From the skies to your roof, what does a raindrop pick up along the way?

by Jake Kerr, University of Arizona

Mónica Ramírez-Andreotta, director of Project Harvest, and a community member 

examine rainwater collected in a cistern. Ramírez-Andreotta and members of the Project 

Harvest team work with community members to collect rainwater, analyze it for 

contaminants and translate the findings into bilingual interactive visualizations that are 

made available to the public.

 Credit: Sandra Westdahl/Landmark Stories

As clean water access becomes more difficult in the American Southwest, more people are turning to harvesting rainwater as a solution, especially in Arizona. But with little data on contaminants in harvested rainwater, communities are wondering how clean it really is.

To answer that question, a University of Arizona-led community partnership, called Project Harvest, has for the past six years collected harvested rainwater samples and analyzed them for a variety of contaminants.

Mónica Ramírez-Andreotta, an associate professor in the Department of Environmental Science, created Project Harvest with a team of researchers in partnership with Sonora Environmental Research Institute Inc. and communities throughout Arizona. The work is published in the Journal of Research in Science Teaching.

Across a suite of papers, Project Harvest observed that samples contained lead and arsenic; micropollutants such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances—chemicals known as PFAS—and pesticides; and microbial pollutants such as E. coli and total coliform.

As a co-created research program, Project Harvest worked with community members to train, collect and translate all of their findings into bilingual interactive visualizations, available to the public.

"These individuals are trying to do the right thing—conserve water, grow their own healthy food, and reduce their carbon footprint," Ramírez-Androetta said. "Pollution interferes with these environmental public health interventions, so people want to know what the quality of the water is and how they can use it."

Contamination season

From lead to pesticides and even E. coli, all findings shared a common thread: increased contaminants during monsoon season, possibly due to increased dust activity.

One paper detected lead and arsenic in rooftop harvested rainwater in the partnering communities. While most levels were within the EPA's enforceable drinking water standards, no level of exposure to lead and arsenic is safe for humans.

Dust-carrying contaminants could also be the cause for increased prometon and simazine pesticides during monsoon season. Prometon is commonly used in areas along paved roads and parking lots.

Perfluorooctanoic acid, known as PFOA, and perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, or PFOS, were also observed in samples across the state in concentrations greater than the EPA's most recent drinking water health advisories. PFOA and PFOS are human-made surfactants often called "forever chemicals" due to their longevity in nature.

Presence of E. coli in harvested rainwater was relatively low in this study—most were under the levels deemed safe by the Environmental Protection Agency. However, total coliforms, a mostly harmless group of bacteria often spread through animal and human waste, were detected more often at concentrations above the same standards.

Location, location, location

Other than season, location is another major factor for most contaminant concentrations, and with regard to lead and arsenic, this is mainly related to government and industrial sites. In select communities, as distance from these sites increased, researchers observed a significant decrease in lead and arsenic concentrations in rooftop-harvested rainwater.

Additionally, roof-harvested rainwater samples had greater PFOA, perfluorononanoic acid and perfluorobutane sulfonic acid mean concentrations than the control rainwater, indicating the contamination is most likely tied to industrial activities. However, the exact sources cannot be confirmed.

Credit: University of Arizona

Working with the community, for the community

By partnering with communities that are disproportionately impacted by climate change and pollution, consisting of more than 150 participants, Project Harvest collected and analyzed over 3,000 rainwater samples.

Communication and training during the program were led by promotoras, or community members with an understanding of community dynamics and local health and social issues. The promotoras served as cultural knowledge brokers between UArizona and the larger groups of community scientists.

"This project would not have been possible without our community scientist partners and project promotoras who maintained contact with the community scientists," Ramírez-Andreotta said. "They shared their expertise and experiences with us, which in turn improved our methodologies, reduced program barriers, increased access to the program and enhanced data-sharing strategies."

Setting the foundation for co-created research

The bottom line is that contaminants can be observed in rooftop harvested rainwater. Depending on the contaminant, concentration and how someone uses their harvested rainwater, measures such as filtering and equipment cleaning are recommended. While individuals can try to prevent contamination, Ramírez-Andreotta said it is also important to think about the source of the contaminants.

"In most cases, it is not the individual behavior that's leading to these concentrations in the rainwater," Ramírez-Andreotta said. "The burden is being placed on them, but it's coming from these broader systems."

