The Palestinian Environmental NGOs Network — Friends of Earth Palestine (PENGON — FoE Palestine) is a coordinating body for Palestinian environmental NGOs in both the West Bank and Gaza Strip. PENGON looks to resist and highlight Israel’s violations of Palestine’s environment and its control of Palestinian natural resources. PENGON sees international advocacy as fundamental in stopping Israel.
Tag Archives: health
Israel’s Measures intended to Prevent Births within Gaza Strip
On Saturday, 9 March 2024, The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) issued a new report titled, “Israel’s measures Intended to Prevent Births within Gaza Strip.” The report sheds light on Israel’s commission of one of the genocidal acts that is preventing births within a group.
The report lays out the catastrophic conditions facing pregnant women in the Gaza Strip, one of the most vulnerable categories and in need of lifesaving preventive and curative nutrition interventions. Estimates show that there are 50,000 pregnant women in shelters with no access to adequate food and proper healthcare, and 15% of them are likely to experience pregnancy or birth-related complications and need additional medical care that is not available.
Respectively, the report highlights Israel’s measures intended to prevent birth within the Gaza Strip amid lack of protection from military attacks. They are under direct attacks, resulting in killings, injuries, toxic gas inhalations and causing serious psychological and physical harm amid heightened feelings of fear and anxiety and lack of special protection. All of this combined will lead to preventing births and have serious consequences on reproductive health, including a rise in pregnancy pains, miscarriages, stillbirths and premature births.
The report then reviews Israeli violations resulting in provision of poor health services to pregnant women with no safe access. This has forced a lot of pregnant women to give birth in houses or shelters, worsening the birth-related complications, increasing their suffering and leaving them with unprecedented levels of stress. Pregnant women unable to have safe access to health services are facing a double nightmare as if they need healthcare, they have to walk for a long distance or sometimes feel reluctant to ask for adequate healthcare.
The report also monitors Israel’s imposition of dire living conditions that increase pregnancy complications. Due to the ongoing aggression, a lot of women became the caretaker of their families because their husbands were killed, injured, arrested or etc. Therefore, women bear greater responsibilities towards their children and families. Meanwhile, the aggression has led to forced mass displacement of civilians in light of the outbreak of epidemics and dire living conditions in shelters along with lack of electricity and water supplies. All of this combined has increased pregnant and postpartum women’s suffering and health risks during pregnancy and after childbirth.
The report emphasizes that the Israeli serious human rights violations against pregnant women in the Gaza Strip amount to genocidal acts, in particular imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group. It calls upon the international community to exert pressure on Israel to cease all genocidal acts, including imposing measures intended to prevent births within the Gaza Strip; comply with the legally-binding provisional measures order lately issued by the International Court of Justice to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance; and fulfill its obligations as an occupying power in terms of its duty to transfer pregnant women to safe areas.
March 15-20, 2024
Madison Premier of Film Bad River
From 350 Wisconsin:
Since long before 1953, when Line 5 was constructed without the consent of Tribal Nations in its path, the Bad River Band has been fighting for their rights, culture, land, water, sovereignty, and so much more. This is a battle that we at 350 Wisconsin continue to witness every day, led by the Tribe in the most courageous and selfless way possible – for future generations.
The 70-year-old Line 5 pipeline, on the verge of a catastrophic rupture, plows its way through the Bad River reservation in northern Wisconsin putting the Great Lakes, and so much more, at risk. Now, the Tribe is up against Enbridge, a multi-billion dollar multinational oil corporation, to protect Lake Superior, the largest freshwater resource in North America, and all that depends on it.
A new documentary, Bad River, shines a light on the Band’s story of struggle from the beginning and through to current generations. Mary Mazzio, director of the film, says that the Tribe’s resistance against Line 5 is “the newest chapter of a very old story”, a story that is largely unknown to the public.
Starting this Friday, March 15th, through March 20th, the film will be in select theaters around the country, including here in Wisconsin. Showings are selling out fast – be sure to reserve your seats soon so you don’t miss out on this amazing opportunity. Fifty percent of all profits will be donated to the Bad River Band.
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AMC Fitchburg Click the calendar icon above for different dates
Dr. Mads Gilbert on Israel’s Hospital Attacks
Mads Gilbert is an anesthesiologist, head of emergency medicine at the University Hospital of North Norway, and Professor of emergency medicine at the University of Tromsø. He visited Madison in 2012 to speak on Gaza.
Feb 16, 2024
For 30 years, Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert has risked his life to give medical care to Palestinians, performing surgeries, training medical students, and supporting their renowned healthcare system. But in their most recent assault, Israel banned Dr. Gilbert from entering Gaza.
“This is the politics of elimination,” Dr. Gilbert tells us. “Israel is the only nation on Earth who has a military strategy to attack, to kill, and to dismantle civilian hospitals.”
Forced to watch the unfolding tragedy from afar, Gilbert struggles to believe the horrors he’s seeing. “It is such an avalanche of human suffering that it is almost incomprehensible. And it’s all done with full will, planning, dedication. It is a 100% man-made disaster, designed to achieve exactly the goals that they have achieved: to maim and destroy Palestinian society.”
