International Literacy Day
September 8, 2014

  "Literacy is a key lever of change and a practical tool of empowerment on each of the three main pillars of sustainable development: economic development, social development and environmental protection."

Former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan

- See more at: http://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/literacy-day/#sthash.xl208HWW.Hay7bl2e.dpufhttp://www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/events/prizes-and-celebrations/celebrations/international-days/literacy-day/#sthash.xl208HWW.Hay7bl2e.dpuf

Today is International Literacy Day, a day to celebrate and encourage literacy. All over the world tremendous strides are being made in literacy and education, but there are many notable exceptions. There are even places, such as Gaza, where literacy is moving the wrong way. Children are being hampered in their learning by external forces.

According to the New York Times, there are 648 schools in Gaza with 421 of the buildings being shared in double shifts. Since the recent violence, 34 buildings have been damaged beyond repair and dozens more need major repairs. Add the addition of 60,000 people whose homes were destroyed that are being sheltered in school buildings, and you have an insurmountable problem. (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/06/world/middleeast/broken-buildings-and-bruised-psyches-complicate-start-of-gaza-school-year.html?_r=0)

Schools are already three weeks late, and an opening day is not in sight. Even if schools were to open tomorrow, how many children would be able to study and learn? Democracy Now! Gives August 21 numbers as: 500 kids dead, 3,000 injured (over 1,000 of whom will suffer from lifelong disability), and 373,000 traumatized. Pernille Ironside, chief of UNICEF’s Gaza field office said, “There isn’t a single family in Gaza who hasn’t experienced personally death, injury, the loss of their home, extensive damage, displacement, The psychological toll that has on a people, it just cannot be overestimated, and especially on children."

http://www.democracynow.org/2014/8/21/a_war_on_gazas_future_israeli

Sadly, many of these children may never reach their full potential, yet there are ways we can help.

You can help UNRWA rebuild schools in Gaza

Click here to donate
***DONATE TO THE GAZA EMERGENCY APPEAL TODAY***

UNRWA must repair, rebuild, equip schools and they also provide food and counseling when they can.

Gaza: Where the Arab Spring Turned to Winter

As I begin writing another novel about Palestine, it was suggested that I write about the Palestine of today, this minute—the Palestine with cell phones and Facebook.

Could I do that? Could I write about the Palestine of computers and cell phones without writing about the Palestine of hunger and constant fear? Could I do that without including the children traumatized by Operation Cast Lead and the smaller, unnamed operations that continue, unceasing, yet unremarked by the media?

According to the Gaza Community Health Programme, Operation Cast Lead affected approximately 95% of the people in Gaza, and an estimated 12% suffer from severe post-traumatic stress disorder. 

The Arab Spring gave a flare of hope for Gaza. In spite of the Israeli blockade that was imposed in 2007, the economy revived in 2012. Hundreds of tunnels were built under the houses and olive groves of Gaza, stretching to Rafah and different strategic points in the Sinai. Goods of all sorts, including building supplies, clothing, computers, fuel, medicine—even Kentucky Fried Chicken, flowed through the tunnels. Men were employed rebuilding the homes destroyed by bombs. Engineers, truck drivers, shopkeepers, dressmakers, health care workers went back to work. Taxes on the goods imported through the tunnels paid the government employees. Teachers, clerks, ministers, sanitation workers were paid.

Then the Egyptian President Mursi was ousted, and the new Egyptian government began to destroy tunnels. Ceaseless and relentless, they destroyed or water-logged an estimated 90% of the tunnels, and Gaza was sealed at both ends. (Read more about this: http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/gaza-between-the-rock-and-a-hard-place-1.1247751)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1450513948

Gaza has a long coast line and has always relied on the sea for food and as a source of income. Since the beginning of the Israeli blockade, many Gaza fishermen have avoided the guns of the Israeli naval forces by fishing in Egyptian waters. This , too, stopped suddenly and without warning when Gaza fishing boats were fired upon by Egyptian forces. The video below gives more details. Gaza is now the world’s largest prison.

