GW69 Feature
The Gaza freedom march
By virtue of
carrying educational supplies Peter Offord was
one of the few people to be allowed into Gaza at
the end of 2009, the year in which Operation Cast
Lead left 1400 Gazans dead, 5,000 wounded and 13
Israelis killed. Here he reports on that
experience.
Perhaps after
the recent tragedy of the Mavi Marmara and
the nine who lost their lives, some of the
suffering of the 1.5 million Gazans will be
eased by lifting the border restrictions
but this remains to be seen. Recently the
Palestine Trauma Centre (PTC) informed me
that they were hoping to get four of their
staff out of Gaza for respite and training.
Research carried out by Dr Altawil, psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire and founder of the Palestine Trauma Centre Gaza, calculated that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder amongst children had increased from 48% to 98% following the assault. PTC Gaza, operating from a small apartment in the centre of Gaza city was overwhelmed with referrals. In the precious few days I had there, the staff told me that these were running at 400 a week. With only 5 psychiatrists, 3 of whom were in administrative positions, the staff had handled 45,000 cases since Operation Cast Lead had ended in January and were themselves suffering from PTSD.
In El Arish, northern Egypt, attempting to get into Gaza with donations and art materials for trauma work and followed by Egyptian police I met Dr Altawil’s sister. Veiled and sitting with her husband in their tiny apartment, she told me in a trembling voice that it had taken her 2 years to get through the Egyptian controlled Rafah crossing to join him, a distance of 40 kilometres.
Egypt, signatory to a peace treaty with Israel, is host to around 70,000 Palestinian refugees and is also the second largest recipient of US aid after Israel.
When I met the Trauma Centre team in London they were trying to get into Gaza to organise relief for the exhausted staff and had been blocked because of endless entry restrictions.
The Gaza Freedom March, which included a former US diplomat, European parliamentarians and Jewish peace groups was negotiating with Egypt and Gaza to enter the beleaguered strip of land and we joined this to reach the Trauma Centre. Twenty coaches with 1300 participants were to leave Cairo and join the Gazans on the last day of the year in a peaceful march to the Israeli controlled northern border crossing of Erez. There, they would be met by an Israeli and Palestinian peace delegation from Israel.
Research carried out by Dr Altawil, psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire and founder of the Palestine Trauma Centre Gaza, calculated that Post Traumatic Stress Disorder amongst children had increased from 48% to 98% following the assault. PTC Gaza, operating from a small apartment in the centre of Gaza city was overwhelmed with referrals. In the precious few days I had there, the staff told me that these were running at 400 a week. With only 5 psychiatrists, 3 of whom were in administrative positions, the staff had handled 45,000 cases since Operation Cast Lead had ended in January and were themselves suffering from PTSD.
In El Arish, northern Egypt, attempting to get into Gaza with donations and art materials for trauma work and followed by Egyptian police I met Dr Altawil’s sister. Veiled and sitting with her husband in their tiny apartment, she told me in a trembling voice that it had taken her 2 years to get through the Egyptian controlled Rafah crossing to join him, a distance of 40 kilometres.
Egypt, signatory to a peace treaty with Israel, is host to around 70,000 Palestinian refugees and is also the second largest recipient of US aid after Israel.
When I met the Trauma Centre team in London they were trying to get into Gaza to organise relief for the exhausted staff and had been blocked because of endless entry restrictions.
The Gaza Freedom March, which included a former US diplomat, European parliamentarians and Jewish peace groups was negotiating with Egypt and Gaza to enter the beleaguered strip of land and we joined this to reach the Trauma Centre. Twenty coaches with 1300 participants were to leave Cairo and join the Gazans on the last day of the year in a peaceful march to the Israeli controlled northern border crossing of Erez. There, they would be met by an Israeli and Palestinian peace delegation from Israel.
In Cairo just
before Christmas, Egypt invoked emergency
law, stopped the coaches and banned any
meetings of over 6 people. Pre-warned by an
Egyptian journalist, four of us had already
left. On reaching El Arish the Egyptian
security services placed us under house
arrest along with 25 other internationals
and blocked all roads.
In Cairo, Suzanne Mubarak, President’s wife and chair of the Red Crescent intervened and it was agreed to allow 100 participants to proceed with aid into Gaza which has been blockaded by Israel for 3 years.
Our visit was cut short by Hamas and the imminent arrival of the Viva Palestina convoy.
At the Trauma Centre I handed over the donations from the people of Norfolk and the art materials for trauma therapy. A rapid visit was organised through northern Gaza and we drove through miles of devastation with Palestinians reclaiming materials from the rubble. Many essential supplies are prohibited. We passed the flattened American school, shelled factories, primary schools, wells and sewage plants. Donkey carts were numerous because of fuel shortages. We visited a pock-marked PTC outreach venue where children were drawing their experiences with the help of a therapist; 1300 had been helped by PTC outreach work. A man showed us the blackened shell of his house, hit by phosphorus bombs where he and his family were living under plastic sheets because one year on they have no building materials. The UN says nearly eighty percent of the population live below the poverty line. The Gazans’ determination and resilience is not inexhaustible. International action needs to be taken to end the blockade and to restore peace and justice to the region. This can only be done if all the political factions are recognised as part of the negotiating process; the longer they are excluded, the greater will be the suffering for all sides. Gaza needs aid for its survival but it also desperately needs a political solution.
In Cairo, Suzanne Mubarak, President’s wife and chair of the Red Crescent intervened and it was agreed to allow 100 participants to proceed with aid into Gaza which has been blockaded by Israel for 3 years.
Our visit was cut short by Hamas and the imminent arrival of the Viva Palestina convoy.
At the Trauma Centre I handed over the donations from the people of Norfolk and the art materials for trauma therapy. A rapid visit was organised through northern Gaza and we drove through miles of devastation with Palestinians reclaiming materials from the rubble. Many essential supplies are prohibited. We passed the flattened American school, shelled factories, primary schools, wells and sewage plants. Donkey carts were numerous because of fuel shortages. We visited a pock-marked PTC outreach venue where children were drawing their experiences with the help of a therapist; 1300 had been helped by PTC outreach work. A man showed us the blackened shell of his house, hit by phosphorus bombs where he and his family were living under plastic sheets because one year on they have no building materials. The UN says nearly eighty percent of the population live below the poverty line. The Gazans’ determination and resilience is not inexhaustible. International action needs to be taken to end the blockade and to restore peace and justice to the region. This can only be done if all the political factions are recognised as part of the negotiating process; the longer they are excluded, the greater will be the suffering for all sides. Gaza needs aid for its survival but it also desperately needs a political solution.
Peter Offord
worked for seven years in the NHS in art
therapy and was elected Norwich Green City
Councillor in 2008. You can read his blog
of the Gaza Freedom March experience:
http://petroff-riverofpeace.blogspot.com
gazafreedommarch.org
ptcuk.org
http://petroff-riverofpeace.blogspot.com
gazafreedommarch.org
ptcuk.org
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