Special to National Post
As an aid worker and a Palestinian, my job over the last ten years has been implementing programs on behalf of Islamic Relief in Gaza — from delivering basic aid such as water and medical supplies to providing education and psycho-social support programs for children.
© Provided by National Post A Palestinian child stands amidst the rubble of buildings, destroyed by Israeli strikes, in Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip on May 21, 2021.
We receive strong support for the work we do from donors in Canada, and I think Canadians should know how it feels to be living in Gaza at the moment. As civilians, media offices and religious sites are attacked with impunity by a state Canada’s prime minister has called an ally, I believe that Canadians deserve to learn more.
Palestinians have been living under occupation for decades; our people’s homes have been destroyed in Gaza and land taken from us in the West Bank . Our children have been killed with little outrage or attention from the international community — including Canada. The political negotiations that have taken place have failed to address these grave violations of Palestinians’ basic, internationally agreed-upon human rights.
The last few days have been absolutely terrifying. The recent attacks by Israeli forces aren’t new, but this time they are the most intense and violent I’ve ever seen. We are living in fear, knowing any moment now our homes could be blown up with us inside. Mostly, there are no sirens, no warnings — we just hear the planes fly overhead and the bombs drop. Even if we wanted to flee we have nowhere safe to go.
The sound of screaming is everywhere. Houses are shaking from the bombardment. People are afraid and living in darkness because we have no power. Most people here do not have shelters or anywhere to go when the strikes start. Like many other children, my son has spent the last few nights experiencing panic attacks and unable to sleep because of the bombs.
My son is not alone — a whole generation has been psychologically affected by the years of blockade and bombing, knowing nothing but life under a brutal siege.
Before the attacks, Gaza was already on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. Due to the 14-year blockade imposed by regional governments that they claim is necessary to cripple Palestinian ruling party Hamas, the movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza is severely restricted. Eighty per cent of people here rely on international aid.
The violence must end, but we must understand this escalation is a symptom of the injustice of the occupation and the blockade that blights the lives of the people of Gaza on a daily basis. We want the world to address the root causes, not just the symptoms.
Gaza has yet to recover from the humanitarian disasters caused by repeated Israeli offensives over the past decade. Israel’s last major offensive in 2014 resulted in the deaths of over 2000 Palestinians — the majority civilians — including more than 500 children.
In 2012, the United Nations warned the international community that Gaza might not be habitable by 2020 if the blockade is not lifted. With every Israeli military operation, the Gaza Strip becomes more and more uninhabitable.
Israel claims it is targeting Hamas, but in the most recent attacks, over 200 Palestinians have been killed so far, of which 64 have been children. More than 1600 are already injured. Gaza hospitals, already struggling with the spread of COVID, are finding it hard to cope. As I write this, more than 50 schools have been damaged , and on Tuesday, our only Covid testing lab was bombed and damaged.
You may think that civilians are not the targets, but residential buildings are being targeted, along with buildings hosting international media outlets like the Associated Press and Al Jazeera. Sometimes civilians are warned to evacuate and escape, but other times bombs are dropped at night as people sleep.
Even if a building is warned to vacate, it is impossible to find a safe haven from an impending attack. Anyone who has been to the Gaza Strip would know that the city is dense, and there is nowhere to run to escape the bombs. The sheer density of Gaza means that any Israeli attack will result in the indiscriminate and disproportionate killing of civilians and devastation of neighbouring apartments and businesses.
Since the onslaught of Israel’s attacks, Islamic Relief Canada has launched an emergency appeal to provide humanitarian relief for Palestinians on the ground. As many Palestinians seek shelter in UN schools or with relatives, my team in Gaza will be procuring and distributing bedding and other urgent essential items to help displaced individuals.
A ceasefire alone will not be enough to prevent violence escalating again in future. The world must now seize this moment to kickstart a process that truly addresses the root causes of the crisis. I urge Canada and the rest of the international community to take a stand against the injustices taking place in Gaza, once and for all.