Can I write about this? Even when I write about Palestinian refugees, I need to have stories that end well. I like happy endings. Can I find a happy ending in Gaza? 

Maybe not today, but I know where I would begin looking for a happy ending--the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme under the able direction of Dr. Eyad Sarraj. The doctors and staff work tirelessly to help alleviate the suffering and depression that invades the population a conditions grow steadily worse. Perhaps that is my happy ending--not an ending but a beginning, a place to find hope.

You can help these efforts by donating today: http://www.gazamentalhealth.org The Gaza Mental Health Foundation is a US charity that is run entirely by volunteers and all donations go to the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme.

Gaza: after 45 years of occupation

Imagine living your entire life in an area of 146 square miles—a place that would barely accommodate a marathon run from one end to the other, and an average person could walk across in an hour.  Now imagine sharing that space with 1.5 million people whose average income is a little over a dollar a day.  By comparison, the city of Los Angeles city limits cover over 469 square miles. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_square_miles_does_Los_Angeles_cover

Now that you are in your imaginary over-crowded poverty-stricken ghetto, add the constant violence.  The Israeli assault, Operation Cast Lead (Dec 2008-Jan 2009) showed a spectacle of exploding bombs dropped from F-15s and Apache helicopters, catching the attention of the international media for a brief time.  Smaller attacks continue, unremarked by media attention.
Death by military violence is not the only danger in Gaza.  Infrastructure supplying electricity, water, sewer services never recovered from the destruction of the attack, partly due to the continued blockade that restricts fuel and electricity and combines an embargo on agricultural exports and imports of building materials, medicines, medical devices and equipment. http://unispal.un.org/UNISPAL.NSF/0/98B5A22F069CF2958525772600740AB5

The World Health Orga­ni­za­tion reports that there is a health and envi­ron­men­tal disaster in the Gaza Strip due to the destruc­tion of infra­struc­ture and sewage systems: the pathogen content of drinking-water samples is 16% (the universal water safety norm rec­om­mended by inter­na­tional standards is 1%). … It has been estimated that the health status of nearly 40% of those suffering from chronic diseases has dete­ri­o­rated as a result of the reduction in health-care services.

One international effort to supply precious cargo of penicillin and baby formula fail after repeated efforts to get the supplies into Gaza were thwarted.  http://www.newsletter.co.uk/community/letters/gaza-siege-is-heartbreaking-and-corrupt-1-3929843

The blockade is a major factor in the pervasive poverty.  Without the ability to leave Gaza, men who once supported their families by working in other areas can no longer find jobs.  Small factories can no longer bring in raw materials.  Badly needed construction cannot be done because the building materials cannot be brought into the area.  Even school books and materials are severely restricted. 

"Every third child in Gaza stunted by hunger": interview with renowned doctor Mads Gilbert an article in The Electronic Intifada dated 7 June 2012 describes just one of the results of living under the conditions that exist in Gaza.http://electronicintifada.net/content/every-third-child-gaza-stunted-hunger-interview-renowned-doctor-mads-gilbert/11363

HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Gaza Mental Health Foundation based in Boston, MA sends all donations to the Gaza Community Mental Health Project.  http://www.gazamentalhealth.org/

American Friends of UNRWA based in Washington, DC http://www.friendsunrwa.org/ sponsors programs, such as a summer camps for the children of Gaza, and breast cancer screening in the refugee camps of Lebanon.  They have a lovely greeting card for sale—all proceeds go to UNRWA. 

UNRWA United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees has many resources for more information, photos, historical information, and statistics.  You can also donate directly to UNRWA http://www.unrwa.org/

 THIS WEEK WE USE MUSIC TO REMEMBER GAZA UNDER SEIGE

My favorite YouTube video about Gaza is "We Will Not Go Down" by Michael Heart.  Some of the images are quite graphic and the video has been age restricted, but you can find it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dlfhoU66s4Y&feature=colike