dear yankeeegirl
peace be upon yu my name is IQRA i am writing to yu today cos it is MAY19 and my birthday today i am 5 yars old and u are my favrite superhero also i am from gaza and i have 3 brothers bigger than me and 1 sista smaller than me they are called AHMAD MOTAZ MOHAMMED and YARA i love them very much they sang me a burfday song when IMMI brought me ma'amoul from the bakry MOHAMMED tried to eat more than me Immi wouldn't let him he cried also we prayed for BABA cos he wos marterd and went to heaven inshallah
i wore red and blue cos its yur colour
MUCH LOVE IQRA AL-AWDAH
*****
dear yankee girl
peace be upon yu It is my birthday again I am six years old now. I smile when I saw yur picture in the newspaper. yu saved a lot of schoolchildern from that fire. Wow. I wish I had superpowas like yu. come to Gaza because there is lots of fighting and yu could help us. my brother Ahmad might see yu in Amreeka because he got into a school there. He wants to be a lawyur. we have to wait for Isrhael to let him go. Inshallah I pray every day that he will go and that Baba is happy in heaven and that my brothers and sisters and Immi and cousins won't get shot and I will meet yu one day. We ate sumaghiyyeh which is yummy I think yu'd like it and ma'amoul and Also Immi made me a blue cape to wear so I could be a hero like yu.
Much love Iqra Al-Awdah
*****
dear Yankee Girl
Peace be upon you Today I am seven years old. Immi took me to the beauty salon to get my hair cut as a birthday treat. Her cousin's wife Hala is the owner. There wos lots and lots and lots of pictures of ladies on the wall with hair that look very big and bushy even bigger and bushyer than my hair. I asked Hala to make my hair flat like yours and sandy too but Immi said I wos too young to change hair colour even tho i wos the oldest ive ever been! I sat in a special chair in front of a mirror and Hala used a heat claw to make my hair flat but all the lights went out. She couldn't finish because there wos no mor electric. I looked stupid so I cried Immi got angry at me for crying. She said I wos being rude but it looked very very very very very silly. Hala shouted about Isrel cutting the power. She said they control all the power in gaza but i don't know why. Do you know why Isrel is in charge of electrics here when they are over there?!? Ahmad walked me and Immi home after. He didn't get to go to Amerika because Isrel said no. He's very very sad nowadays. I let him pick the first piece of ma'amoul to cheer him up but i dont think it worked. What do you do when you are sad??? Thank you
Much Love
Iqra Al-Awdah
*****
Dear Yankee Girl,
Peace be upon you. I am so so so so very sorry I didn't write you a letter last year on my 8th birthday but I was very ill. I have not been very good at breathing for a long time now and I woke up very early on my birthday because my chest felt like it was squashing together. It was like someone was sitting on it and I was making this wheezy sound every time I breathed in!!!! Immi and Ahmad and Motaz took me to the hospital to get better. It was very scary. I had to put this mask on that pumped oxijen into my mouth and special medicine which helped a lot. And then the doctor told Immi and Ahmad that I had something called asfma. Have you heard of it Yankee Girl?? Do they have asfma in Amerikaca??? Immi got upset when the doctor asked if she smoked cigarettes in the apartment and if there was dust mites. She gave the doctor this stern look. The one she ALWAYS gives me and my siblings if we misbehave and Immi told her we keep our home very clean and NO ONE smokes wallah! Well I did see Ahmad smoking once when I was coming home from school and he told me not to tell anyone. Oops, don't tell anyone Yankee Girl or Ahmad will get so angry with me!!! The doctor said that there is so much more dust in the air from years and years of explosions and bombings and things like that so that's probably why I can't breathe good anymore.
We didn't have any birthday food and I couldn't use my birthday money to send you a letter because we had to buy medicine which is not easy to get here. But I did see you on the big TV in the hospital while I was waiting! You looked so pretty! Your hair is so flowy even after you ka-pow bad guys! I wish you would come to Gaza one day. Maybe there would be the fighting would be less if you could just talk to the Black Muharib and Lady Lokhem and tell them to be friends!! This year for my 9th birthday we went to the beach. I am so glad that my birthday is in May because it is much more warmer and sunny. Immi let me get ice cream with my school friends Zeina and Amira and we played search and rescue in the sea! But Amira upset me because she said you weren't a good person because her Baba says American supers hate Arabs and I shouldn't pretend to be you when we play games. How can you not be a good person when you save so many people around the world and you are given medals and have statues and movies and books made about your good deeds??? And why would you hate Arabs??? We are so fun and cool and make the best hummus in the whole entire world. Amira is so stupid. I told her she was and she cried and Immi told me to apologise or I wouldn't get to keep the t-shirt Immi's sister in England sent to me with you on it and Baba would be frowning down on me. So I did (but I didn't really mean it!!!)
