Category: Gaza - Page 25 - International Solidarity Movement

Short stories from Gaza

5th August 2014 | Sarah Algherbawi | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

These are short stories from Gaza, a brief picture of our suffering. Reality is much more painful. The description under each photo consists of facts published on news agencies and social media. For each photo I also wrote a story. Some of the photographed people we have seen on TV, others I know their friends or relatives, and the narrative is mine from my knowledge of their circumstances.

Behind numbers, many stories are hidden and buried!

I was happy, a beautiful bride, preparing for my wedding and a house with my beloved fiancé, my soul mate…I was engaged for 13 months, and supposed to get married in August 2014. He promised to make me happy for the rest of my life…

Now, I’m alone. He never lied. He didn’t have the chance to meet his promised. He was killed.

I was happy with my wedding ring. I couldn’t believe that the woman I have always dreamed of was finally my wife. I even took a picture of the ring and put it as my profile picture on Facebook. I was going to be a daddy – my wife was pregnant when I was killed…

I wish that I could see my son. I wish he knew me. I don’t even know whether the baby is a boy or a girl… but I think he will be a boy and will hold the name of his father, Khaled…

I was a journalist, too. I was killed only for doing my job.

I had a brother. We used to fight too much. Mom had always begged us to stop fighting and making noise. We played together and spent a lot of time with each other. I never thought I would lose him this fast! I loved him very much. I didn’t tell him that. I thought I would have ages to do so…

I only wish I’d had the chance to tell him before he was killed. I can’t understand why he’s gone. He was just a kid like me. He didn’t do anything bad to others!

We witnessed a war. Our parents didn’t allow us to go out and play. We told them that we’re just children – why would they hurt us? We were very bored! We didn’t go out for weeks…

Dad told us to play on the roof. He thought it was a safe place. We had so much fun, before we were killed there.

We had a mom and a dad. They loved us very much. Mom was waiting for the war to end to take us to the market and buy us new uniforms for school and new clothes for Eid. They promised to teach us whatever we wanted, and take care of us until we grew up…

Mom always wished to attend our weddings and see our children…

The war is not over. Eid came, and they were not present. They were killed. We’re alone now. Who will take care of us?

I was pretty. My friends at school used to feel jealous of me. I always felt that I was a princess…

I don’t know what happened. I don’t even understand what they are saying. I heard doctors saying that something called fragments hurt me. I don’t even want to understand. I only want my beautiful face back!

I had a beautiful daughter. I spoiled her and loved her like no father in the world could do…

I always dreamed of her wedding day, how she would look. Would any man on earth love her the way I do?! I asked God to give me health and long age until that moment came…

It never came to my mind that she would die before I did.

They killed my daughter.

They took my soul.

I was scared to death!

UPDATED: Urgent Action alert: Rescue team delivering urgent humanitarian aid to Rafah at risk

4th August 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

UPDATED:

Thanks to all the people who contacted their representatives and the foreign offices of the UK, Sweden, and the USA! The Palestinian human rights defenders, joined by international volunteers, safely delivered mattresses, food, and water to citizens in Rafah today.

*******

Call your representatives and the foreign offices of the UK, Sweden, and the USA to inform them that citizens of these countries are travelling to Rafah to deliver aid. Demand that Israel cease targeting medical personnel rescue teams and civilians, and immediately provides an evacuation route to transfer humanitarian aid to Rafah and to evacuate patients to other hospitals in Gaza for treatment.

Some contact information is provided below.

Palestinian human rights defenders, joined by international volunteers, are now travelling to western Rafah with a Red Crescent truck to deliver food, mattresses, and water.

“The situation in Rafah cannot continue, people are left with nothing. There is a small window of time, that will dissolve in two hours, and then no one knows what will happen to all the civilians- the families- who need support. That’s why we’re going with mattresses, water, and food, these supplies are desperately needed right now.” Stated Swedish International Solidarity Movement (ISM) volunteer, Charlie Andreasson.

The group of international volunteers, including Swedish, U.S and UK citizens, are travelling from Jabalya down the Beach Road to western Rafah, with supplies donated by al-Fatiha Global and Project Akhirah.