In addition to the data, Ramírez-Andreotta said this study shows how building relationships with communities will support environmental health literacy and nurture a new or renewed relationship with science.

"Co-created community science is a model that can not only transform science education and teaching and meaningfully connect with communities at risk," Ramírez-Andreotta wrote, "it can be used to build capacity, inform decision-making, and address climate change and water scarcity challenges."

More information: Mónica D. Ramírez‐Andreotta et al, Co‐created environmental health science: Identifying community questions and co‐generating knowledge to support science learning, Journal of Research in Science Teaching (2023). DOI: 10.1002/tea.21882

Provided by University of ArizonaUS drinking water often contains toxic contaminants, scientist warns

 

Study of modern salamanders provides clues to the feeding behavior of early terrestrial vertebrates

by Meike Rech, State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart

Stages of aquatic vertebrate feeding and the importance of intraoral food processing. 

Feeding stages and their significance are exemplarily depicted using the aquatic feeding 

of Necturus maculosus. Probably the most scientifically studied part of feeding is the

 so-called feeding sequence or cycle (a) because the feeding sequence consists of

 behaviors that are relatively easy to study and compare using kinematics. The feeding

 sequence consists of four stages: ingestion, processing, transport and swallowing of 

food. The blue arrows indicate the water movement during the feeding stages and the 

highlighted red structure outlines the oral tongue flap. (b) The physiological value of food

 processing. Note that vertebrate feeding behaviors can be much more diverse.

 Credit: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0541

Since the work of Charles Darwin, it is relatively clear from an evolutionary perspective where we come from: aquatic ancestors gave rise to terrestrial vertebrates, from among which humans developed.

However, it has not yet been clarified how exactly the vertebrate water-to-land transition took place despite physical and physiological constraints that the life under the new terrestrial condition brought about. The vertebrate water-to-land transition began about 360 million years ago in the Devonian period. Feeding was one of the most essential processes that early tetrapods had to adapt during the change from aquatic to terrestrial life.

An international team led by Dr. Daniel Schwarz and Prof. Dr. Rainer Schoch of the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart, Germany, studied the feeding behavior of extant salamanders and subsequently used the results of these analyses to draw conclusions about the feeding behavior of early tetrapods. The research results suggest that early terrestrial vertebrates may have eaten during their first attempts to conquer the land despite lacking mobile tongues like those seen across many of today's amniotes.

In addition, during the early stages of development when they were still aquatic, early tetrapods may have performed complex chewing behaviors similar to mammals despite often possessing relatively simple shaped teeth (curved-conical and monocuspid). The research was published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences.

The researchers chose an experimental biological approach to clarify the feeding behavior of early tetrapods. They studied and observed recent salamanders because they display similar anatomies and can feed in water and on land. The scientists analyzed the feeding behavior of forty species from nine of the ten salamander families during three developmental stages, making this the most comprehensive salamander feeding study to date.

"We observed the animals as larvae, juveniles before metamorphosis, and adults after metamorphosis. After metamorphosis, the salamanders were observed during feeding, if possible, both underwater and on land. Our study stands out from previous studies not only because of the number of species and the developmental approach but also because feeding was studied from the initial intake of food into the mouth to the onset of swallowing", said Dr. Daniel Schwarz. 

Possible changes in the feeding behavior of prehistoric animals were studied with modern technologies: Developmental water-land transitions in salamanders were used to model possible changes in the feeding behavior of early tetrapods. Detailed analyses were partly possible through modern technologies, such as high-speed X-ray video imaging, from two perspectives, which were used to generate three-dimensional animations (XROMM).

This method allows for studying the rapid movements of bone structures used during feeding as well as the movements of prey in the salamanders' mouths. X-ray videography enabled looking into the mouths of the animals, even when they were closed.

Two possible scenarios for early terrestrial feeding

The researchers' data suggest two scenarios for terrestrial feeding in early tetrapods: either prey was grasped with the jaws and dragged back into the water, where the tongue may have transported it via water currents and the jaws may have processed it (chewing bites)—or prey was processed directly on land by a combination of prey shaking and biting, and finally swallowed with the help of inertial transport (i.e., quick forward movements or head rotations while temporarily releasing the grip on the food).

