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Appeal

The "Appeal" was set up by a group of friends here in the U.K., after the conflict that has blighted the people in Gaza. Surely, none of us can have failed to have been moved or almost brought to tears to see the sight of dead and injured children on our screens, and these are the real victims of war, especially in Gaza where, of the 1.5 million inhabitants of a land smaller than the Isle of Wight, some 60% are 20 years or younger. No wonder then, that of the more than 1400 killed and over 5000 injured during the conflict, some 30% are children.

Although it is not reported by the media, incursions are still ongoing, causing further deaths and injuries. The International waters and Borders surrounding this small country are still closed, resulting in ongoing lack of essential medical supplies, food, building materials and in fact everything that would enable the Palestinian people to lead a normal life.

As each day goes on, more and more children are suffering from malnutrition, internal organ failure, anaemia, acute psychological damage, bedwetting, nightmares, tantrums, obsessive aggression disorder and lack of concentration (affecting their education). Some children are so traumatised that they have lost the ability to speak. The list is endless.

It must be remembered that virtually every child has lost at least one or more family member and there are thousands of children who have lost one or both parents.

The "Friends of Gaza" are looking for your help to further enable us to set up a team of local Child Counsellors, to work with these children and their families. The aim is to assist the children to regain their God-given right to be a child. To further the effectiveness of this work one of our endeavours is to obtain and provide a large mini-bus and to equip it with books, toys, stationery, special drawing and handicraft materials. The bus will then hopefully operate as a mobile education/counselling facility, working in the refugee camps within the Gaza Strip, in order that as many children and families as possible may be reached; many are unable to travel any considerable distance due to the extremely difficult conditions which continue within this siege-stricken land. The work of the Counsellors could be more effectively utilised on this mobile basis, as obviously they would be able to reach more people and areas, rather than being restricted by working from a fixed location.

Let us remember one of our all-important Principles "The Brotherhood of Man".

Over the past 60 years the Palestinian People have continually suffered. Let us help today's children now - to have a better life and a happier future. Without taking sides or getting into the politics of the situation, one thing is clear and that is, that the children who are living through and getting maimed in this quagmire of hatred, on both sides, are the ones who will be suffering the most when peace hopefully comes back to the region.


One way you and your church or organization really can help us to make a difference, is by sending a donation to:
"Friends of Gaza"
Janette Brett, Treasurer
6 Fairford Road
Maidenhead
SL6 7AL
(Please make cheques payable to "Friends of Gaza")
All donations, however small, will be appreciated and gratefully received.

"We just need to reach out and touch another's soul and communicate: We can all do it.. we just have to want to do it"




     
     
     
     
   

  Sameh,A,Habeeb  Photojournalist,  www.gazatoday.blogspot.com, photos

March 2009

They all need our help today.

I knew that is was going to be much harder than I first thought leaving Gaza and the people behind. Knowing that I might not ever see again, the very people who I had become very good friends with. Who I shared food and drunk tea with, and stayed in their home. It was very painful for me to leave, all I could do was to pray for them, and keep praying that no harm would ever come to them. My friends there have already been subjected to so much in their lives, and I was leaving them.

Family and friends here in the UK have asked me why do I care so much about what's going on in Gaza, when there are so many other wars and conflicts going on all a round the world,

The answer is simple. When you are a part of someone's life and they are part of yours, when you have seen them at their best also at their worst, when you know what they like and what they dislike, when you have gone through their pain and suffering, lived with them and built up a relationship, you care even more because you understand everything about them.

Back home after a very long and sometimes hard journey travelling through France, Brussels, Luxemburg, Germany, Austria and Italy, crossing by ferry to Greece then travelling North East to cross over the border into Turkey; down to Syria and on to Damascus, then on to Jordon, down to the port of Aqaba. We had planned to cross the red sea, crossing the border into Egypt, then travelling north to reach the Rafah border where we hoped to cross into Gaza by the 27th of December – this journey should have taken 3 weeks.

The truth of the matter is that we didn’t expect Egypt would try to stop us from getting into Gaza. It would now take us another 3 weeks to get into Gaza.You can read the whole story Here

We finally managed to get into Gaza on the 7th January 2010 at about 1.30 a.m. We were told by the Egyptian Authorities that we had a stay in Gaza of only 48 hours, in fact we only had 30 hours before we were told to leave by the Egyptian Authorities otherwise we would be stuck in Gaza.

30 hours to do everything that I needed to get done! .....that was to take the Aid in and distribute it to those people who had requested and needed it. Then have meetings with the people in Gaza, speaking to the Ministers/Administrators and NGOs and then having committee meetings with the charity that we, the ‘FRIENDS OF GAZA’, are working with and supporting - the Palestinian Association for family and Society Brotherhood (PAFSB).

However, when you are pushed for time it’s surprising what can be achieved. Lots of meetings with friends and their families and committee meetings going on into early hours of the morning, I think we finished about 3.30a.m.the next day, but a very successful time. A bank account has also been set up in Gaza by the PAFSB in order that ‘Friends of Gaza’ are able to transfer funds as appropriate.