Arwa Wael, resident of western Rafah, spoke to the ISM and stated that, “thousands of people were forced to leave the eastern side of Rafah travelling to what they thought to be the safer western side, taking shelter in UNRWA schools, in relatives and friends homes. In spite of this, these places were attacked by Israeli warplanes and many people were killed in a very short period of time, including ten members of the Zorad family. Now we are without electricity, without water and without food. Due to the shelling of the Abu Yousef hospital, the patients were evacuated to two clinics, one of which is also in the western part. The clinic doesn’t have a morgue, so ice-cream and vegetable fridges are being used to hold the dead bodies, generators are powering these fridges and are swiftly running out of fuel.”

A press release issued by the Gaza Ministry of Health on August 3rd reports that at least 170 people have been killed and dozens injured in Rafah in recent days. The two maternity hospitals in Rafah, the Kuwaiti Maternity Hospital and the Emirati Red Crescent Maternity Hospital, are not equipped to deal with the large number of wounded and dying people, and there is no safe evacuation route to transfer patients to other hospitals in Gaza for treatment.

Contact:

UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office

MP Philip Hammond

+44 20 7008 1500

020 7219 4055

@foreignoffice

US Department of State

Israel Foreign Service Desk: 202-647-3672

@StateDept

Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs

Carl Bildt

+46 8 405 10 00

(Plus a load more phone numbers on this page: www.government.se/sb/d/2085)

@carlbildt

@SweMFA

Urgent call to action: Tell Egypt to end Gaza siege, refuse complicity in Israeli genocide

2nd August 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Occupied Palestine

Urgent call to action

In response to calls from our fellow human beings and comrades in Gaza who ask that we bring an end to the Egyptian government’s complicity in Israel’s genocide of the people of Gaza:

To all of you who understand the interconnectedness of our many human struggles for justice and dignity, we implore you to act in solidarity with Palestine as Gaza burns and bleeds, gathers and buries the lifeless bodies of her children, and contends with carnage, despair, and loss for which there is no language.

More than 1.8 million human beings have been under a suffocating, deadly siege imposed by Israel and accommodated by the Egyptian government, that severely restricts all movement of people and products.

It is creating in Gaza what has been described as the biggest open air prison in the world, subject to frequent Israeli attacks and used as a laboratory to test and market new Israeli weapons.

The average age in Gaza is 17 years, with half the people under the age of 16. This is a defenceless civilian population, densely packed into this besieged enclave with no place to run or take refuge from Israel’s full-on military onslaught.

The cynical claims that Palestinians are forcing Israel to kill their children lack the basic requirements of logic and minimal vestiges of humanity. No one is forcing Israel to commit genocide or to target infrastructure like hospitals, schools, and the only power plant in Gaza.

Purposefully, of their own volition, Israelis are using the most sophisticated death machines against civilians: children, families, medical facilities and aid workers. Meanwhile Israel maintains a violent and brutal aerial, land and sea siege on Gaza, continuous since 2006.

Despite a call from Egyptian citizens to lift the siege, the Egyptian government which controls one border and has the option to be part of a humanitarian response to the besieged people of Gaza, has instead supported the Israeli plan for return to the status quo of slow genocide.

Many people in Gaza are desperate to avoid slow death by savage siege, hunger and lack of medical care and demand to live like normal human beings, but feel the only option Israel gives them is to die quickly by carpet bombings and wanton mass destruction which Israel now mercilessly executes.

Egyptian foreign minister Sameh Shoukry stated that the Rafah Crossing into Egypt is “open.” “We receive injured daily from Gaza, as we pass more than 600 tons of aid through.”

However, between the 10th and 27th of July, the Egyptian government has allowed an average of just nine wounded people a day to cross the border from Gaza to Egypt to receive medical treatment.

Several aid shipments of medical supplies, and even doctors, were denied entry. In light of the actual number of wounded in Gaza, at least 8,265 as of 31 July 2014, the Egyptian government’s allowance is condemnable.

Egypt must help their sisters and brothers in Gaza. The Egyptian government must refuse complicity in Israel’s genocide of a population they hold captive.