Much love
Iqra Al-Awdah
*****
Dear Yankee Girl,
Peace be upon you. Today I am 10 and my head is heavy. I'm sorry if the ink is blurred. I am crying. They took my best friend Amira. They made her and her parents martyrs in the dead of night and we're not sure if her siblings will survive the injuries after being pulled out of the rubble. I don't understand. She didn't do anything wrong wallah! Israel dropped bombs on her apartment block on al-Wehda Street. Everyone in the neighbourhood woke up to the bangs and our whole apartment trembled. It was louder than lightning like Allah had cracked open the Earth. Alhamdulliah Israel didn't aim for us.
Everyone is angry and crying. Immi keeps calling it a massacre and Motaz and Ahmad are always sat in front of the television watching the news or out on the streets with our cousins. I have to stay in the apartment and watch Yara and Mohammed because Immi is cooking a lot for the families who lost their homes. I help where I can but I’m always sick, I don’t know, I can’t do anything. All of this. What can I do? Fix it? I’m only 10. I can’t even deal with this anymore. I just want to be a doctor or anything to help my people but I can’t. I’m just a kid. I don’t even know what to do. I’d do anything for my people but I don’t know what to do. All of this when I see it I literally cry every day. I said to myself, why do we deserve this? What did we do for this? My family said they just hate us. They just don’t like us because we are Muslims. Why does Muslims act for you like that? Amira was just a kid. Why would they send a missile to her and kill her? It’s not fair.
Yankee Girl, how do you decide which people to save? I get why you obviously would help people in your own country the most. But in the comic books I have read about you they say you've flown to Afghanistan and Iraq and Syria to fight against bad guys. I saw a video of you twisting a tank so it couldn't be fired by The Djinneral against people in London too. But we Palestinians have needed help for a long time. For longer than I've been alive. Even longer than Immi has been alive. She says Baba was martyred for standing up to Israel and now I am worried that Ahmad and Motaz will join him. They don't have super strength or speed like you but they still go out and shout at Israel soldiers. Sometimes they don't come back until late into the night and they talk about things that makes Immi scared. I worry that one day they will leave and not come back. That Lady Lokhem will take them and throw them in jail or worse explode them on the spot. I pray everyday for their safety and hope one day we will be free from the bombs and the hate but they say that Israel won't stop taking our land until we are all dead. I don't know what we can do or where are we meant to go? Gaza is the only home my family has ever known. Please will you help us. I am begging you.
Inshallah, I don't die in my sleep like dearest Amira.
Much love,
Iqra Al-Awdah
*****
Dear Yankee Girl,
Peace be upon you. How are you? I hope you are safe and well, inshallah.
I was sad to still not receive a response from you after all these years of writing to your fan club on my birthday. And after the death of my dear friend Amira but I guess when you're a world-famous superhero, writing back to a little girl probably isn't the most important thing to do. You probably have so many people writing to you too.
It's been a pretty tough year and now that I am 11 I don't really see the point in celebrating. What is there to celebrate? Everyday I miss Amira. I didn't realise you could miss someone that much. I mean I obviously miss Baba but he was martyrd when I was too young to really remember him. Most of my memories of him are from photos and videos and stories that Immi and my siblings share with me. But Amira is someone I spent so much time with. We went to school together, played together nearly every day. Even when we were upset with each other sometimes we always came back to each other. She was like a sister to me and it feels like a part of myself is gone.
I can't sleep. I scare myself awake from the same nightmare. I'm in my bed and looking up at the glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling but as my eyes get used to the darkness I can see that there is no ceiling, I am looking at the open night sky. The stars are not stars they are star-shaped bombs, burning white gold with tails of blue and red trailing behind. Slowly but surely they drop closer and closer but I cannot move. My body is stuck under my sheets and even with the most effort I am trapped in place. I scream but no sound comes out and the bombs keep falling and falling, getting bigger and bigger, until they hit and explode and my screams finally make a sound because I am awake and Immi is trying to calm me down. I sleep in her bed now but the fear waits for me every time I close my eyes.
