For immediate release

   Palestinian Medical Relief Society

  Ramallah, 07/01/09: The Israeli military operation in Gaza has entered its twelfth day. Attacks from the air, the sea and the land continuously claim more and more Palestinian lives, including many innocent civilians among which women and children.  

As of today, the death toll has risen to a total number of at least 763 (including more than 219 children and 89 women). More than 3,100 have sustained heavy injuries (including more than 650 children and 270 women). At least 20 families were reportedly struck, leaving mothers in misery as they lost two, three, four children, leaving children without parents, brothers and sisters. One family lost up to 13 members at once, resulting in unbearable pain for those still alive. These numbers are of course primary estimations that are likely to increase within the next hours and days as attacks are likely to continue, more buildings to collapse, more casualties to be uncovered from the rubble and more people to die in the hospitals from previous attacks.

 As the death toll is rising at high speed, Gaza is incapable of adequately responding to humanitarian disaster it faces. The already exhausted medical system in the Gaza Strip, resulting from nearly two years of siege, is incapable of coping with the overflow of death and destruction it faces today. The whole health sector in Gaza is currently in a state of collapse, with public hospitals full to overflowing; hospital hallways are overrun by hundreds of dead and thousands of dying. There is so much death and destruction that doctors can not even begin to cope. They have to choose who will be saved and who will die; who will be given a short time under their healing hands and who will be left screaming and bleeding on the floor. The Gaza Strip is now physically divided into 3 independent parts by the IOF forces. As these parts are not connected anymore, doctors are unable to coordinate their work, resulting in the establishment of three different health sectors.  Today, there is a serious shortage of medical supplies. Severely injured patients cannot leave the Strip due to prolonged border closures. Moreover, basic medical supplies that are urgently needed such as sterilization equipment, needles, anaesthetics, catheters, gases, oxygen or monitors cannot reach the Gazans. Additionally, there is a lack of food, electricity, fuel, clean drinking water, or means to treat human and other waste. For the fifth consecutive day, hospitals continue to run on back-up generators. As long as Israel keeps its borders closed for adequate humanitarian aid, this situation will worsen every hour and cost more human lives.  According to the 55^th Article of the Fourth Geneva Convention, "to the fullest extent of the means available to it, the Occupying Power has the duty of ensuring the food and medical supplies of the population it should, in particular, bring in the necessary foodstuffs, medical sources and other articles if the resources of the occupied territory are inadequate."  Moreover, the Convention states in Article 10 that: "the provisions of the present Convention constitute no obstacle to the humanitarian activities which the International Committee of the Red Cross or any other impartial humanitarian organization may, subject to the consent of the Parties to the conflict concerned, undertake for the protection of civilian persons and for their relief."  However, in blunt violation of the Convention, doctors, ambulances and hospitals have become targets of Israeli fire. Twelve medical staff have been killed and thirty injured, whilst eleven ambulances have been hit. Additionally, hospitals were bombarded, along with medicine stocks and mobile clinics, thereby ruining the possibility of emergency aid.  The impact of the violence on Gazan population will be long-lasting. Not only did many people lose relatives and close friends, all 1,5 million inhabitants have been witness of horrific war-scenes. Magdi Hatib, 48, reportedly witnessed his brother, Akran Hatib, 35, torn apart by a burning shrapnel from an Israeli missile. "He was bleeding on the ground for 15 minutes till we could approach him, fearing a second explosion," said Magdi. "There were no ambulances, so we took him to Al-Shifa hospital by taxi." As morgues are overloaded, people are not able to accommodate the death, or to bury their loved ones. Fathers carry their death children home in carton boxes, and death and mutilated bodies lie in the hospitals corridors. In this situation, normal health needs cannot be met ether; pregnant women cannot deliver in hospitals due to a lack of beds, and in the morning of January 4^th the daughter of one of Gaza's doctors of Shifa hospital died because of an asthma attack which couldn’t be treated in a timely manner.  Israeli strikes prevent humanitarian aid efforts, target thousands of civilians, thereby violating international law on a huge scale. It is a humanitarian disaster and a human tragedy that should be stopped right now and Israel should be forced to comply with the Geneva Conventions governing the conduct of war.   

Domestic violence is so wide spread in Egypt.
We should have a law that criminalizes this form of violence.