What should have led to a huge uproar has instead been tolerated and even encouraged by Western politicians and media outlets, who have laundered false claims about militant hideouts at Palestinian hospitals.
But while the genocide of Palestinians has only just broken through to mainstream consciousness, Dr. Gilbert explains that none of this is new.
“Israel is going against absolutely every international law aimed at protecting civilian hospitals. This is unprecedented, but I’d like to add that for us who have been working with the Palestinians and their healthcare for many years, it’s not a new feature. The Israelis have always been attacking healthcare. In last year’s report from WHO, they reported 600 attacks on healthcare in the last two years.”
And in the latest assault on Gaza, there have been “hundreds and hundreds” more. “We’ve seen attacks in the West Bank where they even dress up as doctors and kill patients in their beds.”
Gilbert gives his scathing post-mortem: “This is a historical low point in human history. This enormous collapse of western morality and principles. We’re back to the jungle.”
Hear the full, unpaywalled interview with Mads Gilbert, and listen to the end for his message on how to help. “We can all do our part: write a poem, sing a song, participate in a demonstration, write a letter to your politician. Take part in history because we need to change history now.”
He finishes, solemnly: “What you are doing now, or what you are not doing now, is what you would have done, or not done, during the Holocaust.”
20:57 Dr. Mads Gilbert interview
22:13 Israel warns of new hospital attack
27:35 Stories of killed doctors
40:34 Israeli doctors sign letter to BOMB MORE HOSPITALS
55:13 Israeli protesters block humanitarian aid
1:00:58 Israel shuts of water
1:09:13 Answering Israeli arguments
1:23:40 Rafah update
1:29:01 HOW TO HELP
‘We have the right to live.’
MADISON F-35 COMMUNITY CONNECTION PROJECT
Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin
Earlier this month, WANG quietly started this outreach program with a new web site.
When Baldwin announced the grant, Safe Skies responded with this news release. Here are notable statements:
“I don’t have words to describe how dismissive and minimizing she is of the magnitude of the threats, “remarked Safe Skies leader Ellen Magee.
“This is chump change,” Boswell commented. “She must think everyone in our impacted community is a chump to take this seriously. Two years ago, the people in the Burlington, VT area got $6.3 million from the FAA after the F-35s arrived, primarily to soundproof one school, the Chamberlin Elementary School,” Boswell noted. “We have 59 schools and daycares within three miles of Truax. Can you even imagine how much it will cost to soundproof all those schools?”
“The most hypocritical and insulting part of Baldwin’s press release,” Boswell said, “was her claim that this government grant is to conduct community outreach. The community has been “reaching out” to the Senator for four years and she’s refused to recognize us at all.”
“Senator Baldwin has failed to respond to more than 6,000 postcards sent to her over the past two years by citizens around Wisconsin opposing the basing of the F-35 fighter jets at Truax,” noted Jane Kavaloski, a retired school social worker and member of the Interfaith Peace Working Group.
“We are going to continue to oppose this despicable and totally inappropriate decision to base this squadron of nuclear-capable, stealth fighter jets in our community, while the Senator continues to lose the support of her constituents,” Boswell pledged.
On the home page you can sign up to receive updates. The final field for the sign up asks: “What interests you most about this project?”
If you sign up to receive updates, here are questions you can pose:
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- Why was Truax Field chosen for the F-35 fighter jets if it had the greatest environmental impacts and environmental racism of the five sites evaluated in the Air Force EIS?
- What studies can explain the mental and physical health effects caused by exposure to the noise from F-35 fighter jets on infants, children, adults and the elderly?
- What is the maximum F-35 fighter jet noise exposure level to the general public around Truax Field?
- What are the maximum anticipated number of F-35 flights in a day, week, month and year?
- Can the Wisconsin Air National Guard ask the county airport to evaluate noise impacts lower than the 50-year old 65 decibel DNL it is using for its Part 150 noise abatement plan?
- Can the Wisconsin Air National Guard ask the county airport to evaluate instantaneous, rather than daily average, noise levels for its Part 150 noise abatement plan?
- Can the Wisconsin Air National Guard ask the county airport to offer to purchase the homes and relocate everyone within the 65 decibel DNL noise contour as part of its Part 150 noise abatement plan? What steps can be taken so all F-35 fighter jets take off and land north of the county airport?
- How likely will an F-35 fighter jet from Truax Field crash like the jet that crashed in South Carolina in September?
- How soon will the F-35 fighter jets at Truax Field be equipped to carry nuclear weapons?
- How many people work at Truax Field, what percent of them live in the 53704 area code and what percent of Truax Field salaries are paid to people that live in the 53704 area code?
- Where do pilots of the F-35 fighter jets based at Truax Field live?; Can the Wisconsin Air National Guard encourage the staff of Truax Field to live within the 53704 area code?
- What steps should be taken by local, county, state and federal representatives to move the squadron of F-35 fighter jets from Truax Field to Volk Field?
