Chef Renad carries Gaza with her, one recipe at a time

It was freezing in the Netherlands, and Renad Atallah was still tucked into bed, a beanie pulled over her head, wrapped in warmth. I was on the other side of the world, in Australia, talking to her through a screen. If we were in Gaza, our homes would have been seven minutes away from each other, and this interview would have been face-to-face.

“Everything is different here,” she told me, “the streets, nature, food, and language.” For her, the contrast between the streets of Gaza, which are loud and full of life, and the quiet, calm neighbourhoods of the Netherlands is stark. She’s still adjusting to her new life away from her mother and homeland, as she’s living with her twin brother Adam and her older sister Nourhan.

Originally from Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, the 12-year-old has built a global audience of more than 1.5 million followers. People from around the world have followed her cooking journey, from preparing meals amid the genocide with the simplest of ingredients to starting a new life after eventually reaching the Netherlands.

As expected, our conversation quickly turned to food, as it always does with her.

Renad explained how “from a young age”, she used to stand next to her mom in the kitchen and watch her closely and carefully as she cooked: “of course I help whenever needed, I remember pouring flour into a bowl.” I teased her about using the line, “from a young age,” given how young she still is. She laughed and insisted, “I’m twelve years old now,’ as though this meant she had reached adulthood.

Following the exchange, I realised that children in Gaza are never really allowed to stay children; surviving a genocide has a way of forcing adulthood onto them far too early.

But despite the circumstances, Renad has made many friends “from Syria, Ukraine, and Palestine” at the school, where she is currently learning Dutch. “We share our experiences with each other, we also talk about food and culture,” she explained excitedly.

When I asked her about her favourite dish, she immediately corrected me, saying, “I don’t have a favourite dish,” “I have favourite dishes.”

Her eyes really lit up when we started talking about her incredibly popular content on Instagram. She recounted how everything happened by chance. Her sister Nourhan decided to post a video of Renad, which she initially joked might reach a thousand views. It reached ten thousand. Then five hundred thousand. Then two million views.

“That’s a huge number,” she said, still sounding surprised by it.

The video went viral. People began asking to see more of her. Nourhan posted another video. However, eventually, people started asking about Renad having her own account.

“At first, my mom was against me having my own social media account because I’m still young,” she told me. “But then she leaned in. And now she is my number one supporter.”

She did not expect millions of people from all over the world to watch her videos. The moment she hit five hundred thousand followers, she realised that “now I’m famous,” she said with a nervous laugh.

Following her considerable fame, Renad is trying to use her platform to help other children as well. She is a youth ambassador for Human Concern International, a charity based in Canada. Also, she collaborated with ethical clothing brand Wear The Peace on her very own collection. Donations are made to people in Gaza from the sales.

She explained how people stop her on the street in the Netherlands, just as they did in Gaza. They ask for pictures; and often inquire about her family in Gaza, the former she finds heartwarming and the later heartbreaking, given the reminder of how far away she is from them.

Renad and her siblings were not planning to leave Gaza; they didn’t even know if it was possible. It was her sister Nourhan who applied for a university abroad, just to try her luck. When the phone call came about her acceptance, her mother started crying. First tears of sadness, then tears of relief that at least one member of the family would be safe.

It was the first time that Renad has left Gaza. “I was scared. Tired. In disbelief,” she recounted. Certainly, her biggest struggle is being away from her mom and other siblings. “I always imagined that the first time I travel would be for vacation with my family, not for survival and without all of my family.”

Yet in the middle of all this, Renad, or, as she tells us, “Chef Renad,” continues to cook, to film and share her content with her 1.6 million followers.

As our call came to an end, I kept thinking about how much of her life had changed in such a short time. A new country. A new language. A new everything. And yet, her positive energy and contagious smiles, remain.

Renad may be twelve, but she carries stories greater than her years. And now, she is ready to share them in a new way. Soon, she will release her first cookbook, a project that brings together her love for food and her culture, and who knows how many more wonderful things she will go on to do.

Plestia Alaqad is an award-winning journalist and author who has emerged as a powerful voice in digital media. She gained international recognition for her heartfelt, on-the-ground reporting during the genocide on Gaza, where her raw, personal storytelling brought global attention to the human impact of the violence. She recently published her book The Eyes of Gaza, that became an instant New York Times, Indie, San Francisco, and Boston Global Bestseller.

Follow Plestia on Instagram: @plestia.alaqad

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