UPA Team in Gaza Springs into Action
Despite the day-long electricity outage last Friday, our team in Gaza used the precious battery power on their cell phones to communicate and devise a plan to help their people.
“We were all sad but had to do something,” remarked Abdalla Halabi, UPA’s Gaza Programs Manager. “We have three staffers that live near the border where the violence was happening. They could hear the sounds of ambulances and the sounds of people screaming, mourning the loss of their loved ones.”
UPA’s Gaza team of 13 includes six mental health practitioners. They checked in with each other via their cellphones throughout the day and did stress management exercises as a group. Anticipating the worst, they sprang into action, developing a mental health contingency plan for parents in case the need arises. This team exemplifies sumood (Arabic for steadfastness) in its truest form.
On Friday March 30th, 17 people in Gaza were killed and over 1,400 people were injured by Israeli forces who fired live ammunition and tear gas at a crowd of more than 30,000 people. The crowd had gathered for the 42nd anniversary of Land Day, a day that commemorates the Palestinians killed and expelled during Israel’s expropriation of Palestinian land. The protesters had marched to the Israeli border, lined by an electric fence, and peacefully demanded the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes in what is now Israel. Almost 70% of Gaza’s 1.9 million inhabitants are refugees.
The use of lethal force to crack down on a peaceful protest was widely condemned by human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, and others.
Palestinians, like all human beings, have the right to live a dignified life as enshrined by international law. This includes access to shelter, education, healthcare, and security, all of which are lacking in Gaza.
We stand with the people of Gaza during this difficult time and will continue to do all we can to address the increasing needs on the ground.
In Solidarity,
The UPA Family