Therefore, it seems that terrestrial feeding was possible even before vertebrates walked on land and before flexible tongues evolved. Further, the observations suggest the presence of complex chewing habits, including jaw movements in more than one dimension, during early developmental stages.

"The present work can be seen as important foundational research from which further questions may arise. In further studies, we would like to investigate the skulls, jaws, and tongue structures of early terrestrial vertebrates based on fossils to clarify additive details regarding the evolution of the feeding behavior of early tetrapods and the water-land transition of vertebrates," say the scientists Dr. Daniel Schwarz and Prof. Dr. Rainer Schoch.

More information: Daniel Schwarz et al, Using salamanders as model taxa to understand vertebrate feeding constraints during the late Devonian water-to-land transition, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences (2023). DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0541

Journal information: Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 

Provided by State Museum of Natural History StuttgartSalamanders chew with their palate

 

Nonprofits can become more resilient by spending more on fundraising and admin, according to new research

by Telesilla Kotsi and Alfonso J. Pedraza Martinez, The Conversation

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Most food banks, homeless shelters and other social services nonprofits constantly face hard decisions about how to use their limited funds. Should they spend as much as possible on meeting the immediate needs of people who need help? How much of their budget is appropriate to spend on new equipment, skilled managers and everything else required for an organization to thrive and endure?

To help nonprofits tackle this quandary, we teamed up with two other business professors, Arian Aflaki and Goker Aydin, to develop a mathematical model to guide nonprofits on how to divvy up their spending to optimize both current performance and future resilience through their spending priorities.

Having observed how charity watchdogs like Charity Navigator rate nonprofits, our model takes into account that spending more on core programs leads to increased funding for a nonprofit.

In consultation with the Indiana Hoosier Hills Food Bank, we also studied the relationship of administration costs with a nonprofit's capacity, which comprises the organization's infrastructure, equipment, staff and other resources. This capacity is crucial for the nonprofit's ability to meet its immediate and future needs.

Building on this, our research challenges the conventional wisdom that nonprofits should allocate nearly all of their budget to program costs. We found that striking the right balance depends on an organization's existing capacity.

Our model indicates that new organizations and groups that are operating on small budgets need to spend a larger share of their revenue on administrative costs than larger, more established nonprofits. This investment lays a solid foundation for long-term resilience and ensures they are better equipped to serve their beneficiaries.

As nonprofits grow and establish some level of capacity, the emphasis should then shift to fundraising. That approach allows them to gather the funding necessary to maximize their existing capabilities. Importantly, the share of spending for administration or fundraising should align with the organization's anticipated future needs.

For instance, if a nonprofit expects to take on larger projects or greater responsibilities in the future, it would be prudent to increase administrative spending now to prepare for those challenges.

Why it matters

Administrative costs, also known as overhead, encompass salaries, training, infrastructure, equipment and upkeep.

Donors and grantmakers often pressure nonprofits to devote as much of their budgets as possible to providing services, generally known as a nonprofit's program. Many funders even set admin and fundraising caps in grant agreements. These well-meaning practices can compel nonprofits to scrimp in ways that make them less effective.

After years of investing too little money in, say, computers and professional development, nonprofits eventually have to pivot and devote more money to those neglected needs. Once their financial health is no longer shaky, those groups tend to cave again to their donors' concerns, cutting their budgets for fundraising and administrative activities.

Scholars of nonprofit management have sounded the alarm about this "starvation cycle," for two decades. But there are some signs that this loop might be breaking.

Big donors like the Ford Foundation are now dedicating 20%-25% of their grants to cover overhead—or even providing their support with no strings attached, recognizing that for a nonprofit to be successful it needs to be well managed. Meanwhile, organizations that rate nonprofits, like Charity Navigator, are starting to broaden their criteria to look at an organization's overall well-being and impact, not just how they minimize spending on administration and fundraising.

Rather than neglect urgent spending priorities, some nonprofits resort to misclassifying certain expenses. That is, they pay for administrative work with money designated as program related in their budgets. This strategy makes financial distress less likely but interferes with transparency and can undermine budget discipline.

What isn't known

In the future, we plan to collaborate with charity watchdogs to gain their insights on how our evaluation recommendations could be applied to reflect each organization's specific capabilities and goals. This will help us understand any limitations and make necessary adjustments for broader use.