It helps when Immi sings. Her favourite singer is Kamilya Jubran and I guess she is one of my favourites too because Immi always plays her albums when she is cooking and cleaning and things like that. Have you heard of her? Immi said she moved to Europe like my auntie and when I asked her why she said it was so they could be free. OK but I don't really understand why they would want to leave their family and friends and everyone! Do they even make good Palestinian food in Europe?? When Immi sings her favourite song Makan to me it makes me feel calm. I don't understand all the words. What does it mean when "dreams have a curtain, draperies that seal"? My dreams don't have curtains I don't think but when Immi sings the words in my ear and rocks me back and forth it gives me goosebumps so maybe I don't need to understand with my brain when my body feels it so much you know? And if the music is playing or if Immi is singing, then at least I can't hear the sounds of bombs and screams that ring in my head. What song makes you forget about your troubles? I would really really really love to hear it.
Much love
Iqra Al-Awdah
*****
Dear Yankee Girl,
Peace be upon you!
Today I am 12 and I am having to write you this letter in secret because Ahmad says I'm not allowed to be your fan anymore.
So after we ate my birthday dinner I waited for him to go out with Motaz and left Immi to sing along to Kamilya so I could write to you. You won't believe what he said! He said that you came to Gaza and helped Israel explode a block of flats that had some of the Black Muharib's commanders in it with their wives and children. I was like that cannot be true because Yankee Girl does NOT harm innocent people. I told him that! I told him you always keep innocent people safe even when you have to stop people who maybe aren't so moral.
Like that time you helped those young girls in Nigeria. It was my favourite story of yours. You protected them and got the nasty baddies who kidnapped them. But Ahmad said that the Black Muharib is the only leader who cares about protecting Palestine from another Nakba. He says that Israel is our prison guard and the only way to escape is to fight back. He says that you are worse than Black Muharib because at least he protects his own people and doesn't invade other places.
That's when Immi jumped in and started shouting at him to leave me alone and that the Black Muharib wasn't so great either and hadn't made it easy for us Gazans! They started arguing so I just snuck out. Ya Allah!
Yankee Girl, I KNOW you protect the world! Well, not Gaza yet but some day. Wallah! No. It can't be true, you would never harm children like me. I won't believe it!! Stupid Ahmad. He's been getting on my nerves lately. I know he's sad about not getting to be a lawyer in America but why doesn't he go and do something else instead of getting in trouble with the soldiers and making Immi worry? She has enough on her plate looking after us all and he should be working not causing trouble at protests and putting up forbidden posters and all that!
When I grow up I'm going to do something good like you but I don't have super powers so I think I will become a doctor! I feel in my bones that this is what Allah put me on this earth to do. Alhamdulillah! I mean I already have asthma so it makes sense to work in a place that could save my life a lot easier in case I ran out of my inhaler or something triggers an attack than if I was working in a shop or even at a school like Immi. And to be honest I really feel like I want to help my community. I am only 12 years old and already know SO many people who have been hurt by bombs or shot and beaten by soldiers or police officers and some like poor habibti Amira and Baba who were taken from us too soon too. I wish the violence would stop. Palestinians need a lot of help to stay alive and well I can't fly and don't have lasers coming out of my eyes like you so I think this is the best way that I can be a hero too you know!?
I hope you think it's a good idea. Motaz says I should do something else because he says that even if I got permission to go to medical school that Israel probably wouldn't let me go or come back. He says his friend Omar went to Egypt to learn how to become a doctor but Motaz says he hasn't been back home for three years because of Lady Lokham's magical dome around Gaza. I can't imagine not seeing Immi and my siblings for that long. The longest I've ever not seen anyone of my family was when Ahmad was gone for five days after he and his friends took part in a protest near the border. He came back battered and bruised and didn't speak to us for days. That's when his hair started to turn grey. I wish the fighting would stop.
I'll just have to learn how to become a doctor here at home in Gaza instead. I will just have to keep going to school and studying hard and Inshallah I will be able to achieve my dream. Because it's like you said in Yankee Girl: Red, White & Kablewy! "you can only make dreams come true if you believe in them." I wrote that on some paper and have it stuck on mine and Yara and Mohammed's door. I have to believe there is something I can do to make Gaza a better place for my family and friends and neighbours and everyone. And it's because of you and all the good that you do that makes me want to be that way.
