Tag: Gaza

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.”

Palestinian-Egyptians wait to enter the Rafah border crossing, the only border through which Palestinians can exit Gaza
Egypt must open the Rafah crossing. Photo by Eyad Al Baba /APA images.

UPDATED: Israeli military announce they will bomb al-Shifa hospital in Gaza

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

Updated August 5th:

International volunteers, along with ISM activists, are continuing to stay in al-Shifa hospital four days after it was threatened to be bombed by the Israeli military.

“From experience, we cannot trust the Israeli military to not attack during this ceasefire. Temporary ceasefire or not, we take the threat against al-Shifa seriously and we will remain inside the hospital until we’re no longer needed.” Stated Fred Ekblad, Swedish ISM activist in al-Shifa Hospital.

After the hospital received a threat by phone, they evacuated all staff and patients inside the threatened building, and were forced to move them back into the main site, although it is already near capacity with wounded men, women, and children. According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, as of August 4th, 1865 Palestinians have been killed and a further 9536 have been wounded.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported on August 2nd that at least five hospitals and 34 clinics had been forced to shut down due to damage or continuing hostilities in the immediate area. At least 15 medical and emergency staff have been killed in the line of duty, and dozens have been injured.

*******

Al-Shifa hospital has received a phone call telling them a building of the hospital will be bombed.

At 16:30, the hospital received a call from an unlisted number, stating a building needed to be evacuated immediately.

The building is being used for overflow patients, and is directly across the road from the main hospital building. It is part of the hospital site, but building work has yet to be completed.

The hospital is now in the process of evacuating all staff and patients inside.

“I’d like to say that Israel’s threats to bomb Gaza’s largest hospital have reached a new low, but in light of it’s relentless atrocities and civilian massacres over the last 25 days, it’s hardly unexpected.” Stated Joe Catron, U.S. International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activist now in al-Shifa hospital.

Since July 25th, international volunteers from countries including Spain, Sweden, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, New Zealand, Australia, and Venezuela have begun a constant protective presence in various locations at the al-Shifa Hospital.

According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, as of July 29th, there have been 34 attacks against Gazan medical facilities since this latest Israeli military assault began 25 days ago.

Gaza Ministry of Health: “Gaza surgery being performed in corridors, on the floor

31st July 2014 | Gaza Ministry of Health | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

Gaza hospitals are operating under impossible conditions, with surgery now being performed in corridors and on the floor due to the sheer numbers of wounded from massacres such as Shati park, UNRWA school and Shujeiyah market.

Surgery in the corridors (photo by Gaza Ministry of Health).
Surgery in the corridors (photo by Gaza Ministry of Health).

Lack of theatre space sees two persons being operated on at a time in the same theatre, while others receive surgical interventions in the corridors.

Even beds are in such short supply that surgeons are forced to undertake complicated procedures while their patients lie on stretchers on the floor.

There is nowhere to send the patients post-operatively, with Shifa ICU full, and no vacant beds in surgical wards. Some surgical cases have been sent to maternity and internal medicine hospitals, and to other hospitals outside Shifa medical complex.

Despite 30 patients being ready for discharge, they literally have nowhere to go. These 30 beds are desperately needed.

Performing surgery on the floor of the corridor (photo by Gaza Ministry of Health).
Performing surgery on the floor of the corridor (photo by Gaza Ministry of Health).

Wards are full to overflowing, with patients lying on mattresses in the corridors. It has deteriorated to the extent that patients have even been sharing beds, and others are being discharged prematurely.

In many cases no patient notes are being recorded contemporaneously or files created because the staff just cannot take the time away from treating the high volume of patients. Some details are being recorded afterwards, but this is less than ideal.

These conditions are a recipe for disaster.

Infection control is well-nigh impossible, and post-operative complications including death will be inevitable.

Deaths are already occurring from a lack of timely treatment, as the numbers of patients far exceed the capacity of the staff. We estimate that we have a 50% shortfall in staff numbers to deal with the case loads presenting for treatment, resulting in some patients receiving suboptimal care and others receiving none at all.

Current staff are as overburdened as the facilities they serve, working without pay for 24 hours on a day-on, day-off roster. All surgeons and surgical staff have been recalled, to cope with the sheer numbers. They are suffering enormous stress, not only from lack of rest, the horrendous injuries they are dealing with and the under-resourced conditions under which they work, but also due to constant fear for their families, and fear of attack as hospitals have increasingly become targets of Israeli fire.

The Ministry of Health Gaza calls for:

  1. The UN, ICRC and other international NGOs to provide as a matter of urgency safe and hygienic shelters for the discharge of displaced patients to free up desperately-needed hospital beds;
  2. the borders to be opened immediately to enable the entry of urgently-required medical teams and equipment to alleviate the workloads; and
  3. the international community to take immediate and concrete action to reign in the unfettered Israeli war crimes in Gaza.