Mohammed was born in Gaza, a place most people don't ever get to leave.
He wanted to be an exception and he almost was.
The 27-year-old earned a degree in computer science studying by warlight, spanning the ebbs and flows of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Though reachable only between almost daily power outages, sometimes caused by nearby missile barrages, he became a sought-after website developer.
Greg Fenton met Mohammed on a tech forum in 2020. Fenton, the operator of a boutique software consultancy in Toronto, says he struck up a friendship with the Gazan while discussing the minutiae of back-end development tool Firebase.
Twenty-thousand text messages and more than 100 hours of video calls later, the two are like family.
With Fenton's help, Mohammed secured approval to come live and work in Canada. Mohammed had a plane ticket to Toronto with his name on it dated Oct. 10.
It left without him.
Back when they first met, Fenton said, he couldn't have imagined how wide the gulf was between his life and Mohammed's.
Exactly a month after they first peeled off together from a group discussion because their technical chatter was boring everyone else, Mohammed showed Fenton the shattered windows in his family home from an overnight airstrike.
"I am a fairly well travelled man in my 50s," Fenton told the Star. "This experience Mohammed just had was unlike anything I have ever seen in my life, and to have this occur to a new friend of mine was disturbing."
The Star is not using Mohammed's last name due to concerns for his safety. It was unable to make contact with Mohammed, who has severely limited access to telecommunications services. Mohammed has given his consent to Fenton to share his story and is aware the Star is writing about him. The Star conducted multiple interviews with Fenton and reviewed years worth of correspondence between him and Mohammed.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 18, 2024 من Toronto Star.
اشترك في Magzter GOLD للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
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هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة February 18, 2024 من Toronto Star.
اشترك في Magzter GOLD للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
Disgraceful behaviour on Parliament Hill
‘Was it you or not?’ Jagmeet Singh confronts heckler on Parliament Hill, Sept. 17
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Walkie-talkies and solar equipment exploded in Beirut and other parts of Lebanon on Wednesday in an apparent second wave of attacks targeting devices a day after pagers used by Hezbollah blew up, state media and officials for the militant group said. At least 20 people were killed and more than 450 wounded in the second wave, the Health Ministry said.
Feds Impose New Limits on International Students - Immigration Minister Marc Miller has announced new limits on international students Wednesday, saying Canada is facing an untenable number of people wishing to come here.
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Bloc Will Vote to Prop up Liberals - Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet, said he does not have confidence in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority government, but believes he can use the situation to push for his party's priorities.
Leader says he will oppose Tory motion to bring down Trudeau government. Bloc Québécois Leader Yves-Francois Blanchet, said he does not have confidence in Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority government, but believes he can use the situation to push for his party's priorities.
Dutcher wins second Polaris award
Singer donating prize to school in New Brunswick