The PAFSB is already a registered charity with the Authorities in Gaza. It is based in Gaza City and has a Chairman and 7 Committee Members, each one having his own responsibility and duties. They are trained counsellors and have a full working programme to help the children regain a normal life of some kind, but this is going to take a lot of time, patience, effort and funding.

Much more equipment is needed, including a minibus in order to cover a wider area and reach as many children and families as possible in the Gaza Strip, who would otherwise not receive the much needed help. Circumstances necessitate that our objectives be as flexible as possible in order that we may be as effective as we possibly can be.

Watch this space

The British Convoy is due to enter Gaza on the first anniversary of Israel's bombing and invasion of Gaza - December 27th, Leaving England on the 6th December to take much needed Aid for the People. Click Here for More.

AN OPEN LETTER FROM GAZA

As the Gaza Strip enters a new year of the siege, Gazan’s find themselves without electricity. From Gaza, Sameeha Elwan tells the story of a dark night in Gaza City.

Tonight, too, we are having a romantic candle light dinner. Well, thanks to Israelis, of course.

Setting the candles on the table for dinner is not due to a special occasion. It’s the birthday of none of us tonight. In fact, candles have become more of a necessity for us, Gazans, than of a tradition. A real compassionate yet dangerous companion in our thick dark nights when we are left with no electricity.

Candles burn as Gazans break bread

The lights go off. My father exclaims as usual on seeing nothing in the dark, "Is the electricity off?" We, laughing at his question, give him approval. Mother, who would be preparing something in the kitchen, gets out with the now-useless food processor in her hands losing her temper. Raising her hands, holding that food processor, she starts to curse the day the Israelis stepped into our land. Realizing that none of those machines would be of any use, she goes back to the kitchen to use her bare hands in preparing dinner. My sister, having nothing to do, as she claims that staring into the books in darkness hurts her eyes and causes her headache, she goes to spend the eight or ten hours sleeping. Failing to sleep for a single minute, she gets up and goes to my mother who would tell her the stories of the past of her journeys to the West Bank and the occupied territories. Poor Israelis! They don’t know that no matter what they do, they would reinforce our tie into this land.

My little brother, a Barcelona fan, awaiting the next Barcelona match would rage at the thought of another game without him shouting at every goal his favourite team scores.

Honestly, I like studying at candle light. Isn’t it sort of romantic? And it is definitely less distracting. At least, I have no chance to surf the net and waste my time, especially at the time of exams. Unfortunately, a lot of people wouldn’t feel the same. I know many who cannot study at candle lights or who have sight problems which would prevent them from seeing properly with a candle light.

My mother, shaking from the severe cold, asks me to turn on the heating, forgetting that it works on electricity. I grudge at the thought of those who, in such severe cold, find no shelter after their houses have been partially or wholly destroyed on the last Gaza War. Looking at the matter from a positive side, they are mentally relieved as they don’t have to calculate when the electricity would go off or would come back, and live miserably ever after. They have more important things to think about like how to survive another day in such unbearable cold.

Rumors, well, they used to be rumors, but now they are facts which news sites are reporting. Al-Dardasawi, the director of the Public Relation in the electricity company in Gaza, has declared on Saturday that the company is suffering a shortage due to the decline of the fuel supplies on the Israeli side. No reasonable justification was made for not providing us with fuel to run on the station, for Israelis definitely needs no justifications for whatever they do. Is that another collective punishment? I wonder what else wrong we did to deserve such a penalty!

The funny but the bitter thing is that we, Gazans, can get used to and adjust ourselves to the worst circumstances. It’s not a weak point; after all, it is actually what a life of more than three years of a brutal siege has taught us, we should not keep adjusting ourselves to the worst, however.

The Israelis, adopting their usual foxy strategies, would start depriving us from our basic human rights little by little till they think that we would be thankful for the least basic human rights we get. They diminish the amount of fuel, getting into the Gaza Strip. We had drawn in darkness only for eight hours every couple of days. Well, eight ours every couple of days is better than eight hours every day. Then the amount provided declines. So, we have to bear life with no electricity daily for eight or ten hours. Well, we can live with that; we still get electricity, isn’t half a loaf better than nothing?

Finally, we get no fuel and no electricity at all. After all this, they wonder why we turn angry while asking for our basic rights!

It has always been this way, not only with electricity but with other basic needs of food, fuel, and even children milk.

Israel would deprive us all our rights and then wants us to be grateful when they would give us back what they have aggressively deprived us from. But, do they really think that depriving us from our basic needs would make us forget about the siege, the refugees, the right of return, the occupied land, Jerusalem? Do they think we would be grateful if we get back what is essentially ours?

Well, Israel, we are not grateful, for you grant us none which is originally not ours.
We have our rights as humans. We have our rights as Palestinians