Provided by The Conversation 

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Charities that don't embrace common financial norms tend to outperform their peers

 

Sexual harassment victims in Nigerian universities are being blamed—cyberspace study

by Helen Ugah, The Conversation

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Sexual harassment encompasses a wide range of inappropriate behavior, from ogling, touching and commenting about body parts, to sexual proposition, coercion, assault and rape. In other words, it is any form of unsolicited and unwanted sexual attention.

Within the academic environment, there is another dimension too. It is any form of physical or verbal behavior that may tie academic progress to sexual favors. Either staff or students could be victims. It violates the victim's dignity, especially in situations where it creates an environment of humiliation, degradation or hostility.

In Nigeria, sexual harassment is the bane of many students. While it is difficult to put a figure to it, a 2018 World Bank survey said 70% of female graduates from Nigerian tertiary institutions had been sexually harassed in school by their fellow students and lecturers. A Nigerian study found that 34.2% of the 160 students surveyed said that sexual violence was the most prevalent form of gender-based violence. There is even a bill which aims to prevent it—the Sexual Harassment in Tertiary Institutions Prohibition Bill— awaiting presidential assent, passed by the National Assembly.

The effects of sexual harassment may include loss of self confidence and self esteem, trouble studying or paying attention, and thinking about dropping a class or even leaving the institution.

I'm a scholar of gender, sexuality and communication. I conducted a study that looked at the perceptions embedded in the online opinion and attitudes of Nigerians towards female victims of sexual harassment.

I analyzed comments uploaded on Nairaland.com, a Nigerian English-language internet forum with over 3 million registered users. These were comments about personal experiences of sexual harassment in Nigerian tertiary education institutions.

The analysis found that the comments contained stereotypical assumptions and negative attitudes towards victims. Victims of sexual harassment were presented as liars and willing accomplices. The comments suggested that women's behavior instigated the harassment and that they were guilty.

My findings provide insights into the construction of masculinity and femininity in Nigerian cyberspaces. They also show how these spaces reproduce and reconstruct norms about gender and sexuality.

I recommend that education institutions should do more to prevent harassment and to support those who experience it. In addition, a law should be put in place to require institutions to do so.

Comments on Nairaland

The data for my study comprised 500 comments gathered from five selected stories on university sexual harassment downloaded from Nairaland. Nairaland is the largest Nigerian online forum; people post comments there on many topics, ranging from politics to social issues.

Nairaland members cut across different ages, social classes, gender and professions. There are students and lecturers on the forum. Participants can post personal stories as well as stories and news reports from other online forums or news sites. Forum members then deliberate on them.

I chose five stories which generated a lot of comments. Two of the stories were discussions on sexual harassment cases. Three were personal stories of victims.

My analysis took a descriptive qualitative approach.

In the comments, female victims of sexual harassment were presented as liars who willingly took part in what had happened. The comments suggested their actions and what they were wearing had provoked the harassment. Some statements implied that women only claim harassment when they want attention or feel cheated by males. For example:

"The girl is already an ashawo (prostitute) … she wants to form virgin mary when she is a prostitute already. rubbish … she is not a virgin so why refuse the lecturer sex. she is just trying to play the victim. "

Some of the commentators said sexual victimization would always occur because men are biologically wired to always want sex. Also, that some female students dressed provocatively, and some were too lazy to pass without favors from their lecturers. Female victims were blamed for putting themselves in a position that made them "harassable"—they were guilty by making themselves available to their harassers.

Negative portrayal of victims

My research also shows how Nigerian society portrays women. The negative and ideological portrayal of the victims stems from a broader perception of women in Nigerian society. It reflects the patriarchal structure of the society, which considers women unequal to men.

Social practices that uphold patriarchy blame females for sexual crimes committed against them by males. Women are seen as flawed and debased, objects of sexual gratification for men.

Men tend to hold powerful and authoritative positions in universities. Since 1960, there have been only 38 women among over 720 vice-chancellors in Nigeria.

The way forward

Sexual harassment can only be curbed if there are measures that encourage early reporting by victims within the university system. Their protection must be guaranteed as this will make them feel safe to report incidents of harassment. In an environment where they are blamed for their own harassment, they are less likely to report it and it is more likely to continue, with negative impacts on individuals' educational progress and health.

