On Saturday June 8, I listened to two people call Canada from the Gaza Strip in Palestine. There were eight different sites from all across Canada that were set up to listen to problems in Gaza. The first person was an orthopedic surgeon. There are not enough medical supplies in Gaza. The government of Israel does not allow the medical supplies to enter Gaza. Why would the government do this to increase the suffering of all people ? The surgeon also has noticed and documented that the Israeli snipers shoot at the lower limbs of the demonstrators . Citizens of Gaza want to be able to return to their homes , and they walk up to the fences/gates. There are snipers on the other side, and they target to maim the young people. And they use bullets that explode on contact. Who designs these kinds of bullets ? There is no exit hole because they explode inside the limbs.
The other man was a young dental student . He had done some volunteering at the local YMCA. He worries about the high unemployment rate among young adults. I believe he is 21 years of age, and has endured three wars with Israel. Hamas sends out missiles, and Israel responds ( or begins the battle ) with rage. The number of people killed in Gaza far exceeds the number of those killed in Israel. Israel has more firepower than almost any other country other than the United States. And, they receive 3 billion dollars of military aid from the US every year. No questions are asked about how this aid is used.
These two men are not optimistic, but they do have hope that things will get better. Israel has put restrictions on many other things that are not allowed to be imported into Gaza. We cannot live without electricity, and the electricity in Gaza is cut off without notice. They have power only about half of the day. They shut it off in the whole area. Hospitals cannot cope with this loss of power. Someone in the Israeli government/military decides to do this. Is this not a human rights or war crime ? There are also restrictions on cement and other building supplies, and so after each of the small wars/battles, there are not enough supplies for the people of Gaza to rebuild.
The International community does almost nothing. I forward articles to my local politician, Harold Albrecht and to Prime Minister Trudeau, and they say nothing to Israel. There is all the talk about the rule of Law of Western democracies. I think it is fundamental to how we should live, but Israel is not complying with United Nations laws about occupied territories. They are breaking international agreements about human rights, but the United Nations does not enforce these laws.
Everyone deserves a life of safety without fear. Israel is told to fear terroirsm, and then they put restrictions on Palestinians lives. Israeli citizens live in fear because they are told by their society to fear for their lives ; fear the Palestinians. This is no way to live a life. Tell our politicans to support the rights of Palestinains. As we move to an election, send them a postcard saying, ” Remeber the Palestinians “.
Fred Redekop
Ponder Anew 