- What steps should be taken by local, county, state and federal representatives to change the mission of the 115th Fighter Wing to an Air National Guard mission that is more compatible with the Madison urban area?
- When will the Wisconsin Air National Guard complete its investigation to determine the full extent of its PFAS contamination of surrounding groundwater and Yahara chain of lakes?
- When will the Wisconsin Air National Guard complete the cleanup of its PFAS contamination of surrounding groundwater and Yahara chain of lakes?
Join an open discussion at:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!forum/no-f-35s-in-madison
Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin
Hunger, disease ‘inevitable’ in Gaza
Israel’s Sustained Bombing Created Massive Disease Risk
Overcrowded Shelters, Dirty Water, and Breakdown of Basic Sanitation
After more than a month of being subjected to sustained bombing, the besieged people of the Gaza Strip are now confronted with another threat to life: disease.
Overcrowding at shelters, a breakdown of basic sanitation, the rising number of unburied dead and a scarcity of clean drinking water have left the enclave “on the precipice of major disease outbreaks,” according to the World Health Organization.
As an expert in Palestinian public health systems who wrote about the many relationships between war and health for my forthcoming book “How War Kills: The Overlooked Threats to Our Health,” I believe that the looming crisis cannot be underestimated. The easy spread of infectious disease in wartime conditions can be just as devastating as airstrikes to health and mortality – if not more so. Health care services in Gaza – already vulnerable prior to the Israeli bombing campaign – have essentially no capacity to cope with a major outbreak.
Disease already rampant
History has proved time and again that war zones can be a breeding ground for disease. Anywhere impoverished and underresourced people crowd for shelter or access to resources – often in facilities with inadequate living conditions, sanitation services or access to clean water – is prone to the spread of disease. This can be through airborne or droplet transmission, contaminated food or water, living vectors like fleas, mosquitoes or lice, or improperly cleaned and managed wounds.
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In any situation of armed conflict or mass displacement, the threat of infectious disease is among the primary concerns of public health professionals. And from the outset of the Israeli bombing campaign, experts have predicted dire health consequences for Gaza.
After all, the Gaza Strip had fragile health and water, sanitation and hygiene sectors long before the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas attack that killed 1,200 Israelis and prompted the retaliatory airstrikes. The health system of Gaza, one of the most densely populated places in the world, has long been plagued by underfunding and the effects of the blockade imposed by Israel in 2007.
Waterborne illness was already a major cause of child mortality – the result of the contamination of most of Gaza’s water. In early 2023, an estimated 97% of waterin the enclave was unfit to drink, and more than 12% of child mortality cases were caused by waterborne ailments, like typhoid fever, cholera and hepatitis A, that are very rare in areas with functional and adequate water systems.
Other forms of infectious disease spread have also been reported in recent years. Gaza had experienced several previous outbreaks of meningitis – an inflammation of the tissues surrounding the brain and spinal cord typically caused by infection – notably in 1997, 2004 and 2013.
In late 2019, a small outbreak of measles – a highly contagious, airborne virus – was reported in Gaza, with almost half of reported cases in unvaccinated people. Despite a relatively high vaccination rate in Gaza generally, these gaps in vaccination and the inability to respond quickly to outbreaks were attributed by the WHO to “the continuous socio-economic decline since 2009, conflict, and closure.”
And the COVID-19 pandemic hit the Gaza Strip hard, exacerbated by the Israeli blockade that prevented or delayed the import of vital personal protective equipment, testing kits and vaccines.
France 24: “Hunger, disease ‘inevitable’ in Gaza as fuel runs out • FRANCE 24 English”
A system overwhelmed
The vulnerability of Gaza’s health care meant that from the outset of the latest conflict, organizations such as the WHO voiced concern that the violence and deprivation could quickly overwhelm the system.
There are several ways war in general, and the conflict in Gaza in particular, accelerates and promotes infectious disease risk.
Almost concurrently with the start of the bombing campaign, Israel imposed siege conditions on Gaza. This prevented the import of fuel needed to run generators for vital infrastructure. Generators are needed because Israel shut off electricity to Gaza.
As fuel has essentially run out in recent days, this has meant no power for desalination plants or for solid waste collection. As a consequence, many people have been forced to consume contaminated water or live in conditions where living carriers of disease, like rodents and insects, thrive.
Even basic cleaning supplies are scarce, and equipment used to sterilize everything from medical equipment to baby bottles is inoperable.
These unhygienic conditions come as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza attempt to flee the bombing to the few remaining places left to shelter. This has caused massive overcrowding, which increases the risk of an infectious disease outbreak.
Children especially vulnerable
Already, the WHO has reported worrying trends since mid-October 2023, including more than 44,000 cases of diarrhea in Gaza.
Diarrhea is a particular risk for young children who are prone to profound dehydration. It represents the second-leading cause of death worldwide in children younger than 5 years of age. Half of the diarrhea cases reported in Gaza since the Israeli bombing campaign began have been in children under 5.
Meanwhile, nearly 9,000 cases of scabies – a skin rash caused by mites – have been reported, as have more than 1,000 cases of chickenpox.