Nigerian tertiary institutions should create a gender diversity office that protects the identity of students who report cases of sexual harassment. That way, victims do not have to suffer criticism or stigmatization from society. The University of Ibadan has a Gender Mainstreaming Office which investigates sexual harassment issues, but it is difficult to gauge its effectiveness. Another, Godfrey Okoye University, has a similar office.

There should be a policy on sexual harassment in all institutions. Its contents must be widely shared and clear to reflect what constitutes harassment and what punishment perpetrators can expect to face.

Provided by The Conversation 

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

The dynamics of workplace sexual harassment in the US

 

What do a Black scientist, nonprofit executive and filmmaker have in common? They all face racism in workplace culture

by Adia Harvey Wingfield, The Conversation

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

American workplaces talk a lot about diversity these days. In fact, you'd have a hard time finding a company that says it doesn't value the principle. But despite this—and despite the multibillion-dollar diversity industry—Black workers continue to face significant hiring discrimination, stall out at middle management levels and remain underrepresented in leadership roles.

As a sociologist, I wanted to understand why this is. So I spent more than 10 years interviewing over 200 Black workers in a variety of roles—from the gig economy to the C-suite. I found that many of the problems they face come down to organizational culture. Too often, companies elevate diversity as a concept but overlook the internal processes that disadvantage Black workers.

I tell several of these individuals' stories in my new book, "Gray Areas: How the Way We Work Perpetuates Racism and What We Can Do to Fix It." While racial disparities were once the result of law and explicit policy—think of "Whites Only Need Apply" signs—today, subtle cultural processes lead to unequal racial outcomes. It's in these "gray areas" that racism lurks.

Three professionals, one frustrating reality

Take "Constance," for example—not her real name—who is a Black female chemical engineering professor at a major research university. Her university proclaims its commitment to diversity and inclusion, with several offices and initiatives dedicated to this goal.

Yet she told me that most leaders at her school are uncomfortable trying to achieve racial diversity. They'd rather be "colorblind"—that is, they'd rather not acknowledge or address racial disparities or the institutional rules and norms that perpetuate them. So their attempts to pursue diversity translate into attempts to hire more women faculty but not more Black faculty.

This isn't surprising, as women generally are underrepresented in STEM fields. But the emphasis on gender means that the racial issues Constance encounters as a Black woman—openly racist teaching evaluations, colleagues' casual stereotyping, additional barriers to mentorship—go ignored.

"Kevin" offers another instructive example. He's a Black man who works at an education nonprofit that aims to help kids—a laudable goal. His workplace touts its culture of collaboration and says that it demonstrates its commitment to diversity by supporting children from all backgrounds.

But in practice, Kevin found that the organization often shunned and patronized Black parents, treating them disrespectfully. And despite his employer's stated support for diversity, Kevin says his efforts to highlight these problems usually went ignored.

And then there's "Brian." A film producer with extensive Hollywood experience, Brian was excited about taking a job with a major studio. He thought it would give him an opportunity to bring more films about the variety of Black experience to audiences. And since studio leaders talked a big game about innovation, creativity and original thinking, this seemed like a reasonable assumption.

But once he started in this role, Brian learned that the studio was dominated by a market-driven culture, which leaders used to justify not investing in films by and about Black people. Importantly, the same logic around Black filmmakers rarely seemed to apply to white ones, Brian said—those who directed flops were still given multiple chances to keep working. Pointing out this hypocrisy failed to change minds or practices, Brian found.

When a DEI statement isn't enough

What do these three people, working in very different industries, have in common? They all work for employers that have a stated commitment to diversity—and an organizational culture that belies and even undermines it.

When these companies commit to diversity but fail to tackle racial diversity specifically, it becomes easy for workers like Constance, Kevin and Brian to find that the issues they experience get overlooked and that there's no effective way to bring them forward. They get stuck in the gray areas.

However, it doesn't have to be this way. There are practical steps companies can take to address racial diversity: creating mentoring programs for everyone, setting goals and collecting data to measure progress, and investing in diversity task forces, for example.

My research suggests smart organizations will do just that—moving toward a culture where "diversity" is a driver of solutions, not just a buzzword.

Provided by The Conversation 

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Companies may benefit from transparency about racial diversity efforts

 

Gaza conflict: How children's lives are affected on every level

by Jason Hart, Caitlin Procter and Mohammed Alruzzi, The Conversation

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Children living in Gaza have never known anything but overcrowding, shortages, conflict and danger.

