Malak Muslih

She was a young woman who had not yet reached her twentieth spring. In one hand she carried a boxing glove, and in the other, she carried the pain of her homeland. Her greatest wish was to be crowned a champion in world tournaments and to raise the flag of Palestine high. Malak, the dream that walked on two feet, spread her wings and flew to the sky. Malak Muslih, the young boxing champion, fled the dust of war to breathe the sea air of Gaza at the al-Baqqa cafeteria. But the occupation had other plans. The cafeteria was bombed, and Malak was killed. More than thirty other people were killed with her, their only goal to get away from death, even for a short while. She departed before her eyes could be graced with the sight of the Palestinian flag waving high, and before she could be crowned on a world stage. She ascended after fighting in the ring and in life with silence and honor, and with a dream that was left incomplete.