to studying hard and improving his skill set. He gained valuable experience in commerce as his father was a merchant, and he also found his passion in that field.

We couldn’t just sit still without seeking a bold, new adventure, so we decided to combine our skills and launch an online business named Socks Store. We offered painted socks with funny cartoon drawings in unique designs, including playful prints, ducks, Picasso-inspired patterns, avocados, Nike-inspired designs, the Starry Night, and the Mona Lisa. This new trend of painted socks quickly spread, as they added a touch of fun and creativity to anyone’s style.

Yousef and I gave our best effort to save up the capital to open our store. We had to import socks from Egypt, which was challenging, especially for us as teenagers and beginners. We also faced many other obstacles besides financial ones. Promoting our products, especially with marketing, proved difficult. We struggled to find creative ways to photograph our unique products. Without a professional camera, we had to rely on my Samsung phone to record videos and capture photos of our products. Despite these efforts, the store didn’t grab much attention.

These challenges combined with the increasing pressure of the impending Tawjihi exams. It was difficult for us to balance time between our small business and our education. We lost countless hours of sleep, which negatively impacted both our health and our grades. We forced ourselves to stay up late to make up for our academic shortcomings, but this only made things worse. We soon began falling asleep in class, and our families grew concerned that we were focusing too much on the Socks Store instead of on our studies. As a result of these pressures, we grew depressed and frustrated.

The store takes off

During that difficult time, we promised each other to never lose hope, no matter what happened. If one of us felt tired or discouraged, the other would encourage him to keep going and finish what we started.

We developed a marketing plan targeting popular influencers in Gaza, such as Rahaf Pro, Mohammad Jomaa, and others. This strategy helped us gain more recognition and significantly boosted our sales.

The positive feedback on the quality and design of our socks from our clients made us happier than ever, encouraging us to continue! As a result, we soon expanded our product line, adding new items like tapestries, backpacks, and tote bags with special designs inspired by Van Gogh’s Starry Night, Harry Potter, Attack on Titan, and NASA.

We had been using simple methods to deliver orders by ourselves, often walking or taking the bus, which took a lot of time. Sometimes, my brother Hussein would deliver orders on his way to work. But then we hired a delivery service called Torood.

With efficiencies like this, we were able to reduce the time spent working on the store and dedicate more time to school. This gave us more time to focus on our studies so that our concerns about the Tawjihi began to fade. Our store was rapidly gaining popularity, and our dreams finally started to shine.

Then the war struck, bringing with it a harsh new reality.

We went from being students and business owners to homeless and displaced people. Our backpacks, which once carried our passions, books, and dreams, now carry some worn-out clothes, the ashes of our homes, and the memories of our previous lives.

Separated business partners

The last thing Yousef’s backpack carried was his hope for a normal life in Gaza. A hope that had been shattered. He was forced to return to Egypt just to survive. He took with him a bag holding his last memories of his destroyed home, his lost dreams, and a ring. The ring was a gift from me, meant to remind him of me if I were ever martyred.

At the same time in Gaza, I was forced to confront death every day. This came not just from Israeli airstrikes but from the pain of witnessing my city, my ambitions, and even what I considered my second home, Yousef’s house, be brutally destroyed. I felt utterly powerless, just as the entire world also seemed powerless to stop it.

Now, no one in Gaza lives in peace. My dreams have shifted from passing Tawjihi with a high GPA and becoming a successful businessman, to simply living in a safer place, far away from this war. My dreams now center on seeing the end of this genocide and finding enough resources to rebuild my life. My hope is also that, if I must die, to be buried whole and not beheaded or reduced to shreds by Israeli bombs.