MONTHS after being reunited with his young children in Ireland, Belfast-born Palestinian Khalid El-Astal has urged Stormont leaders in Washington to push for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Khalid (30) first spoke to The Irish News last year after learning his wife Ashwak Jendia had been killed after an explosion, with their son Ali (4) and daughter Sara (1) also hospitalised.
An agonising wait followed before their emotional reunion at Dublin Airport in November.
Since then, Khalid has built a new community around his children in the Sallynoggin suburb of Dublin, with many friends becoming like favourite aunts and uncles.
The happiness in seeing them settled also comes with the grief of losing his wife, with recent events like Mother’s Day being especially difficult.
There is also anxiety for his father Ali (60), who was a researcher at Queen’s University Belfast when Khalid was born, and brothers Abdullah (21) and Abdul Rahman (25) who are still unable to leave Gaza.
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Another left behind is his close friend Refaat-Abu Shab (29), who lost his wife and a son and daughter the same age as Khalid’s children.
They are among an estimated 31,000 people in Gaza to have been killed since the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, where around 1,200 people were also killed and over 200 people taken hostage.
On Friday, Khalid returned to west Belfast for an event at the Irish language community group Glór na Móna.
Before preparing traditional Palestinian food for guests, Khalid spoke of rebuilding his life.
“Every day is better than before, the kids are getting used to the place. Ali is going to pre-school where he’s learning English.
“We have good friends here, so the kids feel like they have a big family here. Still, it’s not easy with the losses.
“Last week was Mother’s Day, it wasn’t easy that my mum and the children’s mum weren’t there.”
His father and brothers are in the city of Khan Yunis, where the skyline of buildings has been flattened by the fighting.
“My dad is begging me to do something to bring him here,” he said.
“The situation is miserable for him but I’m trying everything I can. My brother’s neck was also broken, so it’s not easy.”
While the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Stormont leaders are in Washington this weekend for the traditional St Patrick’s Day celebrations, Khalid said they must make their voices heard.
“I think the US can stop this war in one minute. It’s in their hands to stop it,” he said.
“What’s happening is not about Hamas, it’s about what’s happening in Gaza where people are dying and starving to death.
“The only thing we want now is a ceasefire. Not temporary, a real ceasefire.”
While thankful for the love and support he has experienced in Ireland, he said his children are still too young to fully understand their loss.
“Actually, I avoid talking about that. I don’t say the word that your mum’s dead. I try to say she’s in heaven,” he said.
“So I don’t know if Ali’s expecting she will be back or not. I don’t have the strength to say she’s dead.”
With Khalid on Friday was American lawyer Fred Rooney, who had first known Ashwak through a programme to encourage more women into the legal profession in Gaza.
Helping Khalid and his children to get to Ireland, he described the community response in Ireland towards Khalid’s family as “miraculous.”
“What I’ve learned is that people are really good, people want to help….in my lifetime I’ve never seen so much love and care for an individual they didn’t know seven months ago.”
He added: “It’s a sad story but it’s got a happy ending. They’re very happy and blessed to be in Ireland.”
As an American, he believes the war would never have reached such extremes without the military funding his country has provided Israel.
“It’s very difficult, it’s probably the most difficult time I’ve ever had as an American,” he said .
“Coming to terms with the fact that it’s my country, a country that I love, that in great part is responsible for the death and destruction in places like Gaza.”
Thankful that many saw the difference between US foreign policy and ordinary citizens, he said: “There are millions of us who are so opposed to violence of any type. All we can do is hope and pray the violence ends... and that your biggest challenge in any day is not to dodge bombs, ammunition and gunfire, but to be able to work and provide for your families.
“I can certainly understand why anyone would boycott a meeting with the President (such as the SDLP), but I can also respect anyone who goes and says ‘look, the Irish people en masse are opposed to US foreign policy.’”
