I’ve had awful toothache but I phoned the dentist and now I’m on the road to recovery. It made me think; what if I lived in Gaza? If my family who are working, playing, going to concerts or meeting friends in the pub, depended on having the tea on the table and their clothes washed and suddenly all that disappeared - quite literally. A frightening thought.
The war in Gaza is something we hear about every day and now Lebanon is included in the news bulletins before the news reader pauses for a split second and goes on to ‘other news’. Have we any idea what it is really like? Do you remember in detail what happened on that October morning 12 months ago?
One of the first reports stated: “The Islamic Palestinian militant group Hamas initiated a sudden attack on Israel from the Gaza Strip. As part of the attack 364 individuals, mostly civilians, were killed and many more wounded at the Supernova Sukkot Gathering, an open air music festival during the Jewish holiday of Shemini Atzeret near kibbutz Re’im. Hamas also took 40 hostages...”
I don’t pretend to understand the intricacies of history behind this war but surely some solution can be found - and quickly, because men, women and children are suffering unimaginable trauma and torment.
In Gaza there is no help for someone with toothache, a woman going into labour, an old man with a crumbling hip joint. Put yourself in that position, the cancer patient with no treatment, those with gun shot wounds but no doctors. And we complain about the waiting lists for NHS treatment...
A Time Of Fear
And what of the families here in Northern Ireland, they too are suffering.
I talked to people from both sides of the conflict. A member of the Jewish community told me how helpless they find themselves. “My niece is close to the Lebanese border, she was evacuated but went back to tend the crops,” they told me.
“Now she’s training to use a gun in self-defence, she spends time in the bomb shelter and we can only contact her on the mobile phone on the few occasions there’s a connection. The reservists are being called up and the situation is getting worse all the time.
“However, away from the border, life goes on. There are innocent people on both sides. Even here in Belfast, with fewer than 60 in our community, we are nervous for our own security because of anti-Semitism and yes, we demand a ceasefire but that’s only pushing it down the road for a few weeks.”
There are a few hundred Gazans living in Northern Ireland. Again they have little communication with their relatives. Phones can only be charged to use WhatsApp if there is a solar power facility. One man I spoke to has 60 family members in Gaza and the West Bank, except he doesn’t know how many are still alive.
“Their property is completely destroyed, they have lost everything and they are living in tents with nothing,” he tells me. “In the morning they wake up and say, ‘Oh, we are still alive’.
“They have lost weight, have have no medical care, no tablets, no dignity. A voucher every week for flour if they are lucky. Sometimes the Israeli army allows a very small number of ill people to cross to Egypt or Jordan for medical treatment but very few. I would like to say the people in Northern have been very supportive although some have not.”
My family are trapped in a slaughter house just waiting their turn
— Belfast Gazan
What Is The Truth?
“We hold vigils, we try to be active to make our voice heard telling the true story not what the media is telling us,” he continues.
Another says his family is living in hell: “There are no words to describe what they are going through and one year on no-one is able to stop the genocide. We have no communication most of the time.
“Every time there’s a bomb we fear our family will have disappeared, vanished. What can we do? Look at the powers we have - our government should tell the truth, be brave and do what’s right and say ‘enough is enough’. Please make an action plan to protect our people. My family are trapped in a slaughter house just waiting their turn.”
Some here have shut down their feelings and don’t talk about it, others arrange events to keep together, they fundraise in case they can get money to relatives to buy their way into Egypt, but is there hope?
“I will never give up hope,” said my friend from Gaza. “All we want is a peaceful state. Next time you see that trail of people trying to find safety remember we are not numbers, we are people with dreams and jobs.”
And it’s getting worse. When I asked what I can do, those on both sides gave the same answer: “Pray for us.”