The Children’s Co-operative
Our overall aims? We aim to promote the wellbeing and empowerment of socially excluded children through participatory educational activities. We use art, drama, games and discussions to explore solutions to issues that are important to children. We particularly focus on working with children of different cultures and backgrounds, and promoting mutual tolerance and understanding between them.
Who are we?
We are a group of people from various backgrounds who have come together because of our concern at the situation of socially excluded children in Egypt. Our qualifications and training include:
• Training to make animation for young people and adults
Save the Children, Sweden, Mena Office, Egypt
• UN Learning Materials on HIV and AIDS
UNAIDS, Cairo office, Egypt
• TOT: Street Children Guideline and Manual
Arab Council for Childhood, Cairo, Egypt
• Training on child protection and the Convention on the Rights of the Child
Save the Children, UK, Mena Office, Egypt
• Training in the child to child approach
Institute of Cultural Affairs, Cairo, Egypt
• Training for creative stakeholders for children
UNICEF, Cairo, Egypt
Who we do reach?
We work with vulnerable children in Egypt who face discrimination because of poverty, class, race, gender, religion and ability. In particular:
• Refugee and displaced children
• Street children
• Children from families with very low incomes
Why do we use participatory methodologies?
• Children’s right to participation is a cornerstone of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The Convention recognizes that, like adults, children have the right to have their views heard and taken into account in decision-making.
• Children’s participation is crucial for development work: we can’t fully understand children’s needs unless we hear their views.
• Participation develops children’s self confidence and prepares them for taking on the role of full citizens with rights and responsibilities.
• Adults cannot protect children all the time. Developing children’s decision-making abilities empowers them to deal with the risks and challenges they face every day.
• Participation shows children that there are many different viewpoints on any subject, and teaches respect and acceptance for different ideas and opinions.
How do we work?
• By using creative education activities (discussions, games, art, film and drama) to explore issues that impact their lives, such as discrimination, conflict and health.
• By bringing children from different backgrounds together to explore their common experiences, learn from each other and seek solutions together.
• By working with local communities, schools and other service providers to include children’s opinions in planning and implementing activities that affect them.
What have we been doing?
• July 2007: Providing training for the Kafelat Hala and Adwar group in research participatory methodology.
• July 2007: Coordinated a workshop for fifteen Congolese refugees in Sayyida Zeinab in the Children’s Garden.
• February 2007: Participated with forty five NGOs in Egypt to make a carnival for street children on 23rd February and to make this day an annual festival.
• Sept 2006 - present: Participatory personal and social education classes, theatre workshops, and reproductive health for young adult refugees at St Andrew’s school for refugee and displaced children.
• Oct 2006- Jan 2007: Theatre and art workshops with street children (in partnership with Hope Village and Nadir El Mahrousa) resulting in a theatre performance “The Street is Ours” and an art exhibition “Draw Your Dreams”.
• June-July 2006. Multicultural Awareness Project with the Townhouse Contemporary Art Gallery. Initial training of facilitators on issues child rights, participatory methodologies, teamwork, empowerment, and culture and difference.

The last few months witnessed an escalation of the attack against the minimum range of freedoms existing in our society. This is clear in the defamation campaigns on free press, the sieges on the rising workers' movements and the other forms of opposition. Moreover, imposing laws, which defame citizens' will, prosecution before military courts, violating the right to organization and occupying streets with military camps, etc.
The previous points are joined together, because freedom is mentioned as a whole. We state that a strong civil society which could help people to organize themselves in order to call for their legitimate rights of social justice, equality and living with dignity, which is a principal support to guarantee freedom of expression, though the word of honor presents the most important support for the civil society, which was always put on margin and exiled.
The Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) is part of civil society and it is an important advocate of it, especially because the political life in general are getting weaker due to the restrictions imposed on parties, which lack interacting with the public, except one party which is the sole controller of the policy of this country.
On this domain, the newspapers are daily publishing news on the attacks practiced against the few NGOs left on the scene. Moreover, the provocation processes are moving rapidly and consequently, starting with refusing the organizations' registration until the security apparatuses interference and objection (I witnessed this in an organization I have the honor to belong to, which is New Women Association) , in addition to the declarations which is considered a defamation and an insult to its nationalism and ethics or its fairness and funding sources, until the provocation exceeded its limits to making a cordon over the headquarter of The Center for Trade Union and Workers' Services by the central security strollers and armored soldiers, which remind us with a real war. At the same time, In closed doors there are some preparations for imposing more restriction on freedom of organization by making principal amendments on the law, which organize NGOs and private institutions' activities. Moreover, In continuation to the false picture of democracy, the authorities hold discussions with organizations, which restricted its demands on reducing the electricity bill and some other taxing exemptions. While they ignore human rights organizations, which principal demand is to stop security and administrative interferences to maintain civil society organizations and non governmental organizations in particular to participate and help in lifting up the society suffering from siege for more than 50 years.
On the other hand, we listen to speeches by some officials calling for civil society participation, the weird thing is that speeches doesn't accord with the act, the two are contradictory, in which it makes us think that the last speech is just words with an aim to clear up the government's reputation and put it on the frame of democracy.
I hope I could call upon, with your cooperation, all trusted people to collect its efforts to defend the Egyptian civil society, which without its strong influence there will be no hope for reform, progress or development
Nawla Darwish
Civil Society Activist