Thursday, March 06, 2008

Please help the people of Gaza

I try to restrict my blog to the subjects of writing and books, and assorted gentle musings, but I am so overwhelmed by the latest news about the suffering of the people of Gaza that I have to mention it.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is the worst it has been since Israel first occupied the territory in 1967. More than 80% of Palestinians in Gaza rely on humanitarian assistance; travel in and out of Gaza is all but impossible; and supplies of food and water, as well as sewage treatment and basic healthcare are severely restricted.

Between 25-30% of the population of the Gaza Strip do not receive running water at home because electricity is not available for pumping. About 30-40 million litres of sewage flows untreated into the sea every day.

Half the poulation in Gaza are children, and their education as well as their mental health is being damaged by the cumulative effects of the occupation, closures, poverty and violence. All of this is documented in a report drawn up by charities such as Save the Children, Amnesty International and Christian Aid. See this report on the BBC website.

In the short term you can help to improve the wellbeing of the Palestinian people by donating money to the UK-based charity, Medical Aid for Palestinians.

In the longer term, you can help by by writing to the foreign secretary and the prime minister, asking them to bring pressure to bear on Israel to abide by international law, and to find a just settlement for the Palestinian people.

UPDATE

I wrote the post above in March 2008 - when the siege was on but the bombing was not. I have written more up-to-date posts on the suffering of the people of Gaza and how you can help them.

Click here to start reading them.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

i really can't express how much i respect you Mrs.hepworth
i respect you being human
i respect you being honest
i respect you being sympathetic
i wish you can join the cause http://apps.facebook.com/causes/181685?m=7bf7bab2

Anonymous said...

Congratulations to you. I hope the situation in Gaza will imporve ASAP.

Le-Ann Mariamlelue said...

We all share in this horroor and shock as these events are broadcasted to us all over the world.
May peace be brought to palestine and the palestinians
Kulna Gaza...

Sue Hepworth said...

Thank you for your comments, friends. I long for the day when there is justice for the Palestinian people.

Anonymous said...

GOD MERCY ON PALESTINE
"YOU ARE SUPERPOWER"

my hearts cry, beacause of ISRAEL CRUELTY, ISRAEL is killling children those chidren who knows nothing about religion, and AMERICA WHO THINK HIS SELF AS A SUPER POWER, IS SHIT, ONLY TAKE ASIDE OF ISRAEL, COZ HE KNOWS,IF HE DOSNT TAKE A SIDE OF ISRAEL, THAN HIS ECONOMY WILL BE MORE WEAKER, COZ ISRAEL HAS DONE A BILLIONS TRILLIONS INVESTMENT IN EUROPEON COUNTRIES,

WHY THERE IS NO VALUE OF HUMAN LIFE, NO HUMAN RIGHT, BRITISH GOVERNMENT IS KEPT SILENT, AND LEFT ALL PALESTINE TO DIE,,,, WHY
MUSLIMS ARE NOT HUMAN,
WHY
WHY

Fujur said...

Perhaps, could be some expectation of Peace..., however, I am not be able to find it. Maybe that is te main explation about why Israel isn't a lovely country...

Anonymous said...

i would like to thank you for spreading the word of truth and for the moment there is 776 people killed in gaza ( palestinians) and they are all civilians half of them 50% are children and women... so i hope the world would react quickly for this situation... i pray that god will open the eyes of the leaders that they may hear and see the truth...
thank you
a palestinian from jerusalem

Anonymous said...

my tears drop...
I REALLY HOPE THIS 'HELL' SITUATION IN GAZA WILL OVER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.
100% support for your kind effort.

Anonymous said...

Thank you for helping to educate the world about the people in Gaza. Many muslims who are watching the images on Tv are also traumatised. We do regard fellow muslims as brothers ans sisters. The children are being killed by american bombs. (69% of the american congress are supporting the massacre of the palestinain people. They will be the cause of this lost nation as it has only a few more days to survive. I am a good person but I am now left with so much hate for the US and Israel and other western countries. I do not even want to imagine how the people in the Arab countries are feeling. Please continue your good work in helping the palestinian people. May Allah bless you.

Sue Hepworth said...

