GAZA: no fuel, no food, no jobs, no help, no hope
Gazans have lived under siege conditions for more than two years - most of the population survive only by virtue of aid from the UN World Food Program.
- in January,
massive destruction, starvation and death
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Edinburgh Direct Aid,
the Cross-Party Group on Palestine of the Scottish
Parliament,
and Glasgow Central Mosque
working together as "Scotland to Gaza Medical Aid"
on April 24'th this year brought a team into Gaza with 7 tons of Medical Aid
After many false starts, the Scotland to Gaza team finally made it into Gaza, across the Rafah border, in the last week of April.
The team was Mohammed Salim, Shamim Ahmed and Saddaqat Khan from Glasgow Central Mosque, Colin Cooper and Denis Rutovitz from Edinburgh Direct Aid, and Pauline McNeill MSP from the Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group on Palestine. Permission to cross the border with our aid took weeks of never-ending negotiations in Cairo - with the Foreign Ministry, the Red Crescent, pharmaceutical companies, Shipping agents, and the Customs. The British Embassy in Cairo helped a great deal as did also Dr. Ahmed Hussain, the representative of the Islamic Confernce in El Aris. But success was due mostly to the negotiating skills of Pauline McNeill our MSP (and songbird).The aim was the support of primary care clinics run by the Palestine Medical Relief Society (experience has taught us that in emergencies, critical hospital care is almost always well addressed by the major agencies, but that there are often gaps in provision for chronic illness, ill-health and in particular the health of women and children.)
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They team brought with them 3 tons
of aid collected in Edinburgh and air freighted to Cairo; another 3 tons of
medical aid bought in Cairo; and over $50,000 in cash, for paying salaries and other
projects at the PRMS clinics and direct support of needy families .
The hands that brought the aid were the hands of friendship of very many in Scotland and beyond, and with that friendship at least a grain of hope. | 
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| the medical aid from Scotland arrives at the Gaza side of Egypt's Rafah Customs Post |
the Um Nasr Clinic
| The pre-arranged destination for our medical support was the Palestine Medical Relief Society's Un Nasr clinic. Dr. Colin Cooper, medical advisor to Edinburgh Direct Aid and one of the visiting team, spent some time meeting the clnic staff and discussing their practise. | ||||||||
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| Scottish doctor meets Gaza doctor | Doctors share a joke |
GAZA today
Since January the situation has returned to "normal" - that is
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Crucially Israel has imposed a total embargo on reconstruction materials. Thousands of tons of cement, steel and machinery have been supplied by the world's aid agencies (including those supported by the UK government) to rebuild dwellings, and infrastructure such as the sewage treatment plant. But Israel will not allow it in: and Egypt plays along. |
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In these circumstances, what can be done? EDA is working on plans to provide further support to medical services; to provide training for therapists for traumatised children;to set up online professional links for doctors, and investigating alternative and recycling based methods of shelter construction. |
With your support, we can do a lot
