A Gazan Journalist in Belgium with a Sense of Humour

I recently discovered Gazan journalist, Ayman Alaloul. He has been living in Belgium for four years. Just like Israelis, it seems that for him, history is now marked by “Before Oct 7th” and “After Oct 7th.”

You can tell from his posts on both “X” and Facebook how horrified he is by what is happening to his fellow Gazans in the Strip. In fact, he blames Yahya Sinwar for the massive destruction and horrific humanitarian disaster. I wrote about that in a separate article. In this article, I want to show that the man has a dark sense of humour. You don’t really laugh from the belly, you snort because it is a cynical humour and you cringe at the horror of it all.

The two videos here have English subtitles.

Here is one from exactly one month before Oct 7th.The text says: “When I talked about youth migration 9 years ago.”

عندما تحدثت عن هجرة الشباب قبل 9 سنوات. pic.twitter.com/xVvzQV9fM8

— أيمن العالول (@aimanalaloul) September 8, 2023

Three days ago, Alaloul reposted this video from 2014 (that’s also what it says in the text on the post).

That was the year that the hitherto little-known Ice Bucket Challenge became a social media sensation. While previously not targetting any one cause, in 2014, the challenge was used to raise donations for research into ALS, also known as motor neuron disease or Lou Gehrig’s disease.

Here, the creative Alaloul presents the Palestinian version of the challenge.

أيمن العالول 2014 pic.twitter.com/PmrZpqWd4I

— أيمن العالول (@aimanalaloul) December 4, 2023

Here is something from 14 November. It is not funny funny but so cynical I thought it fit in here.

My father, in 1948, started his life in a tent
75 years later he’s back at it again
Is this the right of return?

Then on December 5th he uploaded these two posts:

You happily say we bombed Tel Aviv. But perhaps because the distance is a bit too long, he is tired. He wants to get some sleep

تفضل قال قصفنا تل أبيب
يمكن عشان المسافة بعيدة شوي الصار وخ واصل تعبان .. بده ينام شوي pic.twitter.com/9FOQIRI2TB

— أيمن العالول (@aimanalaloul) December 5, 2023

And:

Osama Hamdan [Senior Hamas representative in Lebanon]: Netanyahu hasn’t been able to grab a picture of a political or military victory in 60 days.
Me: Send him a picture from your phone

I will continue following Ayman Alaloul.

Feature Image is a screenshot from his public Facebook page.