National Post
Muneeb Abu-Ghazaleh is the country director for Islamic Relief Gaza.
We receive strong support for the work we do from donors in Canada, and I think Canadians should know how it feels to be living in Gaza at the moment. As civilians, media offices and religious sites are attacked with impunity by a state Canada’s prime minister has called an ally, I believe that Canadians deserve to learn more.
Palestinians have been living under occupation for decades; our people’s homes have been destroyed in Gaza and land taken from us in the West Bank . Our children have been killed with little outrage or attention from the international community — including Canada. The political negotiations that have taken place have failed to address these grave violations of Palestinians’ basic, internationally agreed-upon human rights.
The last few days have been absolutely terrifying. The recent attacks by Israeli forces aren’t new, but this time they are the most intense and violent I’ve ever seen. We are living in fear, knowing any moment now our homes could be blown up with us inside. Mostly, there are no sirens, no warnings — we just hear the planes fly overhead and the bombs drop. Even if we wanted to flee we have nowhere safe to go.
The sound of screaming is everywhere. Houses are shaking from the bombardment. People are afraid and living in darkness because we have no power. Most people here do not have shelters or anywhere to go when the strikes start. Like many other children, my son has spent the last few nights experiencing panic attacks and unable to sleep because of the bombs.
My son is not alone — a whole generation has been psychologically affected by the years of blockade and bombing, knowing nothing but life under a brutal siege.
Before the attacks, Gaza was already on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. Due to the 14-year blockade imposed by regional governments that they claim is necessary to cripple Palestinian ruling party Hamas, the movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza is severely restricted. Eighty per cent of people here rely on international aid.
The violence must end, but we must understand this escalation is a symptom of the injustice of the occupation and the blockade that blights the lives of the people of Gaza on a daily basis. We want the world to address the root causes, not just the symptoms.
Gaza has yet to recover from the humanitarian disasters caused by repeated Israeli offensives over the past decade. Israel’s last major offensive in 2014 resulted in the deaths of over 2000 Palestinians — the majority civilians — including more than 500 children.
In 2012, the United Nations warned the international community that Gaza might not be habitable by 2020 if the blockade is not lifted. With every Israeli military operation, the Gaza Strip becomes more and more uninhabitable.
Israel claims it is targeting Hamas, but in the most recent attacks, over 200 Palestinians have been killed so far, of which 64 have been children. More than 1600 are already injured. Gaza hospitals, already struggling with the spread of COVID, are finding it hard to cope. As I write this, more than 50 schools have been damaged , and on Tuesday, our only Covid testing lab was bombed and damaged.
You may think that civilians are not the targets, but residential buildings are being targeted, along with buildings hosting international media outlets like the Associated Press and Al Jazeera. Sometimes civilians are warned to evacuate and escape, but other times bombs are dropped at night as people sleep.
Even if a building is warned to vacate, it is impossible to find a safe haven from an impending attack. Anyone who has been to the Gaza Strip would know that the city is dense, and there is nowhere to run to escape the bombs. The sheer density of Gaza means that any Israeli attack will result in the indiscriminate and disproportionate killing of civilians and devastation of neighbouring apartments and businesses.
Since the onslaught of Israel’s attacks, Islamic Relief Canada has launched an emergency appeal to provide humanitarian relief for Palestinians on the ground. As many Palestinians seek shelter in UN schools or with relatives, my team in Gaza will be procuring and distributing bedding and other urgent essential items to help displaced individuals.
A ceasefire alone will not be enough to prevent violence escalating again in future. The world must now seize this moment to kickstart a process that truly addresses the root causes of the crisis. I urge Canada and the rest of the international community to take a stand against the injustices taking place in Gaza, once and for all.
National Post
Muneeb Abu-Ghazaleh is the country director for Islamic Relief Gaza.
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