| I’m sure you are as outraged and heartbroken as I am that 70,000 tents sheltering displaced families flooded within 12 hours, killing five Palestinians, four of whom were children. They were not killed by rain. They were killed by the Israeli blockade that leaves a family no shelter except a worn out tent. People who had almost nothing lost the few belongings they had: mattresses, blankets, flour, children’s clothes…everything was soaked in rain, mud, and sewage. What turns a simple rainfall into a disaster? Israel’s systematic, deliberate, planned destruction of life-sustaining infrastructure. It is Israel’s policy to restrict engine oil for the generators and heavy machinery that could drain the water and prevent flooding in “temporary” tent cities. The world has moved on. Palestinians in Gaza haven’t. Roads were impassable, comms were down; Yet, our team went into the water and found a way to help. In 2 days, 775 families were reached with emergency supplies (tents, tarps, blankets, hygiene kits, fortified cereals). Even though one of our four community kitchens in Gaza was damaged in the storm, every one of our community kitchens were cooking hot meals at full capacity. Aid keeps families alive. It does not keep them safe. Tents and tarps do not prevent flooding. Blankets do not lift the siege. An emergency package does not end a genocide. We are proud of our team, but we will not dress it up as a solution. We have to keep up the pressure to end the genocide and the siege of Gaza. Don’t look away this winter. Demand an end to the complicity. Fund the teams still on the ground. |