More than 70,000 cases of upper respiratory infections have been documented, far higher than what would be expected otherwise. These are just cases that were reported; undoubtedly, more people who were unable to get to a health facility for diagnosis are also sick.
Reports of the spread of chickenpox and upper respiratory infections like influenza and COVID-19 are particularly dangerous considering children’s vaccination schedules are being highly disrupted by conflict. With health services overstretched and the mass movement of families, young children and newborns are likely going without vital, lifesaving inoculations just as winter – the peak season for respiratory infections – arrives.
Upper respiratory infections are also exacerbated by the amount of dust and other pollutants in the air due to the destruction of buildings during bombing.
Then there is the direct impact of the bombing campaign. A lack of antibiotics – due to both the siege and the destruction of health facilities – means physicians are unable to adequately treat thousands of patients with open wounds or in need of medical operations, including amputations.
More death and suffering
Increasingly, doctors are even running out of wound dressings to protect injuries from exposure. Poor infection prevention controls, high casualty rates and high concentrations of toxic heavy metals, among other factors, are leading to reports of antimicrobial resistance, which occurs when bacteria and viruses evolve over time to no longer respond to antibiotics and other antimicrobial medications. This has the potential to lead to health issues long after the bombing stops. Similar trends were also seen in Iraq, where antimicrobial resistance rates remain highdespite the peak of bombing campaigns ending many years ago.
And with many bodies laying under rubble, unable to be retrieved, and the necessity of digging multiple mass graves near sites where people are sheltering, there is also increased risk of disease arising from an inability to adequately dispose of the dead.
While the images and photos from Gaza of areas and people that have been bombed are devastating and have caused a massive death toll – at least 12,000 by mid-November, according to Gaza health authorities – the rapid spread of infectious disease has the ability to cause even greater mortality and suffering to a population reeling from weeks of sustained bombing.
Yara M. Asi is Assistant Professor of Global Health Management and Informatics, University of Central Florida.
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
Palestine Red Crescent Society Urgent Appeal for Al-Quds Hospital
The facts of the al-Ahli Arab Hospital Bombing
- Al Ahli Hospital received Israeli orders to evacuate before it was struck on October 17.
- Al Ahli Hospital had been hit previously by an Israeli missile on October 14.
Standing in the middle of a pile of Palestinian bodies, the Ministry of Health’s Director General gave a press conference following the mass murder of Palestinians by Israeli forces at Al Ahli hospital, October 17, 2023.
Some basic facts
Today marks the twelfth day since the beginning of Al Aqsa Flood and the subsequent Israeli crimes against the Palestinian people. Since October 7, Israeli colonial forces have murdered thousands of Palestinians in Gaza. The Ministry of Health is struggling to provide accurate numbers, as at least 1,300 bodies remain trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings—among them homes, shelters, bakeries, clinics, UNRWA food depots, hospitals, and schools. The most recent estimate is 3,478. This is likely a significant undercount. More than a thousand of those murdered are children.
Last night, Israeli forces targeted and bombed Al Ahli Arab hospital, also known as the Baptist hospital in Gaza city. This was not the first time Israeli forces attacked Al Ahli hospital, as it had been targeted and hit by airstrikes only a few days before on October 14, damaging two floors and injuring four people. This hospital was not only housing patients, as well as doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers, but also sheltering hundreds last night who assumed the Christian hospital was a safer place to take cover than most. The airstrike killed at least 500 Palestinians, with some estimates doubling the number. Videos at the scene of the bombing show bodies dismembered, scattered across a courtyard and carried away in pieces. Each of these people were someone’s loved one.
It is clear that Israeli authorities and the forces carrying out these genocidal attacks on Gaza are trying to destroy as much infrastructure and resources supporting human life as possible. In the days before this massive hospital strike, Israeli forces targeted UNRWA depots which housed extra food resources, as well as shelters, homes, and bakeries. Israeli forces have ordered Palestinians to evacuate from the north to the “safer” south, yet continue to bombard Rafah, Khan Younis, and many other areas of the south, making it just as unsafe as the north. Palestinians in Gaza remain without access to electricity, fresh water, food resources, and the aid sent for them on the other side of Rafah crossing. Despite attempts by Israeli forces to threaten medical workers into evacuating 22 hospitals across Gaza, most hospitals and medical workers refuse to evacuate, stating that they will not abandon their patients to die. In the midst of murder and death, Palestinians continue to teach life.
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As international condemnation about targeting a hospital—a war crime, for anyone tallying Israel’s war crimes during this murderous campaign—began, Israeli forces immediately pointed the finger away from their own US-backed forces to blame Hamas, then the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. These accusations are an attempt to confuse and create doubt, when it is obvious to anyone paying attention that there is only one military with both the intent and means to murder this many civilians in one strike. [The Episcopal Church in Jerusalem issued a statement that it received three voice or text warnings from the Israeli military before the strike. (New York Times) source edited]
Furthermore, it is a common tactic of the Israeli state and military to deploy false information when confronted about war crimes, and reminds us of the initial responses to the murder of Shireen Abu Akleh at the hands of invading Israeli forces in Jenin, during which Israeli forces claimed that she was shot by resistance fighters. Israeli forces continue to spread misinformation throughout this attack on Gaza; you can read a critical analysis and response to Israeli attempts to frame Palestinian resistance here. It is incumbent on those who know better to not only share accurate information, but correct those around them and reach out to mainstream media who consistently have spread false and misleading information. Here is an eyewitness account in English by Dr. Ghassan Abu Sitta, a Palestinian-British doctor who arrived in Gaza to volunteer at local hospitals.
