PHA-Exchange> International delegates close World Social Forum in Palestine

[Aviva]

From: "Palestine Monitor" <palmon at hdip.org>
 31 December 2002
International delegates close World Social Forum in Palestine with visit and
protests in Gaza Strip
>
> As part of the World Social Forum (WSF) in Palestine calendar of
activities,
> three busloads of international non-governmental organization (NGO)
> representatives from all over the world yesterday attended a WSF morning
> session in Gaza City, hosted by 40 Palestinian NGOs operating in Gaza. One
> of the main speakers was Dr. Haidar Abdel-Shafi, a leader of the
Palestinian
> National Initiative and head of the Red Crescent Society in Gaza. After
the
> session the international delegates, along with local Palestinians,
> demonstrated peacefully in front of the venue before participating in a
> field trip around the Gaza Strip.
>
> The Gaza visit was the closing event of the World Social Forum in
Palestine.
> The Forum consisted of a meeting of NGOs and individuals from all around
the
> world to discuss how they can respond to the needs of Palestinians in
their
> current situation of poverty and occupation, and how support may be needed
> in different scenarios in the future. The underlying assumption for the
> discussion was that of a two-state solution, with self-determination for
the
> Palestinian people as the framework for a just and lasting peace.
>
> During their visit to Gaza, international delegates had the opportunity to
> witness:
>
> ·The unprecedented grabbing of land and resources in the Gaza Strip (42%
of
> the total area has been seized for settlements, "buffer zones", "security"
> zones or border zones);
> ·The imposition of a specific Gazan curfew  (the  "sea curfew" by which
> fishermen are prevented from fishing, which began with the shrinkage of
> fishing rights from 20 miles [under Oslo Agreements] to 10 miles, and then
> down to 5 miles and now includes the bombing of Palestinian fishing boats
by
> Israeli patrols);
> ·The plight of refugees in the camps (75% of Palestinians in the Gaza Stri
p
> live in 12 refugee camps);
> ·The overall destruction of the Strip (the remains of the Gaza
International
> Sea Port, the remains of Gaza International Airport, the widespread
remains
> of unremitting house demolitions);
> ·The rapidly increasing levels of poverty and dispossession;
> ·The daily impact of the illegal Israeli settlements on local Palestinians
> residents, including untreated raw sewage of the Netzarim settlement
(where
> approximately 15 Jewish families live, served by numerous Chinese and Thai
> workers) running into the Gaza Sea with its related negative environmental
> and health impacts;
> ·The unrelenting arbitrary closures by Israeli soldiers of roads and
> intersections (in particular around the Abu Gholi Checkpoint) for hours,
in
> order for settlers to have exclusive access and free passage.
>
> Besides these more visible scars of the Israeli occupation, delegates were
> also briefed on facts and figures, including the fact that 45% of
> school-aged children have been diagnosed as suffering from PTSD
> (post-traumatic stress disorders), while their mothers are unable to
provide
> proper care for them as 39% of mothers living in the Gaza Strip have also
> been diagnosed with PTSD symptoms.
>
> The international delegates then staged a demonstration at the Mawassi
> checkpoint, where they attempted to intervene with the soldiers manning
the
> barrier to allow women, children and the elderly to cross. Holding banners
> and singing, "All we are saying, please, give peace a chance".
> The next stop was Block J of Rafah refugee camp, where delegates organized
a
> demonstration near the Egyptian border, on the site of homes recently
> demolished by Israeli troops. Sewage runs freely around the borders of the
> camp, due to constant pipe breakage and leaking caused by Israeli tanks
and
> APCs. Some minutes after the start of the demonstration, a tank started to
> roll into areas of the camp again.
>
> The delegates then witnessed a house being demolished by two tanks and a
> giant Caterpillar bulldozer at a "buffer zone" around a settlement. More
> than 200 homes were destroyed in Gaza alone during 2002.
>
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