It's been 18 years since the then Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon, moved all Israel's settlers and military personnel out of the Gaza Strip. The country's official narrative then became that they were no longer an occupying force.

But two years later, following the election of Hamas, the Israeli government imposed a blockade on the entire Gaza Strip. So today's 18-year-olds have suffered in a state of privation for pretty much their whole lives.

Relocation of settlers and soldiers and the imposition of the blockade did not release Israel from its responsibility under international law towards the civilian population in Gaza. According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, Israel is still "bound by certain obligations under the law of occupation". As detailed in article 55 of the fourth Geneva convention, this includes ensuring that the population of Gaza receives food, medicines and other basic goods.

But over recent days the Israeli government has tightened the blockade so that even commodities essential for survival are denied to the civilian population. As researchers on the protection of children in Gaza, we—the authors of this article—are receiving messages from families that they are surviving on bread and contaminated water.

The world is learning, almost in real time, about the impact on the children of Gaza of the latest siege-like conditions imposed by Israel in the wake of Hamas' attacks. The lack of water and food is inevitably affecting the young more immediately and more severely than adults.

Those children who fall sick or are injured seek treatment in a collapsing health system, with multiple facilities attacked. Those still functioning must manage an impossible level of demand along with a drastic shortage of medicine. In such circumstances many children are vulnerable to severe harm and death.

The toll of war

But it would be a mistake to assume that even prior to the current tightening of the blockade, children in Gaza enjoyed healthy lives. Within the densely populated Gaza Strip, the health needs of children have grown exponentially due to the conditions of the Israeli blockade.

Regular exposure to direct military attacks affects both the physical and mental health of the young. Older children will have experienced six wars including the current one in their brief lifetimes (2008-9, 2012, 2014, 2021, 2022 and 2023).

Since Israel imposed its blockade in 2007 up until the current war, Defense for Children International—Palestine (DCIP), a Palestinian human rights organization specifically focused on child rights, has counted 1,189 Palestinian children killed in Gaza by Israeli military attacks. These wars have also created long-term threats to children's survival and well-being. In the aftermath of each war, Israel has tightened access to Gaza via the main commercial crossing for construction materials, generators and water.

Without these materials, it has been impossible to clear the debris fully, and to rebuild homes, schools, hospitals and public spaces. The lack of reconstruction poses severe risks to children playing outside.

A report conducted by the UN Environment Program following the 2008-9 war highlighted the serious health issues due to the debris that would particularly affect children. Polluted water supplies, contaminated soil, extensive rubble, including exposed metal rods, have all created grave risk for the young.

Crumbling infrastructure

Blockade has also made it impossible to develop vitally needed infrastructure. The provision of clean water and adequate sewage and waste disposal requires massive investment to meet the needs of the population. Meanwhile, the electricity shortages and shortage of sanitation structures mean that the sea in Gaza is highly contaminated by sewage and poorly treated wastewater.

With very few safe public play spaces for children, the beach is one place that many have turned to for relief. According to a 2018 report by the RAND Corporation, however, water-related diseases are a primary cause of child and infant mortality in Gaza.

Some children require complex medical care that is not available in Gaza. Under international law, children's access to adequate medical care is the responsibility of Israel. According to human rights organizations, requests for medical permits for children to access necessary care in Israel are routinely denied.

The need for rehabilitative support for disabled children grew in 2018 and 2019 when thousands of children and youth participated in demonstrations during the "great march of return". Israeli forces responded with live and rubber bullets, killing 46 and injuring nearly 8,800 children. Many children who sustained life-altering injuries, including loss of limbs, were not granted permits to leave Gaza to receive the rehabilitative care they required.

Palestinian doctors, nurses, other medical practitioners, social workers and civil society organizations have spent 16 years doing their utmost to provide for the health and well-being of Palestinian children in Gaza under blockade.

Despite multiple evacuation orders from the Israeli military in the past week, hospital staff continue to work around the clock to save lives. Yet health workers and facilities are under attack. Meanwhile DCIP is reporting that in the past week more than 1,000 Palestinian children have been killed.

It must be understood that Israel's actions in the last week—termed as "ethnic cleansing" by UN human rights officials—are an extension of 16 years of killing both children's bodies and their hopes through its blockade.

Provided by The Conversation 

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.Researcher: Trauma, histories of victimhood will influence Israeli response