Dear friend (the last anonymous commenter) please understand that there are millions of ordinary people like me in the west, who are not muslims, who cannot bear to see the massacre in Gaza and who would do anything to stop it. Some of us have demonstrated and protested and written to our governments and we have boycotted Israeli goods, and we don't know what else we can do. We marched against the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and our governments ignored us then.
I, too, struggle not to hate the Israelis, but hate is not the answer to anything. Hate just leads to more conflict. It does not lead to peace and justice.

Wrench said...

Dear humans!
I can't write, I can't do anything. I can't cry, because I don't want to be calm. just pray...
Salterlake@gmail.com

Jafra said...

Dear Sue,
It is nice to see that not only Arabs and Muslims care about what is happening in Gaza. It gives me hope as an Arab and Muslim to see that some non-Arabs know what the truth is, although that is very hard considering the effect of Western media.
We can translate our emotions into something helpful. For ideas, please visit http://www.pcrf.net/.

Anonymous said...

Dear Sue,

I congratulate you for caring for being a great human being by caring for the people of Gaze. Truth and justice is the only way to bring peace to Palestine and to the world. Thank you for spreading the work and keep up the good work.

Anonymous said...

Dear people,
For eight years! Eight years!!! Think how long that is…
For eight years all of the western south part of Israel has been under attack of missiles. WHERE HAS BEEN THE ENTIRE WORLD FOR 8 YEARS? WHERE HAS BEEN THE UN FOR 8 YEARS? IS THE PALASTINIAN BLOOD ANY REDDER? Even thought three years ago the Israel left Gaza and evacuated 8,000 Israelis from there home, the Hamas was still firing missiles at the Israelis, even while the evacuation was taking place the Hamas was firing missiles. After eight years of restraint Israel had to do what any country in the world would have done, PROTECT IRS SELF!!! The Israeli operation Gaza was directed to hit the Hamas terrorists, in order to stop the terror in the Gaza strip of the benefit of the civilians in Gaza aswell. The Hamas missiles were directed agents innocent Israeli civilians, & the Israeli operation was directed against terrorists. The Hamas booby-trapped houses of Palestinian civilians in order to injure & kill Israeli soldiers. While the operation was taking place Israel sent to Gaza hundreds of trucks full humanitarian supplies, full of medicine, food & basic necessities, but the trucks & supplies didn't get to the Gaza civilians because the Hamas took over the trucks & took all the goods for themselves. For eight years Israel did nothing, after eight years it was time for Israel to protect there citizen's. I have been living under attack for 8 years, I have got many friends that were evacuated from the Gaza strip, I have finished my service in the Israeli army a month ago, I have seen & I know thongs that in you wildest dreams you wouldn't dream about, stop deluding you self's. No one wanted to harm not even one innocent civilian in Gaza, but the Hamas didn't leave Israel any choice. I am more than happy to receive any comment or reaction to my mail- AVINOLENWED@GAMIL.COM

Sue Hepworth said...

Dear Israeli soldier,
1/ It is not true that Hamas has stolen the aid for the people of Gaza. The UN and independent charities have been distributing it freely.
2/ However, insufficient aid has been getting through the Israeli blockade at the moment, and this has been the case for months and months, even before the latest Israeli war this January. All independent sources testify to this. The people of Gaza have been without food, without fuel, without medicines, and without many other basic supplies, because of the Israeli blockade. How would you feel if an occupying power was cutting off necessities so that you and family were suffering?
3/ The siege has also strangled the Palestinain economy because of the lack of resources getting in, and the blockade on getting goods out. This means that there is huge poverty in the Gaza strip.
4/ I do not support the violence of Hamas, but you have to ask yourself why they are attacking Israel. Israel has stolen Palestinian land and is continuing to do so by encouraging further illegal settlements. Do you think this is just?
5/ The Israeli selttlements in Gaza were illegal. Under the Geneva convention it is illegal for an occupying power to settle civilians in an occupied territory.
6/ If Israel knew that in bombing Hamas they would be bombing civilian families and killing children, why did they proceed? That is a war crime.

The_Brain said...

I don't agree with most people saying that we can't do anything there's always something to do...
You can try to help via organizations like Unicef ot WHO , but most importantly by raising awereness around you even by mentioning it in conversations ( you'll be amazed by how clueless people still are on this matter)

Sue Hepworth said...

You're absolutely right, TheBrain, about people not knowing what's going on, and about there always being something one can do.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the info

mez yA said...

may my god bless u........

mez yA said...

its a good statement..may my good bless u..

Sue Hepworth said...

Thank you, mez Ya.