Gaza, symbol of resistance

Like the international Quds Day, Gaza Day is an opportunity for conveying the cry of oppression and justice-seeking of its oppressed people to the world bodies.

The Occupying Zionist regime, on December 27, 2008 launched a unilateral war titled Cast Lead against Gaza Strip for suppressing the Islamic resistance, believing that it can crush the resistance or weaken it in a short period of 7 to 10 days but after 22 days, the regime was forced to withdraw disgracefully from Gaza Strip. Based on this January 17 has been termed as Gaza National day. Now we review part of the Zionist crimes in Gaza.

For the past two decades, Palestine has witnessed two Intifadas (Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000-2005 and al-Quds Intifada started on October 2015) and two bouts of Israeli full-scale carnage against this country in 2008 and 2014 but the main victims of the Intifadas and the Israeli wars have been the citizens of Gaza Strip. Gaza has an area of 360 square kilometers with about 1.8 people. 1300 people are Christians and the rest are Muslims. Gaza is more vulnerable to the Zionist regime’s crimes than other regions of Palestine, since on one hand, it has been in the bull’s eye of Zionist regime’s assaults and on the other hand, since 2007 Gaza has been besieged by the fake regime.

The problems of Gazans are of diverse kinds. Killing and injury of citizens is one of the tangible consequences of these wars. For instance, according to the UN report during the 51 day Israeli war against Gaza in 2014, 2312 Palestinians have been martyred 2256 of whom were in Gaza Strip and 56 in the West Bank including the Occupied al-Quds. Over 1500 children were orphaned, 551 children were killed and 3370 children were injured one third of whom suffer from permanent disability.

About 7 million people of Palestinian population are displaced across the world but the number of homeless Gazans is more than other regions totaling to 74%. There are 8 refugee camps including 4 in the city and the other four are in the village. War is the main cause of homelessness for the people. For instance, after the 2014 Israeli war against Gaza 65000 people inside the city became homeless. From October 2000 to April 2005, 73,576 buildings were destroyed completely or partially by the Israeli occupation forces 28,709 of which were in Gaza Strip and 4778 buildings were thoroughly destroyed. Chief of the UNICEF Gaza Field Office, Ms. Pernilla Ironside said in the Israeli invasion of Gaza in 2014, over 17,000 houses were demolished which led to homelessness of 100,000 Gazans half of whom were children.

The crimes of the fabricated Israeli regime are not limited to the said points. What is worse is the siege of Gaza Strip by the usurper regime. The Israeli siege of Gaza which began in 2006 increased the rate of unemployment, food insecurity and mal-nutrition especially in Gaza. Unemployment stands at 43% and among the youths it is 60% which is the highest rate in the world. The high rate of unemployment caused poverty and shortage of food in Gaza. While 30% of Gaza population in 2000 lived under the poverty line, this rate rose to 80% in 2016.

80% of Gazans are dependent on the international aid. 73% of the Gazans face food insecurity. Almost half of the population is under the age of 15 who are more vulnerable. This is likely to increase, for the rate of annual growth of Gaza population is 6%.

The death toll of Palestinian children under the age of 7 is seven times more than in Israel. 30% of Palestinian children die before the age of 5. 21 out of every 1000 children in the West Bank and 31 out of every 1000 children in Gaza die before their first anniversary. Anemia and severe malnutrition are the main causes of the high rate of Palestinian child mortality. 39.1 % of pregnant women in Gaza and 15.4% of pregnant women in the West Bank face anemia. Meanwhile the severe shortage of water and consumption of non-drinking water lead to diseases such as hepatitis and diarrhea. In 2013 over one million Palestinians in the West Bank were forced to consume about 60 liter waters per capita per day while the UN recommends 100 liter waters per capita per day. This is despite the fact that 95% of the water consumed by the citizens of Gaza is not hygienic and nitrate level in the water is high and not suitable for children and infants. The losses which have inflicted during the Israeli war on health facilities led to health and medical poverty in Gaza Strip and upsurge of problems for people. 7 health centers and 67 hospitals and clinics were damaged in the 2014 Israeli carnage and destruction. Israeli siege of Gaza has caused shortage of power, medical equipment and medicine in the region. 

The academic situation and education of children in Palestine especially in Gaza is very weak and its main factor is war which has led to poverty and shortage of facilities. War has caused destruction or damage of schools. Ms. Pernilla Ironside, Chief of the UNICEF Gaza Field Office, noted that in 2014 Israeli invasion of Gaza 219 schools were seriously damaged and 22 were fully destroyed. More than 70% of public schools and 94% of UNRWA-supervised schools in Gaza work two shifts. UNRWA has 252 schools in Gaza in which 240,000 students are studying.

Economic poverty has also caused most Palestinian children to leave their study unfinished, for they are forced to leave the school and work for survival. Less than 70% of Gaza children register for elementary school. Access to education for the children who live in camps is either too difficult or the education is of poor quality. The number of classrooms is not enough and schools lack facilities. According to UNICEF report, in 2013 over 123 thousand children were forced to leave their study unfinished.

Another problem is that the events which take place in the war including killing of parents and orphans, seeing the devastation of war, hearing the sounds of fighter planes and bombardments affect children in the postwar period which psychologists refer to as Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A 2007 study on 229 Gazan teenagers, showed that 68.9% of these children suffer from severe psychological disorders, 40% suffer from moderate or severe depression, 94.9% of severe anxiety. In another study in 2008 on 200 families in north and east of Gaza, it was known that 70.1% of children suffer from PTSD and 33.9% face anxiety. The other study conducted in 2008 on 1137 children aged 10-18 in Gaza Strip revealed that 99% of children suffer from feeling of humiliation. 97% of children are suffer from the repercussions of bomb explosion sound, 85% attended the funeral procession of their martyrs and 84% witnessed bombardment by tanks, artillery and war planes. 41% of children also suffer from PTSD. After the 2014 war, the chief of the UNICEF Gaza Field Office Ms. Pernilla Ironside said: our estimation is that 373,000 Palestinian children or 35% to 40% in Gaza Strip are in need of instant psychological aid. A 2014 study showed that 92% of Gaza citizens aged 13-18 face psychological disorders.

 In view of these figures it is no exaggeration to dub Gaza as the symbol of the oppressed in the world. Gaza is the symbol of resistance and steadfastness and undoubtedly the Zionist regime is the symbol of criminality, violence and the main violator of human rights and the embodiment of systematic savagery in the world.