Looking for Trouble

Returning to Gaza by Gerri Haynes

(Gerri Haynes, a former president of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, is once again sending back reports from inside blockaded Gaza. As she did four times before, Gerri has organized a team of doctors

and other health care providers to work in hospitals and clinics in Gaza in an effort to directly help the people there and to bring attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis that the Israeli blockade has created. First in the series.)

Travel from the U.S. to Gaza is arduous, but perhaps not as arduous as the travel from the West Bank to Neve Shalom – the place of peace guesthouse where our delegation spent our first night in this part of the world. Neve Shalom is run by Jewish, Christian and Muslim Israelis and sits on a hillside overlooking Latrun Monastery and the surrounding fields of crops, flowers, and beauty.

We were joined at Neve Shalom by Amos Givertz, an Israeli worker for peace and Zoughbi Zoughbi, with Lucas and Rafiq Zoughbi from Bethlehem. Amos drove to see us from his kibbutz near Tel Aviv. The Zoughbis, along with a visitor from France, came to us by hired car through the checkpoint from Bethlehem – a journey of constant challenges. Amos and Zoughbi Zoughbi, director of Wi’am (Palestinian Conflict Resolution Center) have known each other for decades and work together in spirit to achieve peace in this part of the world.

They spoke of the current situation in Israel/Palestine – with Amos giving vivid examples to support his belief that the Israeli government is not motivated by security needs, but by its goal of controlling the land. Amos’s work is specifically focused on the Bedouins in the Negev Desert. He regularly publishes his findings in a report titled, Don’t Say We Didn’t Know.

This morning, we were driven to Erez Checkpoint – the only passage for people hoping to enter or leave the Gaza Strip from the north. Our passing through Erez requires weeks of preparation – applications, explanations, sponsorship – extensive communication. Permission to cross must be granted by Israel and by the Hamas government in Gaza.

For us, the crossing takes time and patience, but for Palestinians, the crossing is rarely allowed. Today, we saw mostly foreign journalists and UN workers – with a few Gazans coming toward Israel for medical care. Permission to leave Gaza to receive types of medical care that is not available in Gaza requires arduous and often unsuccessful processing. Most Palestinians who leave Gaza generally travel through the southern checkpoint into Egypt – and even this takes time and complex processing and often meets with denial.

And now we are here!! This is the fifth medical service delegation to visit Gaza from Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility – we are eleven in number and the work of some of our physicians has already begun. Two pediatric urologists, Rich Grady and Ismael Zamilpa and one adult urologist, Laura Hart, are screening patients for surgery in the days ahead.

We were to stay in Gaza until April 25, but on entry, we were told that the Erez checkpoint will be closed from April 25 – April 29, due to the Israeli Independence holiday and regular weekend closure.

We will leave on April 24 and visit the West Bank.

There are fewer cars on the roads in Gaza now than during our last visit in October 2011 – fuel is in short supply and expensive. Electricity remains an on-again-off-again commodity – affecting everything from food and medicine storage to communications. And still the people we meet are gracious and generous of spirit – wanting the freedom to work and raise their families in peace.

Many people contributed generously to the purchase of medicines for us to bring as donations to patient care in Gaza. People contributed toys, school supplies, sporting equipment and gifts. Two of my grandchildren sorted carefully through their toys and found treasures to send – toys they described as still ‘sparkly.’ All these gifts from the hearts of people in the U.S. who want the people of Gaza to know in some way that they are not forgotten.