A Life of Survival & Children Deprived of Their Rights Guest author, Muhammed Mahareq The Abu Nuwar area (Bedouin encampment) is located in East Jerusalem and is surrounded by Israeli settlements. About 1,200 people live in this area, which is constantly attacked and harassed by the occupation forces and under constant threat of deportation from…
In the occupied Palestinian territory, the death of three children across the West Bank in the past week adds to the growing number of children killed and the deafening silence from the international community again. An 11-year-old boy was killed in Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, after being shot by the occupation forces in the…
Eight-year-old Nisreen is just one of the 200 beneficiaries participating in our Nutritional Meals program at The Women’s Centre located in Shu’fat Camp, East Jerusalem. Nisreen says that she loves school but the reality is that harassment at the checkpoints has made it hard for her and her siblings to regularly attend classes. She is…
KinderUSA is honored and humbled to report that Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai donated $25,000 to support the children we serve in Palestine. Our ongoing efforts in the East Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza speak to the need and the horrors Palestinian children face daily from the occupation and human rights abuses. Along with KinderUSA, Malala donated $100,000…
After 11 bloody days of bombardment, the people in Gaza are still in shock and traumatized not knowing if, or when, the bombs will rain down again. With drones flying overhead, the blockade of land, air, and sea, a ‘ceasefire’ does not translate security and stability for Gazans. The most recent human toll in Gaza…
The barbaric attack on a civilian population in Gaza has obliterated entire families while destroying medical facilities, infrastructure, homes, and entire apartment blocks, reducing them to rubble. According to the World Health Organization significant damage to multiple health facilities in the Gaza Strip including the destruction of the Hala Al Shawa primary care clinic and…
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] No one in Gaza is safe! Entire families have been obliterated. Medical facilities, infrastructure, homes, and entire apartment blocks have been reduced to rubble. Over 500,000 people are in need of humanitarian assistance now. KinderUSA is preparing to distribute food baskets and market vouchers to families in Gaza allowing them to shop at local…
The collective punishment and “crimes against humanity” identified by the recent Human Rights Watch report always fall on children who pay the highest price with their lives and their future. As of this writing, over 60 children have been killed in Gaza from the onslaught by one of the most advanced militaries in the world. Day after…
Once again children and civilians are bearing the brunt of assault on their homes and religious institutions during the holy month of Ramadan. Facing expulsion from their homes to cowering in the arms of equally traumatized parents as bombs rain through the night at a time when families were to share iftar, the breaking of…
With every turn, Nour faces a new hurdle. Supporting a family of 6 in an area of Gaza that still sits under rubble from successive wars, Nour does what he can to care for his family. From working construction to collecting items for recycling, Nour did anything to feed his family until Covid took over…
A Life of Survival & Children Deprived of Their Rights
Guest author, Muhammed Mahareq
The Abu Nuwar area (Bedouin encampment) is located in East Jerusalem and is surrounded by Israeli settlements. About 1,200 people live in this area, which is constantly attacked and harassed by the occupation forces and under constant threat of deportation from this area. From 2015 until now, the area has faced continuous demolitions of their homes: tin houses owned and lived in by residents.
There is one school in the area that accommodates 230 students (Male & Female), which was demolished on numerous occasions in 2015, 2016, 2018 and rebuilt by the residents constructing tin classrooms to teach the area’s children. Unfortunately, the residents were prevented from increasing the number of tin classrooms through ‘orders’ by the occupation authorities.
The area is approximately 5 miles walking dangerous terrain to the nearest town south of Jerusalem, which is the Al-Eizariya village, where residents experience their own difficulties with the loss of security and safety, in addition to deprivation and marginalization of their most basic rights.
These Bedouin refugees were displaced from their homes and towns in southern Palestine during the Nakah in 1948 and have lived in this area since, far from basic services and towns, in very difficult living conditions.
The people in this area mainly depend on raising sheep, but most of them suffer from extreme poverty due to the lack of work opportunities and are prevented from freedom of movement. The area lacks potable fresh water, as there are no water wells. The occupation authorities prevent the residents from digging wells, and the residents rely on fetching water, walking far distances just for drinking water. This area also lacks health facilities and treatment centers, with the nearest medical center in the Al-Eizariya village which they reach by foot. Further, and in addition to the lack of water, they must rely on diesel fuel for lighting their houses.
The population is one of the neediest and most marginalized people in the region, denied their most basic rights to live in freedom and dignity. Children are deprived of education, healthcare, and their basic rights, suffering from malnourishment and the normal life every child should enjoy.
