From Gaza with love

This is a script produced by Dr Ahmad Hadi Shboul, an Australian writer and academic (published here with his permission):

Conversations with Dr Mona Elfarra, Director of MECA (Middle East Children Alliance), & a prominent clinical physician; Vice-president of Palestine Red Crescent in Gaza Strip; C0-founder of Al-Awda Hospital in Jabalia, Gaza; founder of several other cultural and humanitarian centres across the Gaza strip.

Dr Mona Elfarra is the author of FROM GAZA, WITH LOVE: popular Blog (Baitelyasmin, Cairo, 2011)

Summary of the transcript of a telephone conversation with Ahmad Shboul, on 7 August

I have hoped to use the recording of this telephone conversation with Dr Mona for one of our fund-raising activities in Sydney this month. Unfortunately, the quality of the phone line was not sufficiently clear. And I had to listen to the recording several times to be able to make this (slightly edited) transcript of what Dr. Mona said.
[I have presented the gist of this to our fundraising even last Sunday 10th August, in my own voice .. I found it difficult to remain composed ..]

Mona's voice reflected both the strength of her character and the strain under which she has been working tirelessly. In the following edited transcript, I have not included what I said to Mona, but kept Mona’s own words in the first person, as I heard her voice and was so moved by what she said:

“First of all, I should like to thank everybody, all of you, for your support. It is very important to us at this time and with this attack on us, which hasn’t yet ended.

As you know, we have been subjugated to long occupation and siege, and now bombardment from the air, land and sea.

We are not alone.. We have friends who support us, despite all the shameful stance .. the shameful silence, of the ‘official’ world.

All human rights have been violated by Israel.
Israeli forces have attacked every neighbourhood in he whole of the Gaza strip.

The worst thing for us as medical people has been that we could not reach many of the injured and wounded to save them.

Many people who died of their injuries could have been saved. But we were prevented, because of the vicious Israeli bombardment, from reaching them.
And the rescuers and ambulances were prevented from transferring them in time. This is inhuman.

What happened in Shuja’iya, for example, was beyond belief.
First there was the destruction of the neighbourhood in the first few days. Then, during a short ceasefire and lull in the bombardment, when people went to the Shuja’iya market to get some essentials, they were viciously attacked by Israeli bombardment.. Many were killed; and many more were injured.

There were also deliberate attacks against whole families".

[We know from other sources that about 70 prominent families were targeted in their own homes by israeli bombardment; and about 570 people were massacred in this delibrately targeted way - Ahmad]

"There is destruction everywhere
People were forced to flee from their homes; and they had to seek shelter in schools and other places.
Three United Nations schools were attacked, although the UN personnel have repeatedly notified the Israelis of the exact locations (coordinates) of the schools. These attacks were deliberate.

Now, of course, the new school year is supposed to start in about 2 weeks. But many schools are not fit for use.

One of the most serious problems we face, despite all our steadfastness, is that our community has been - and will continue to be - deeply traumatised for a long time.
This is particularly more acute in the case of thousands of children.

There is no real ceasefire or truce so far.

We are facing increased psychological problems among families and especially children.

There are so many stories one can tell about the extent of the trauma.
Children suffer from recurring panic attacks. Many of them cannot sleep.

The medical situation and medical care is so complicated.
As it happened we are not able to cater for all the normal daily cases, even without the latest Israeli onslaught on us.

The injured have exceeded 9000 in number.
25% of these are going to have permanent disabilities
We have been working round the clock.
Our teams are exhausted. But we go on working.
We do not have enough medicine for so many cases.
At MECA (Middle East Children Alliance) we tried to get as much medicines as possible from the local markets. But that hasn’t been enough.

Our medical teams have been mostly working under fire with bombs falling on top of them. Exhausted, working long hours ..
Several of our team members suffered personal losses. We lost dear colleagues. At least six of my team lost their homes and members of their families.
I myself [Mona Elfarra] lost 9 members of my family in one attack (in Khan Yunus)
All of us we had to postpone our personal grief.
During the short ceasefires, our medical and psychological support teams visited schools and other locations, which have become places of refuge and shelter.
People were taking shelter everywhere they could find refuge. In schools, mosques, hospitals, and gardens
We had to treat people on the streets as well.

Despite all the work we have been doing to help our people, there have been times when we felt so helpless.
I have always felt strong, but there were rimes when I had to say to myself: what can I offer more?..
What can we do in a situation where more than twenty-two thousand tons of ammunition have been dropped on us?
I feel strong. But then the question keeps recurring: where are we going? ..
So many people have been killed and more people injured..
I may die any minute.
I felt I have crossed the barrier between life and death several times.
The most important thing for us as medical people is to save people, to treat the injured, and to help families and children ..
426 children at least have been killed.
Thousands of children who have survived will keep re-living the terrible experiences that they have gone through.
I could give you so many figures of the civilian casualties, and of the destruction. .

But I like finally to say despite all this we are not victims..
We Palestinians seek justice and human rights.

Let me say: thank you all for your solidarity.

What the Palestinians in Gaza and all Palestinians need is not charity, but SOLIDARITY!" ..

The above is just a glimpse of Gaza experiences as conveyed by Dr Mona Elfarra.
A contribution to efforts to get the World to know the truth about the real situation in Gaza ..

You can follow Dr Mona through her own blog :

The Diary of a Lady Doctor in GAZA

http://monaingaza.wordpress.com/