The 16th October Media Group mourns Basma Al Bayed, a great activist, writer, and member of the group. The Israeli occupation murdered her and her family in a targeted bombing last year. Due to the ongoing genocide and the destruction of the civil services and communication in Gaza, her martyrdom was not known until months ago.
Basma was born on December 14th, 2000, in Gaza City. All of her life was spent there, as she was just 6 years old when occupation forces began the siege of Gaza, that lasts until this day. She studied English at the Faculty of Arts in the Islamic University of Gaza, and later worked as a translator and content writer.
“But I am Poor 💔 I just have my dreams”, Basma wrote to her friends on Facebook in 2022. In spite of the difficult circumstances she faced as a Palestinian in Gaza, she continued to pursue her dreams of writing about Palestine for English-language media.
“Today is a momentous day for me as I celebrate a significant achievement. I have accomplished the publication of my inaugural article in prestigious global journals” Basma wrote in June 2023, as her first article was published in Scalawag Magazine. The article focused on Palestinian prisoners from Jerusalem and the West Bank, liberated through prisoner exchanges between the Palestinian resistance and occupation forces, whom the occupation then forcibly deported to Gaza. Basma spoke with many of these freed but exiled Palestinians, telling their stories to the world. She also translated poetry from Arabic to English, and made videos about Gaza’s rich cultural heritage.
Basma Al Bayed, in a video she made in October 2022 with 16th October Media Group, about the Al Omari Mosque, one of the oldest mosques in Gaza.
Another one of her dreams was to visit Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem
"It didn't start on October 7th, 2023. The ongoing genocide is how colonial-settler Israel has occupied Palestine for decades with the help of Western arms and hypocrisy, especially from apartheid's best friend, the USA." Recorded prior to the October 7th Uprising, Basma expressed her heartfelt passion on this recording for the #Palestine motherland. Basma Al Bayed, a great activist of the 16th October Media Group, was martyred along with her family last year in a targeted strike by the Israeli occupation. We pay a heartfelt tribute to her martyrdom once again! 💔 We call on Palestine and all international allies to mourn and proudly remember this national hero Basma Al Bayed! MAY ALLAH HAVE MERCY ON HER! ❤️🩹🕊️🇵🇸 #16thOctoberGroup #GazaGenocide #WarOnHumanity
Posted by 16th October Media Group/Palestine on Thursday 7 November 2024
“They (the occupation) stole our dreams too”, she said in a 2022 video about how one of her dreams was to visit Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, which the occupation prohibited her and all other Gazans from doing. “We have been living under the Israeli occupation since 74 years ago. As a human being, I have a dream to achieve, but it’s hard to achieve in our own homeland…to visit Al Aqsa Mosque. Can you imagine that, I am Palestinian, I live in my country, and I cannot move from one place to another, especially to our capital? I only see Al Aqsa Mosque in media, and I always cry. In fact, when I see the worshippers pray and eat their breakfast there, I always cry.
Do you think that my dream will be a fact one day, and this Nakba (catastrophe) ends?”
The US-funded Israeli occupation air force ended Basma’s life before she could see her dreams come true.
16th October Media Group pays a heartfelt tribute to her martyrdom once again.
We call on Palestine and all international allies to mourn and proudly remember this national hero Basma Al Bayed!
May Allah have mercy on her.