Here’s how you can help:

Go to your local Egyptian Embassy or consulate and demand the Egyptian government open Rafah crossing immediately and end its complicity with Israel’s genocide of the people of Gaza.
Flood embassy phone-lines/email with messages of protest. Write letters to print media holding Egypt complicit and similarly deluge radio/TV and Facebook etc.
Raise your concerns with your political representatives.

Please communicate your actions and the Embassy responses to us via email at: openrafahnow@gmail.com.

Updated list of endorsers:

Ahmed Kathrada, Former Robben Island inmate, anti-Apartheid icon, ANC leader – South Africa
Mr. Ronnie Kasrils Former ANC Minister for Intelligence Services – South Africa
Luisa Morgantini Former Vice President of the European Parliament – Italy
Richard Falk Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967
Breyten Breytenbach, anti-Apartheid writer, painter, novelist and icon – South Africa
Noam Chomsky, linguist, philosopher, political commentator and activist – USA
Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) – South Africa
Mosireen – Egypt
Abu Dis Popular Committee – Palestine
Adalah- NY (the New York Campaign for the Boycott of Israel) – USA
Al Eizariya Popular Committee – Palestine
Alternative Information Center – Palestine
Alternative Tourism Group – Palestine
Al Walaja Popular Committee – Palestine
Al Mufakara Popular Committee – Palestine
Al Masara Popular Committee – Palestine
Assopacepalestina – Italy
At Tuwani Popular Committee – Palestine
Australians for Palestine – Australia
Autónomos de Palestina – Spain
Badil – Palestine
BDS Catalunya – Catalunya
BDS Italy – Italy
BDS Kampagne – Germany
BDS Los Angeles for Justice in Palestine – USA
BDS Madrid – Spain
BDS – Netherlands
BDS – South Africa
Bil’in Popular Committee – Palestine
Boycott Israeli Apartheid Campaign- Vancouver – Canada
Boycott Israel Network – UK
British Muslim Initiative – UK
Campagne BDS France – France
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament – UK
Canadian Boat to Gaza – Canada
CODEPINK – USA
Collectif Palestine Libre (Toulouse) – France
Complicitats que Maten – Catalunya
Diensten Onderzoek Centrum Palestina – Netherlands
European Jews for a Just Peace – Europe
Felagid Island – Palestina – Iceland
Fourteen Friends of Palestine, Marin – USA
Free Gaza – International
Freedom Flotilla Italia – Italy
Gaza’s Ark – International
Global Peace and Justice Auckland (GPJA) – New Zealand
Hawai’i Coalition for Justice in Palestine – USA
Holy Land Trust – Palestine
International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network – International
International League for Human Rights – Germany
Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign – Ireland
Irish Anti-War Movement – Ireland
IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation – Turkey
International Solidarity Movement Northern California – USA
International Solidarity Movement Estado Espano – Spain
International Solidarity Movement – Palestine
Italian Peace Research Institute (Civil Peace Corps) – Italy
Izquierda Anticapitalista – Spain
Jews Against Genocide – International
Jews for Palestinian Right of Return – USA
Jüdische Stimme für gerechten Frieden in Nahost – Germany
Just Foreign Policy – US
Kenya Palestine Solidarity Committee – Kenya
Kufr Qaddum Popular Committee – Palestine
Labor for Palestine NY – USA
Lluita Internacionalista – Catalunya
Ni’lin Popular Committee – Palestine
Nabi Saleh Popular Committee – Palestine
Occupied Palestine and Syrian Golan Heights Advocacy Initiative
One Democratic State Group – England
Palestine Festival of Literature – Palestine
Palestine Forum in Britain – UK
Palestine Solidarity Alliance – South Africa
Palestine Solidarity Campaign – Scotland
Palestine Solidarity Campaign – South Africa
Palestinian-American Women’s Association of Southern California – USA
Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People – Palestine
Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign (Stop the Wall) – Palestine
Palestinian Union of Social Workers and Psychologists – Palestine
People for Peace, London – Canada
People for Peace London – Canada
The Ahmed Katharda foundation – South Africa
PFB – Friends of Al Aqsa – UK
Plataforma de Boicot Acádemico contra Israel – Spain
Plataforma de Solidaridad con Palestina Madrid – Spain
Popular Struggle Coordination Committee – Palestine
Red Sparks Union- Vancouver – Canada
Red de Solidaridad contra la Ocupación de Palestina – Spain
Roman Solidarity Network for Palestine – Italy
Rumbo a Gaza – Spain
Samidoun Palestinian Prisoner Solidarity Network – Canada
Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign – Scotland
Ship to Gaza – Norway
Ship to Gaza – Sweden
Social Democratic Party – Kenya
Stop the War – UK
Students for Justice in Palestine at Brooklyn College – USA
Students for Justice in Palestine Auckland – New Zealand
Student Senate of Bethlehem University – Palestine
Susya Popular Committee – Palestine
Unite Union – Palestine
Youth Against Settlements – Palestine

