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Steve Amsel
After an unexpected winter ‘vacation’, hundreds of thousands of children in Gaza returned to school yesterday. In some cases, the buildings were gone, completely destroyed by Israeli bombs. In most cases, classmates were missing, murdered by Israeli forces.
Can any of you imagine the trauma of these children, many of whom lost close relatives, including parents, brothers or sisters? For decades, this has been a way of life for the people living in the Occupied Territories of Palestine, Gaza in particular. In other words, the way of life is the way of death. The scars inflicted on these children by those horrors will never heal…. no form of therapy or counseling will alleviate the pain felt by these children…. they will be forced to live with it their entire life.
Over 60 years after the Eastern European Jews suffered from the same atrocities the scars and pain remain. In most of those cases the German government pays a monthly allowance to the surviving victims. Who will pay that allowance to the people of Gaza? Are they not entitled to compensation as a result of their suffering and losses? Where are the demands for this to happen?
Does anyone care? Yes, the bombing stopped, Yes, the tanks pulled out, but the victims are still suffering. The mourning periods are coming to an end as I write this, but does a parent ever stop mourning the loss of a child? Does a child ever stop mourning the loss of a parent?
Yes, schools are open again, but these children have so much to learn about coping. Don’t ever forget their suffering and do what you can to help them.
Here is how you can help…….
ORGANIZATIONS SUPPORTING GAZA
Gaza Community Mental Health Programme
Middle East Childrenʼs Alliance (MECA)
United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) for Palestine Refugees in the Near East
World Health Organization West Bank and Gaza Office
ORGANIZATIONS COLLECTING DONATIONS FOR RELIEF IN GAZA
American Charities for Palestine
American Near East Refugee Aid (ANERA)
American Taskforce on Palestine
CARE International in the West Bank and Gaza
Palestine Childrenʼs Relief Fund
Palestine Red Crescent Society
Physicians for Human Rights - Israel
Middle East Childrenʼs Alliance (MECA)
Red Cross Partners Respond to Crisis in Gaza
ReliefWeb Updates on Occupied Palestinian Territories
United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA)
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Source: http://desertpeace.wordpress.com/2009/01/25/for-gazas-children-the-way-of-life-is-actually-the-way-of-death/