PalCast released a new episode titledA Tent Is Not a Home, which focused on the lived reality of displacement in Gaza. The episode featured Riwaa Abuquta, a young woman from Rafah whose life was shaped by repeated uprooting, loss, and the search for safety. Along with her elderly parents and five sisters, including a disabled sister, she lived in a tent for a year and a half. She described carrying her family and memories into a shelter she refused to call a home.
Since the start of the war, Riwaa had been forced out of her house and into constant instability. In the episode, she explained what it meant to survive in a tent through storms, cold nights, and ongoing fear. She spoke about the lack of warmth, the noise of wind and rain, and the way sleep became almost impossible, as the tent offered no real protection, and every repair felt pointless as the next storm destroyed it again.
Hosted by Yousef and Tony, the conversation highlighted the daily struggle of life under siege. Riwaa spoke about the exhaustion of basic tasks like cooking, washing, and cleaning in unsafe conditions. She explained how the absence of routine, poor internet access, and constant drone noise made work and rest impossible. Even leaving the tent to search for a signal carried the risk of being targeted. Water, transport, and medical care remained scarce and unreliable.
The episode also addressed the cost of displacement on family health and personal dreams. Riwaa shared how her father was briefly hospitalized for heart pain and how her disabled sister’s condition worsened due to poor nutrition and trauma. She reflected on giving up plans for a master’s degree and a scholarship to care for her family and seek medical evacuation for her sister. The episode stood as a clear record of a life reduced to survival under occupation. The full episode is available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.