Last night and this morning, Palestinians in Ramallah, Bethlehem, Jenin, Nablus, and elsewhere across the West Bank took to the streets across Palestine, standing in support of Gaza and with the resistance against Israeli colonialism and genocide. They also called out the complicity of the Palestinian Authority, and were met by tear gas and live bullets in return. No doubt, this uprising will continue. Across political factions, there is unity among the people in supporting each other and standing against the violence of a state so desperate to erase us. In Gaza, in response to new calls to evacuate certain areas, many Palestinians have stated clearly, “We will not leave.” Despite increasing zionist pressure campaigns on Palestinian communities throughout all of Palestine, including displacement of Palestinian communities and settler attacks in the West Bank, Palestinians are steadfast.
As we mourn, we must take action. We cannot build the new world we envision or create the justice we seek simply by asking for the mass murder to stop. We know that simply calling for a ceasefire is not enough, as tomorrow, Palestinians in Gaza will remain under siege, those in the West Bank will continue to face settler attacks and forced displacement, home demolitions will continue everywhere, and we will still suffer under zionist settler-colonialism. We need an end to the siege on Gaza and an end to Israeli colonialism.
Stand with Gaza and all Palestinians now—don’t stop organizing. Call your representatives and politicians of all stripes and state your demands, demonstrate wherever you can, educate your community, speak to your friends and get them to join in, and please continue to uplift Palestinian analysis and coverage of the situation—especially from those in Gaza.
- If you are in Canada, sign this petition to condemn Israeli violence against Palestinians.
- Those in Canada can also write a letter to end subsidies to Israeli settler organizations.
- For those based in the US, find nation-wide protests here.
- Donate to support the Al Ahli hospital which was bombed last night.
Until liberation and return,
Lara Kilani
Good Shepherd Collective
Communications
‘Every western politician has the blood of these children on their hands’
Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, calls the deadly attack on al-Ahli al-Arab Hospital in Gaza a ‘war crime’ that the world saw coming
Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah, Middle East Eye, 18 October 2023
A view of belongings near Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital after it was hit in Gaza City, Gaza on 18 October 2023 (Reuters)This is the statement that Dr Abu-Sittah gave in the aftermath of the Israeli bombing of al-Ahli al-Arabi Baptist Hospital in Gaza on Tuesday.
My name is Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah. I am a plastic and reconstructive surgeon. I am a British-Palestinian volunteer with Medecins Sans Frontieres.
This morning, upon the request of al-Ahli Hospital administration, I moved from Shifa Hospital to al-Ahli Hospital to help out with the treatment of some of the wounded as the number of wounded had exceeded the number of beds in the hospital.
We had been operating all day and had made the decision that in order to continue operating on these patients, I would stay behind and sleep at the hospital.
In the evening, after we finished one of the surgeries, we heard a missile screech followed by a huge explosion. As a result of the explosion, part of the ceiling of the operating room fell in.
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As I moved towards the outside of the operating room and towards the emergency department, we could see bodies of children piled up, both dead (not moving) and wounded.
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‘Bodies piled up’
There were several victims who had been amputated. I attended to a man who had his leg blown off at the thigh. We then carried on trying to resuscitate the patients. When the ambulance came, I decided to help out by carrying one of the wounded who had shrapnel in his neck into the ambulance.
As I was walking towards the ambulance there were body parts everywhere and there were bodies piled up in the courtyard of the hospital. I then got into the ambulance and escorted the patient back to Shifa Hospital.
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This morning, when I drove into al-Ahli Hospital, I noted how full the hospital courtyard was with families who had sought refuge inside the hospital thinking that it would be a safe haven. It’s these very same families who are now either dead or critically wounded as a result of this attack.
This is a war crime that the world had seen coming. Israel has been warning the entire world that it was going to attack Palestinian hospitals and it did exactly that.
Every western politician who has declared unconditional support for Israel’s war effort on the Palestinian people has the blood of these children on their hands.
That unconditional support is what led us to this massacre. The impunity that Israel believes it has from its western allies is what has led to this massacre.
No other country feels the impunity to target hospitals and get away with it.
What happened today is a war crime and if the Israelis get away with it again then more war crimes will be committed and more hospitals will be targeted.
The views expressed in this statement belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
Middle East Eye delivers independent and unrivalled coverage and analysis of the Middle East, North Africa and beyond. To learn more about republishing this content and the associated fees, please fill out this form. More about MEE can be found here.
