Posts Tagged ‘aid’
Power of Women Protest Movements
September 10th, 2010 • Awareness, News
Tags: aid, blockade, boat, flotilla, gaza, humanitarian, lebanon, Miriam, peace, protest, ship, siege, women
In a piece on female protest movements, BBC Radio 4′s ‘Point of View’ mentions the all-woman humanitarian aid ship, the Mariam, heading for Gaza:
True equality will only have been achieved when women are punished as harshly as men for their misdemeanours, says Lisa Jardine in her Point of View column.
(Partial Transcript)
A ship carrying humanitarian aid, “manned” entirely by women, is ready to leave Lebanon on the first leg of its journey to Gaza in an attempt to break the Israeli blockade. Named the Mariam (the Aramaic version of Mary), it has a multi-faith international passenger list, including doctors, lawyers and a group of American nuns.
History is full of unexpected precedents where human behaviour is concerned. Although the Mariam initiative has been dubbed by some a publicity stunt, the historian of 16th and 17th-Century Europe encounters groups of ordinary working women acting in a disorderly manner surprisingly often.
[..]
As for their contemporary counterpart – the women sailing on the Mariam – I have little doubt that their intention is to show the world that their attempt to help the beleaguered residents of Gaza is solely humanitarian.
They presumably anticipate a less hostile response from the crews of the Israeli ships sent to intercept them en route than that meted out to their male counterparts. Perhaps we should consider whether we might only have arrived at real equality when women are no longer accorded their traditional licence occasionally to misbehave with impunity.
Read the full transcript at the BBC website… (including a number of comments from listeners/readers)
Expired medicine donated to Gaza
August 6th, 2010 • Awareness, News
Tags: aid, expired, gaza, landfill, medication, waste
AJE reports on aid deliveries…
There is no doubt that hospitals in the Gaza Strip are in dire straights, desperately in need of medicine and technology.
However, millions of dollars worth of useless, out-of-date or expired medicine is being sent to the enclave as aid. The expired medicine is ending up in landfills, which are not properly equipped to deal with medical waste.
Gaza’s hospitals and clinics relay on international donations, and no one is accusing donors of acting with malice.
But doctors and health officials in Gaza say they want to be consulted before new donations are sent to the Strip to ensure that patients in Gaza are getting what they actually need.
Libyan ship ‘will continue to Gaza’
July 12th, 2010 • Action, Awareness, News
Tags: aid, blockade, egypt, el-arish, flotilla, gaza, greece, humanitarian, israel, libya, moldova, ship, siege
AJE reports on a Moldovan registered ship being sent by the Libyans:
Organisers of a Libya-sponsored aid ship have said they will continue their attempt to break the naval blockade of the Gaza Strip, despite Israeli claims that the vessel would instead sail to Egypt.
Yousseuf Sawani, a director of the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation, told Al Jazeera that there were no plans for the Al-Amal to dock at the port El-Arish.
The "Al-Amal" Moldova-flagged cargo ship carrying 2,000 tons aid for Gaza
“This is definitely a part of the campaign against the ship, a campaign of distortion, but we are definitely heading towards Gaza, because that is where aid should be heading to,” he told Al Jazeera.
“This is a purely humane mission, it is neither provocative nor hostile,” he said.
The ship set sail from Greece on Saturday, carrying 2,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip, but the Israeli foreign ministry said that it had reached an agreement with Greece and Moldova to have the ship diverted to Egypt.
Israeli request
Israeli authorities also reportedly contacted Omar Suleiman, the Egyptian intelligence chief, to request that the ship be allowed to dock in El-Arish, close to the border with the Gaza Strip.
Read more at Al Jazeera…
Flotilla Sets Sail, Israel’s PR Machine Takes Flight
May 28th, 2010 • Awareness, News
Tags: aid, aje, flotilla, gaza, PR, sherine tadros, ships
Trauma and healing – Children of Gaza
February 4th, 2010 • Awareness, News
Tags: aid, children, gaza, project, school, trauma
BBC World Service, Outlook:
Osama Damo is an aid worker with Save the Children. He has been helping children left traumatised by the Israeli attack on Gaza 13 months ago. Meanwhile, Israel has disciplined two senior army officers for endangering lives by firing white phosphorous shells during last year’s attack.
Visit the Outlook website for a slideshow of the project Damo is working with…
New Israeli funds for West Bank settlements
December 14th, 2009 • News
Tags: aid, funds, settlements, west bank
photo credit: hoyasmeg
The Israeli cabinet has decided to include some West Bank settlements in a national scheme that will entitle them to millions of dollars’ worth of funds.
They are being designated as national priority zones, meaning they will qualify for grants, tax benefits, and other forms of aid.
The move comes amid anger by Jewish settlers at a government-imposed curb on new building in settlements.
The Labour Party leader warned some of the new money might go to extremists.
On Friday a mosque in the West Bank was set on fire, and sprayed with Hebrew graffiti.
Labour leader Ehud Barak said: “I don’t think that we need to award them a prize in the form of including them in the national priority map.”
His five ministers in the coalition government voted against the plan. The other three right-wing parties in the coalition – Likud, Yisrael Beiteinu and Shas – voted for it.