Even after those nasty men killed your dad you didn't give up hope and when you got your powers after the uranium plant meltdown you dedicated your life to saving the world.
You inspire me every day and no matter what anyone says I know you stand up for people who are suffering! And one day you will see the suffering in Gaza and help free us from this prison so we can be happy again and live without the fighting and fear! I believe in you! I am your fan forever!
Much love,
Iqra Al-Awdah
P.S. Immi is going to post this to you when Ahmad is not looking ☺
*****
THE OFFICE OF YANKEE GIRL©
WASHINGTON
March 1st, 2024
To Ikra Al-Awdar,
Thank you for contacting the Official Yankee Girl© Fan Club! We apologise for the delayed response to your letter sent on the 19th of May 2023. Yankee Girl© receives thousands of letters a week from fans across the world which often creates a backlog in processing. While we try and provide a response to all the messages Yankee Girl© receives, we cannot guarantee a response to every letter. Yankee Girl© shares with you her belated birthday wishes.
Yankee Girl© is also appreciative of your continued support as she works tirelessly to keep the world safe from supervillain threats. Unfortunately, your home of Gaza is governed by an evil organisation led by the despicable Black Muharib. Yankee Girl© strongly condemns Black Muharib's continued brutality, and so must the entire world. Black Muharib's depravity is evident and horrifying. The threat Black Muharib poses to the people of Israel – and American citizens in Israel and across the Middle East – must be eliminated and Black Muharib cannot control Gaza. The Palestinian people too have suffered under Black Muharib's rule for nearly two decades.
As the United States of America's strongest hero, Yankee Girl© has no higher priority than the safety of American citizens, wherever they are in the world. Yankee Girl© will never waver in her commitment to protecting Americans in Israel and all those held hostage in Gaza. See below the official statement given by Yankee Girl© at the UN on February 23rd, 2024, following her successful joint combat operation in Gaza on February 12th, 2024:
"What has happened in Gaza over the past six months is truly devastating. I will never look away in the face of these tragedies triggered by the Black Muharib's unprovoked attacks on Israel and I will always be there to support my sister-in-arms Lady Lokhem.
Our objective on February 12th was to neutralise a Black Muharib stronghold in the Gaza Strip. Lady Lokhem's intelligence and mystical targeting spell confirmed that the Al-Aqsa Hospital was being used as a front for some of his key commanders. Together, we launched targeted frustration in the area. That joint effort resulted in the killing of several Black Muharib members involved in the planning, launching and execution of terrorist attacks against Israel. We both mourn the loss of civilians, including children, despicably used as human shields.
Let me be clear, I will always stand up for Israel's right to defend itself and I will always lend Israel my abilities to defend itself. Once the Black Muharib is defeated we can guide the Palestinian people and help them achieve dignity, security, freedom and self-determination.
The innocent people of Israel will always be in my prayers and I pray to God that we can end the suffering in Gaza. God bless, y'all."
As a loyal supporter of Yankee Girl©, we would like to offer you a 10% discount* to use on the official Yankee Girl© website as well as the official Yankee Girl© birthday badge attached to this letter.
Sincerely yours,
B.Bradlee
Britnee Bradlee
Press Secretary to Yankee Girl©
President of the Official Yankee Girl© Fan Club
*Enter the discount code YG10 at the online checkout. Discount can only be used against full-price items and expires in 30 days. Shipping costs may vary.
*****
Yankee Girl,
My name is Yara and I am 8 years old and today is May 19 2024. Today my sister Iqra should have turned 13 but she could not because she was martyrd on February 12 2024. YOU martyrd dearest Iqra and our poor Immi and beloved brother Ahmad. All they was doing was helping people get water but YOU dropped the hospital on them. Iqra did not even look like Iqra anymore when they found her. YOU broke her into pieces. Now there is just me and my brothers Motaz and Mohammed and we are waiting in Egypt with Motaz's friend until Immi's sister in England can raise enough money to bring us there because Gaza is not safe for us anymore and we have no one else to take care of us.
Every year I saw Iqra write letters to YOU and safe up her money to send them to YOU and after all these years a letter only came back after YOU killed her. All she ever did was love YOU but YOU stole her from us. YOU and Lady Lokhem and Isrel took everything from us.
Chaos be upon YOU ALL.
Yara Al-Awdah
p.s. Here is your badge back.
Hanna! So beautiful and so great to read the extended version after the snippet I heard the other week! X