Tragedy in Gaza after 21 people die in fire
The Abu Rayya tragedy is a direct result of the blockade, as frequent power cuts have forced families in Gaza to use alternative fuel sources to fight the dark, often in hazardous conditions.
MOURNERS ATTEND THE FUNERAL OF 21 PALESTINIANS WHO DIED IN A FIRE THAT BROKE OUT IN AN APARTMENT IN JABALYA REFUGEE CAMP IN THE NORTHERN GAZA STRIP, NOVEMBER 18, 2022. (PHOTO: ASHRAF AMRA/APA IMAGES)
TAREQ S. HAJJAJ, MONDOWEISS, NOVEMBER 19, 2022
It was a rough night in Jabaliya refugee camp, north of Gaza City. Neighbors could not sleep peacefully after what they saw on Thursday, November 17 — the image of the woman holding the steel bars of the window on the fourth floor, screaming and pleading for help as the fire raged on in the room behind her, lighting up the area with red flame. In a second, she was engulfed by the flames and fell down.
Neighbors tried to get into the building to help her and her family, but the locked steel doors shut them out. The fire burned alive her extended family of 21 people, leaving the exact cause of the fire uncertain.
They had all gathered inside a single apartment to celebrate one of the family’s sons who had completed his PhD and arrived from Egypt a week earlier, as well as the birthday of one of the grandsons. The father, Subhi Abu Rayya, 51, the mother Yusra Abu Rayya, 44, and their sons and families, were among the dead.
Palestinian firefighters extinguish a fire that broke out in an apartment in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza strip, on November 17, 2022. A large fire that ripped through a home north of Gaza City killed at least 21 people, including seven children, official and medical sources said. (Photo” Palestinian Ministry of Interior/APA Images)
Neighbors in the area told Mondoweiss that a huge flame had gone up and people were trying to go into the apartment to help, but were unable due to the locked doors. The police were the first to arrive and break the doors down, while firefighters and their trucks took over 40 minutes to arrive on the scene.
The tragedy of the Abu Rayya family quickly became what everyone in Gaza was talking about, as speculations abound as to the origins of the fire. Thousands of people came from all over the Gaza Strip to participate in the funeral.
“Everyone is so shocked. Look at their faces, look at how it has affected them,” Abdulnasser Abu Rayya, 41, a family relative of the victims, said as he walked through the funeral procession on the way to the cemetery. Abdulnasser has tried to understand what happened, but all that comes to his mind is a flashback from when entered the apartment that day as it was already on fire, witnessing his relatives burning alive.
“One mother was holding her two kids. Both of them were lying down on her lap. It looked like the mother was trying to protect her children from the fire. They were in there for an hour before the fire was extinguished,” Abdulnasser said.
The Internal Ministry in Gaza commented on the accident, stating that initial results from investigations have confirmed that the family was storing a large amount of gasoline inside the apartment, which presumably is what caused the huge conflagration.
“When we entered the apartment, we could not definitively figure out what caused this fire,” Abdulnasser told Mondoweiss. “We start to ask whether they kept gasoline in the house, or whether the cooking gas had leaked at the same time.” Abdulnasser confirmed that no sound of an explosion had been heard at the time of the fire.
Mourners attend the funeral of 21 Palestinians who died in a fire that broke out in an apartment in Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, November 18, 2022. (Photo: Ashraf Amra/APA Images)
Using alternative fuels to fight the dark
Storing deadly materials in living quarters, such as gasoline, unsaved electricity cables, and batteries to light up glow-lamps during power outages, are fairly common in Gaza, explained by the 15-year blockade that has harshly restricted power sources in Gaza.
Due to frequently scheduled power cuts, people use alternative energy sources to fight the darkness and light up their homes. In 2006, 3 kids in the Al-Hindi family burned to death in their room at Al-Shati refugee camp, in a fire that was caused by a candle they used in their room.
Abu Rayya’s neighbors said the family used a generator that ran on gasoline, which is likely why the family had stored reserves of it in the house.
“It is a painful reminder of the unlivable conditions we have to endure in Gaza,” 51-year-old resident Abu Ayman Al-Bardwil told Mondoweiss. “The building is now empty. If we had normal electricity, they would not have stored all that gasoline for their generator, and they would survived.”
During the winter, electricity hours are rationed to the minimum, as some areas receive power for only 3 – 4 hours a day. As a result, most households in Gaza are forced to rely on alternative fuel sources to ride out the winter.
The Hamas government in Gaza, which has held power in the coastal Strip since 2007, held the Israeli siege on Gaza responsible for the tragedy.
“The Israeli siege and its ban on materials and equipment for use by the Civil Defense directly impacted this tragedy. The occupation is fully responsible for this disaster, which is caused byt the siege,” Abdullatif Al-Qanoa, a Hamas government spokesperson at the funeral, told Mondoweiss.
Al-Qanoa appealed to the international community “and the free humans in the world” to put pressure on Israel to end its siege on Gaza.
“This is just another other face of the Israeli siege,” Al-Qanoa said.
