Finding joy in the middle of sorrow has nothing to do with optimism and hope. They can coincide, but they don’t automatically cause one or the other.

When you’re stuck in a basement for weeks while the surface is being bombed, one simply has to past time to not lose sanity. And that may be in the form of games, songs, stories, etc. That’s not to say Palestinians don’t have hope, but it’s silly to see videos of children laughing and playing under occupation or in a bunker and automatically think “wow she’s happy!” That’s some “child sells lemonade to pay for mom’s kidney surgery” type of heartwarming story.