Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA Middle East Project Officer, Lisa Arnold, blogs from the Gaza Strip, Occupied Palestinian Territories.
I’ve discovered that soap and salt water do not necessarily mix. For one thing, it’s rather difficult to work up a lather, but I’m not sure if that’s due to the salt or the likely other contaminants in the salty water coming from my hotel shower in Gaza City. I am reminded of Amira Hass’s aptly-titled book, “Drinking the Sea at Gaza”.
Gaza’s groundwater has been deemed unfit for human consumption by the World Health Organisation.
The demands of a 1.5 million population, combined with the severe damage and destruction of wastewater treatment plants by the Israeli “Operation Cast Lead” military invasion of early 2009, means that the groundwater aquifer is being slowly infiltrated by sea water and human effluent.
The United Nations reports that 80 million litres of untreated or partially treated sewage is being pumped daily into the Mediterranean Sea off the Gaza coast. The Israeli blockade since mid-2007 means that there are little to no spare parts, fuel or electricity to operate the Palestinian wastewater treatment plants in Gaza. One can only wonder at the potentially irreversible environmental damage this is causing not only along the Palestinian coast of Gaza, but along the Egyptian and Israeli coastlines as well, let alone the damaging costs to human health.
This brightly-coloured Goofy toy was wrapped in a letter from an Australian child saying it was his favourite toy which helped him to sleep at night, and that he hoped Goofy would do that same for a Palestinian child.
The room is silent as we listen to a shy Palestinian girl speak quietly for more than 25 minutes about her experiences during the Israeli “Operation Cast Lead” military invasion of the Gaza Strip launched on 27 December 2008.
Mona Samouni, now aged 12, lost her parents, brothers, uncles and an aunt in the Israeli attack. She is telling her story to a group of Australian children on the other side of the world, listening over the internet in Wollongong, NSW. Mona spoke of her house being bombed and of seeing her mother killed in front of her, lying on the floor of the family home in two pieces with her head missing. Mona was herself injured in her eye. Mona accepted the brightly-coloured Goofy toy with a bright smile that lit up her elfin face.
Hear Mona speak about her experiences:
A teenage girl, her hair in a long plaited pony-tail, guides her horse deftly around the ring and over the jumps. She is a good rider and the horse responds well to her gentle touch. In the warm autumn evening air a group of young boys and girls are enjoying practicing their showjumping and giving rides to younger children at their local horse club in the Gaza Strip. Many families are out enjoying the warm evening as well. I sip my sweet tea and watch the children riding.