Tareq S. Hajjaj is the Mondoweiss Gaza Correspondent, and a member of Palestinian Writers Union. He studied English Literature at Al-Azhar university in Gaza. He started his career in journalism in 2015 working as news writer/translator at the local newspaper Donia al-Watan. He has reported for Elbadi, Middle East Eye, and Al Monitor. Follow him on Twitter at @Tareqshajjaj.
Rafah Family Guided Home Construction
A fundraiser by the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project
Our goal is to raise $10,064 to renovate a family apartment in the Tal al Sultan neighborhood of Rafah, where in 2005 we funded a playground for local children.
This family consists of a father, mother and three children. The father has become disabled and the mother works to try to keep the family afloat. Their small apartment is desperately in need of roof repairs, interior renovations to the main living area and bath, and the addition of another room — especially now that the cold and rains of winter have arrived.
The building condition directly affects the family’s health and well being. The family covers the roof panels with cloths to try to keep out the rain, but that’s not enough to keep the rooms dry. They cannot afford to repair the concrete ceiling.
The family was nominated by the Al Amal Society for Rehabilitation, a Palestinian Non-Government Organization in Gaza that has partnered with Rebuilding Alliance since 2017. Our grant will be transferred to and administered by this partner organization. Rebuilding Alliance’s Site Engineer, Heba El Khozondar, will supervise the project to sign-off for each phase.
The project will have three construction phases, each commencing as soon as enough funds have been donated:
▪ Phase 1: $3,080 Poured concrete roof repair
▪ Phase 2: $3,555 Main Living Space
▪ Phase 3: $3,429 Adjacent new room
$10,064 Total
You can also mail a check to MRSCP marked “house repairs” to
MRSCP
P.O. Box 5214
Madison, WI 53705
Mailed contributions will NOT count toward the Global Giving match on November 29.
As always, thank you for your support.
Gaza Background
• Israeli raids in Gaza and the humanitarian fallout, December 16, 2022
• Gaza archaeologists find ‘complete’ Roman-era cemetery, 12 December 2022
• Caged Sparrows: Palestinian Stories from the Gaza Sea, December 12, 2022
• Israeli warplanes attack Gaza as EU calls for ‘accountability’, 4 Dec 2022
• Photos: Gaza struggles to accommodate the living and the dead, 6 Oct 2022
• Fifteen years of the blockade of the Gaza Strip, 03 July 2022
Light in Gaza Speaking Tour in Milwaukee
Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire book cover. (Photo: AFSC)
American Friends Service Committee, Sep 27, 2022
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11/17/22 update: WORT’s Gil Halsted talks with Yousef Aljamal and Asmaa Abu Mezeid, two of the Light in Gaza authors now on tour in the U.S.
Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire brings together sixteen essays and poems by twelve Palestinian writers. The book includes political essays, personal narratives, economic analysis, and poetry. The book is edited by American Friends Service Committee staff Jehad Abusalim, Jennifer Bing, and Mike Merryman-Lotze and published by Haymarket Books. Read the full press release here.
AFSC is excited to host a speaking tour featuring Asmaa Abu Mezied and Yousef Aljamal, contributors to the Light in Gaza anthology.
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Saturday, October 29: Milwaukee, WI
Islamic Resource Center
5233 S. 27th Street, Milwaukee
1:00 p.m. — 3:00 p.m. CT
Free and open to the public
Join us for a discussion of this new literary anthology featuring two of the book’s co-authors: Asmaa Abu Mezied and Yousef Aljamal.
This book imagines what the future of Gaza could be, while reaffirming the critical role of Gaza in the struggle for Palestinian liberation.
“This is a different view than most Americans see in the news. Usually we see people in Gaza being killed or living without electricity. So they are either victims or superhumans. You miss the everyday family gatherings, the importance of nature. We hope this book inspires people to want to learn more,” said Jennifer Bing, director of the AFSC Palestine Activism Program in Chicago and editor for the Light in Gaza book project.
We will talk with the authors about their contributions to the book, and discuss the current conditions in Gaza. We will also be discussing the role that we here in Turtle Island can play in support the struggle for Palestinian liberation.
This event is co-sponsored by: Milwaukee 4 Palestine (milwaukee4palestine@gmail.com); Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition, Party for Socialism and Liberation (Milwaukee), Jewish Voice for Peace (Milwaukee), Students for Justice in Palestine (UWM), Students for Justice in Palestine (Marquette University).
About the speakers:
Asmaa Abu Mezied is economic development and gender expert working to address issues of gender, development, and climate change. Her main area of focus is women’s economic justice through gendered economic policies, women’s rights in economic sectors, unpaid care and domestic work campaigning, inclusive markets, and feminist economics in fragile and conflict areas. Asmaa is a beginner gardener in the Gaza Strip and is interested in the intersection of Palestinian political, agricultural, and environmental identities. Asmaa is a policy member and a current fellow at Al Shabaka, a Palestinian think tank. She was an Atlas Corps Fellow with U.S. President Obama’s Emerging Global Leaders, a Gaza Hub-Global Shaper Alumna in the initiative of the World Economic Forum, and a 2021 Mozilla Foundation Wrangler at “Tech for Social Activism” space.