Gaza Ministry of Health: “Al Najar Hospital in Rafah evacuated as Israeli genocidal rampage continues”

1st August 2014 | Gaza Ministry of Health | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

The Ministry of Health Gaza announces the closure of Al Najar Hospital in Rafah, due to Israeli shelling in the vicinity compromising its ability to guarantee the safety of patients and staff.

The hospital has now been evacuated, bringing to four the number of government hospitals closed by Israeli attacks in the past three and a half weeks.

El-Wafa Rehabilitation Hospital, the only specialist rehabilitation hospital in Palestine, was forced to evacuate on July 17th, and completely destroyed on July 23rd.

Al Durrah Paediatric Hospital was forced to evacuate on July 24 because of damage caused by an Israeli strike next to it, and closed.

Beit Hanoun Hospital was evacuated on July 26 after several hours of direct and indirect shelling overnight, and closed.

Israeli attacks on hospitals are a gross breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention, as are attacks on civilians.

At least 65 people have been killed in the Rafah attacks, more than 350 wounded, and the attacks are still ongoing.

The Ministry of Health Gaza calls on the United Nations, the international community and people of good conscience everywhere to take concrete action to bring an immediate end to the ongoing Israeli attacks on medical facilities and personnel, and massacres of Gaza civilians.

Shells fall on Rafah on Friday (photo from Ma'an Images). — Shells fall on Rafah on Friday (photo from Ma’an Images).

Action Alert: Children trapped at the Rafah crossing

1st August 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

Update 2nd August:

Thanks to every one who responded to our urgent action alert, the Egyptian authorities opened the gate to allow the trapped group of foreign passport holders in!

Read more about their harrowing ordeal here.

Lets keep the pressure up on the Egyptian government until it opens the Rafah crossing to everyone and ends it’s complicity with Israel’s genocide.

See the Action alert issued by civil society organizations and public figures to demand the opening of the Rafah crossing here.

*******

This morning a group of over 70 people, mostly women and children carrying foreign passports, planned to take advantage of the ceasefire to leave Gaza and enter Egypt. Israel began bombing Rafah and the Egyptian personnel closed the Egyptian side of the border, leaving them trapped at the crossing, as the bombs fall around them. The Red Cross is not being allowed to reach them due to the bombing in the area.

Their nationalities include German, Norwegian, Bulgarian, and Egyptian.

Call the Egyptian Embassy in your country.

Call the German, Norwegian, Bulgarian foreign office and political representatives to demand that the Egyptian government opens the crossing and allows civilians to take refuge.

Use the hashtag #EndComplicity to ask the Egyptian government to let these families cross the border @egyptgovportal @EgyptEmbassyUSA @egyptconsulatuk

“The situation is very scary, the borders are closed and we are here, 70 people, mostly women and children trapped. I can see the smoke and fire, and I can hear the explosions very close to where we are,” said Nalan, one of the women trapped at the Rafah Crossing, talking to The Real News.

Listen to the audio recording of a phone call with Nalan Al Sarraj, correspondent for The Real News Network, trapped at the crossing here.

A call issued by civil society organizations and public figures including African National Congress (ANC) leaders Ahmed Kathrada, Ronnie Kasrils, and former vice president of the European Parliament, Luisa Morgantini and Richard Falk states that “Despite a call from Egyptian citizens to lift the siege, the Egyptian government which controls one border and has the option to be part of a humanitarian response to the besieged people of Gaza, has instead supported the Israeli plan for return to the status quo of slow genocide.”