"Doctors Without Borders" and "CARE" Banned from Gaza

 

by Pa Rock

Citizen Journalist

In yet another affront to the lives and dignity of the basically shelterless and starving Palestinians in Gaza, Israel announced yesterday that it had suspended more than two dozen humanitarian organizations from entering Gaza.  The list includes "Doctors without Borders," the winner of the 1999 Nobel Peace Prize, and "CARE."

People are dying in Gaza every day, almost all are Palestinians, and many of them are women and children.  They scurry through the rubble of what was once their homes and neighborhoods seeking scraps of food, clothing, and shelter from the winds of winter.  It's a brutal life, one that the Palestinian people did not bring upon themselves, and one from which there appears no escape other than death.

Last February, less than three weeks after starting his new term in office, Donald Trump talked of turning Gaza, which butts up against the Mediterranean Sea, into the "Riveria of the Middle East" and resettling the Palestinians in Egypt and Jordan.  Some speculate that may have figured into what continues to look like an effort by Israel to raze Gaza into the ground and totally annihilate the Palestinian population.

Israel says that banning the aid groups from Gaza is their way of keeping Hamas and other militant groups from penetrating those organizations, but others point out that at least some of the groups, "Doctors without Borders" and "CARE" for instance, are well established charitable organizations that have been successfully addressing crises around the world for decades.

I will admit to taking the banishment of "Doctors without Borders" and "CARE" from Gaza very seriously - and personally.  I am not a major charitable donor, but I give what I can.  My first experience with charitable giving occurred many years ago in sixth grade when our teacher collected one dollar from each student in her class to send to "CARE."  (I'm sure she donated out of her own pocket to cover the donation for some in the class.). We received postcards from the organization telling us where where our dollars had gone - to which countries - and then used those postcards for a geography lesson that was very personal and meaningful.  Growing up, I continued sending occasional dollars to "CARE" because I knew they were good folks who actually were helping people in need around the globe.  

Twenty-one years ago this week after the awful tidal wave and tsunami killed thousands in Sumatra and the Indian Ocean, I sent $50 to "Doctors without Borders" to help in relief efforts.  I also determined to send a monthly contribution to the group to keep a helping hand in their efforts.  I sent them $15 a month. for many years, and a couple of years ago. I increased that to $25 a month.  Not much, I know, but I felt good about doing something.

"Doctors without Borders" and "CARE" are essential components in building a healthy, safe, and secure future for people who have been forced to live in the wreckage of war due to circumstances well beyond their control.

Today I will donate an additional $100 to Doctors without Borders" and $100 to "CARE" as well.   I credit the savage cruelty of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for nudging me into making those gifts.

Gaza does not need a glittering tourist mecca of hotels and casinos along the shores of the Mediterranean.   It needs homes, and hospitals, and schools, and clean water, and roads, and a business and cultural infrastructure to house and nurture the least among us.

If your God tells you that it's fine for children to scurry through the debris of endless war like rats trying to survive, it's time to upgrade to a a better God.

The tragedy and inhumanity in. Gaza must end!