Yousef M. Aljamal is a Palestinian refugee from Al-Nusierat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip. He has obtained an MA degree from the Department of International and Strategic Studies Department at the University of Malaya. He is now a PhD Candidate at the Middle East Institute at Sakarya University in Turkey. Aljamal, besides his research interests in diaspora, security, and indigenous studies, has contributed to a number of books which highlight the Palestinian narrative. He translated two books on Palestinian prisoners entitled The Prisoners’ Diaries: Palestinian Voices from the Israeli Gulag (2013) and Dreaming of Freedom: Palestinian Child Prisoners Speak (2016). He also co-edited the book A Shared Struggle Stories of Palestinian and Irish Hunger Strikers (2021). Aljamal has published a number of journal articles on topics that include Palestinians in the diaspora, travel restrictions imposed on Palestinians, and struggles for liberation. Over the years, he has spoken at various forums and platforms to highlight the plight of Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation.
Mazin Qumsiyeh: Palestine Is a Climate Justice Issue
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Nov 9, 2022
12 PM Central
Zoom Registration
Join us to learn the environmental reality in Israel/Palestine today, what is being done by the land’s indigenous protectors. and what we can do to support their efforts.
We are honored to have one of Palestine’s leading voices on Palestinian activism and resistance, Mazin Qumsiyeh, an authority on the natural world of Palestine and environmental justice. Dr. Qumsiyeh is the founder and director of the Palestine Museum of Natural History and the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University.
The world’s climate and environmental crisis touches every corner of the globe.The most vulnerable and marginalized populations of the world are bearing the brunt of climate change and suffering daily environmental injustice. Nowhere is that more true than in Israel/Palestine. For Palestinians, climate change is not just a natural phenomenon, but a political one. Israel‘s regime of occupation and apartheid, which denies Palestinians the right to manage their land and resources, greatly heightens the impact of the climate crisis for Palestinians, making them more vulnerable to all climate-related conditions.
Yet Israel cultivates an image worldwide as an environmentally conscious, “green” society. It is even considered to be an environmental leader for the world. The reality is dramatically different.
He is also the author of several books, including Sharing The Land Of Canaan: Human Rights and the Israeli-Palestinian Struggle and Popular Resistance in Palestine: A History of Hope and Empowerment, and he has been called “the most important chronicler of contemporary popular resistance in Palestine.”
When we gather online with Mazin Qumsiyeh, representatives from around the world will be meeting in Egypt for the United Nations’ global climate conference, COP27. As we will see on November 9th, the fight for climate justice for all is directly connected to the Palestinian struggle.
Sponsored by Methodist Federation for Social Change and United Methodist Kairos Response.
Update: Back-To-School Backpacks For Rafah Kids
[ngg src=”galleries” ids=”27″ display=”basic_slideshow”]More MECA photos from Gaza
The Madison-Rafah Sister City Project is partnering with the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA) to provide back-to-school backpacks to 2000 poor children in Gaza, including Rafah and Rafah camp which suffered significant damage and casualties in the latest Israeli assault.
Our goal is to provide at least 100 Gaza-produced backpacks that MECA will distribute at schools and kindergartens in Rafah. The backpacks cost $17.50 each for a total of $1,750. MRSCP will match half the cost of the first 100 backpacks before the end of August, when school resumes in Gaza. 100 percent of your donation will go to this project.
The people of Gaza suffered terribly from the recent Israeli bombardment, which was just the latest in a series of what Israeli officials callously refer to as “mowing the grass” — periodic military assaults on the two million people (one million of them children) with no safe place to hide in what has been called the world’s largest open-air prison.
But even when bombs are not falling, Gazans struggle to survive under the Israeli land, air and sea blockade that deprives them of safe drinking water, medical care, employment, and fuel, and which kills and traumatizes them day in and day out through this cruel policy of deliberate deprivation.
Your tax dollars are paying for this outrage. Please consider partially offsetting them by contributing to the backpack campaign.
and marked “Backpacks” to:
P.O. Box 5214
Madison, WI 53705
Thank you for helping the children of Gaza.
AND…Here at Home:
Urban Triage will be distributing shoes and coats to families on Saturday, September 24th, for their Back to School Give Back event!
“Help us in keeping kids warm during this upcoming Wisconsin winter season, where weather conditions can change rapidly and temperatures can reach to -20, with wind chills down to -40! Adequate shoes and coats can prevent hypothermia and frostbite. With your donations, Urban Triage will distribute shoes and coats to up to 75 families at Penn Park on Saturday, September 24th, from 2:30 to 4:30 PM.
We are now accepting donations. Donate Gift Cards and Cash to support vulnerable families this fall.
To make financial donations online, please fill out the donation form!
Drop off checks and gift cards (and NEW coats & shoes) at 147 S Butler St, Monday thru Thursday from 12 to 5 PM.
For more information, please contact Charnice: canderson at urbantriage.org.
Thank you for donating and keeping kids warm this winter!”