Voices from Gaza and the Galilee

Voices from Gaza and the Galilee

Sawt el-Amel is in utter disbelief: disbelief at the scale of suffering unleashed upon the people in
Gaza, disbelief at the overwhelming support Israel’s war continues to enjoy among the Jewish
Israeli public, disbelief at the reluctant stand of the international community – including most Arab
states – in the face of such indiscriminate killing.
Due to the war, Sawt el-Amel has put its legal-aid project for Gazan workers on hold and shifted
its activities to coordinating humanitarian aid from the local Arab population in the Galilee
(northern Israel) to families in Gaza. Contributing to immediate relief action in solidarity with the
people of Gaza was the major concern expressed by Sawt el-Amel’s members in the current
situation. Therefore, activists in several Galilean towns and villages are now preparing
“emergency baskets” to be delivered to Gaza in cooperation with local organisations – namely
al-Ahali Center in Nazareth, Bab ad-Dar in Majd el-Krum, and PARC (Palestinian Agricultural
Relief Committees) and Medical Relief Committees from the West Bank - and with UNRWA. Sawt
el-Amel has further decided to continue the relief action in the medium term, in the form of a
solidarity project from Galilean to Gazan families.
On January 14, 2009, activists of Sawt el-Amel’s Women’s Platform organised a demonstration
for mothers and children in the village of Majd el-Krum. The approximately 300 demonstrators
held a candlelight vigil for the children of Gaza.
“We are all Gaza”: Families demonstrate in solidarity with Gaza (Majd el-Krum, Jan. 14, 2009)
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Being a grassroots organisation of Arab workers and unemployed, Sawt el-Amel’s aim is to carry
the voices of its members and activists to our international colleagues and friends. The following
quotations are a representative summary of the numerous opinions Sawt el-Amel collected from its
members from the Arab community inside Israel, its field worker in Gaza and from Gazan workers
it represents in Israel’s labour courts.
We would like to let their voices speak for themselves.
VOICES FROM THE GALILEE:
“We hear in the media that the public in Israel is almost entirely in favour of the war.
What about the 20% of us who are Palestinian? None of us supports Israel’s
atrocities.”
“[Foreign Minister Tzipi] Livni said recently that in the framework of a two-state
solution, Arab citizens of Israel will have to find their national home in a future
Palestinian state. So why is the government now outraged that we demonstrate in
solidarity with our people in Gaza?”
“I am Palestinian, and every time I see the death and destruction in Gaza on television,
I feel I have lost a cousin or a brother.”
VOICES FROM GAZA:
“I’m a carpenter, and I’m waiting for the day I set eye on a piece of wood, or at least
a screw. There is nothing left here to make a living off.”
“I support Fatah [President Mahmoud Abbas’ party] while two of my brothers are
officials in our [i.e. Hamas] authority, and our families are sheltering in the basement
of the same building.”
“The people who are worst off are those seeking refuge in the UN schools. Here in our
houses, at least we still have blankets to cover up against the cold. In the UN facilities,
they have nothing.”
“We keep breathing in gas from the white clouds of smoke. I have no idea what it’s
doing to my children.”
“Of course we want the bombing to stop. But if they [the Israelis] don’t lift the siege,
they might as well continue the bombardments.”