The Women’s Center partners with KinderUSA to provide marginalized children with healthy food to help and support them in their daily lives. Please consider making an online donation TODAY to help sustain our projects!
In the occupied Palestinian territory, the death of three children across the West Bank in the past week adds to the growing number of children killed and the deafening silence from the international community again. An 11-year-old boy was killed in Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, after being shot by the occupation forces in the chest while sitting in a car with his sister and father. Children are given special protection under international law, a right that is routinely flouted when it comes to Israel. In 2021, more than 75 children were killed by the occupation forces averaging 1 every 3 days.
In Gaza, the loss of over 260 human lives coupled with extensive property loss and damage after 11 days of assault on a civilian population in May adds to the worsening, downward spiral of the humanitarian crisis. Two months later, communities are still in shock from the loss of life that included entire families. Property destroyed will remain a pile of rubble due to the ongoing blockade preventing construction materials, spare parts, and equipment.
While the occupation forces operate with impunity, so do settlers in the Jordan Valley who violently attacked and injured 13 children while another group assaulted 3 Palestinians in Hebron while damaging trees and property. These events do not occur in isolation but are part of the strong-arm tactics inherent to an apartheid state.
An entire generation has grown up knowing only closed borders, demolitions, and repeated assaults.
“Our home was destroyed. We lost relatives. We live in the dark. What more do they want from us?”, said Um Arafat of Beit Hanoun.
While statements of concern and condemnation are appreciated, they do not hold anyone accountable for the indiscriminate attacks on children and other civilians.
“We have to do more than express our outrage,” said Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, Chairperson of KinderUSA. “It is incumbent upon the international community to do whatever it takes to exert meaningful pressure on the occupiers to refrain from the use of excessive force in all circumstances, not only during major assaults on Gaza. Freedom from the fear of being killed is a fundamental right that must be protected, especially for these children of Palestine.”
Eight-year-old Nisreen is just one of the 200 beneficiaries participating in our Nutritional Meals program at The Women’s Centre located in Shu’fat Camp, East Jerusalem. Nisreen says that she loves school but the reality is that harassment at the checkpoints has made it hard for her and her siblings to regularly attend classes. She is an orphan whose mother struggles to make ends meet with the 530 Shekels that she earns monthly from sewing.
Nisreen, her mother, and four siblings live in a one-room tin hut in the Bedouin village of Khan Al Ahmar. They struggle to make ends meet and sometimes do not have enough money to even buy the basic necessities including fuel for electricity. Nisreen and her siblings have benefitted from our Healthy Meals Initiative that provides healthy meals daily that they would not benefit from if not for the program.
Even though Nisreen and her siblings’ educational needs are at risk due to the occupation, KinderUSA has provided them with consistent meals to meet their developmental needs. There are countless children in the West Bank and the surrounding areas that are in need of the same assistance as Nisreen and her siblings.
By supporting KinderUSA you are providing these children with a chance to develop and grow up healthy, providing them with a chance at a content and robust life.
KinderUSA is honored and humbled to report that Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai donated $25,000 to support the children we serve in Palestine. Our ongoing efforts in the East Jerusalem, West Bank, and Gaza speak to the need and the horrors Palestinian children face daily from the occupation and human rights abuses.
Along with KinderUSA, Malala donated $100,000 to Save the Children, and $25,000 to DCI Palestine.
In Gaza, we are currently distributing fresh food and store vouchers to impoverished families in the northern area. Our team is assessing whether KinderUSA’s rehabilitation project in 60 schools providing water tanks for clean drinking water suffered damage.
Malala’s contribution is joining our efforts to reverse the nightmare of occupation and war, bringing peace, hope, and security for all children.
“I pray for a lasting peace in the region and call on leaders to protect every child’s fundamental rights,” Malala Yousafzai.
“Thank you, Malala, for your tireless and fearless commitment to the innocent children of Palestine and to the children across the globe. It is a privilege to stand alongside such a courageous woman,” Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, Chairperson KinderUSA.
After 11 bloody days of bombardment, the people in Gaza are still in shock and traumatized not knowing if, or when, the bombs will rain down again. With drones flying overhead, the blockade of land, air, and sea, a ‘ceasefire’ does not translate security and stability for Gazans.
The most recent human toll in Gaza estimates 253 Palestinians dead. Approximately 66 of the deceased include children. After the rubble is cleared and critical cases have been treated, the number will surely increase. Sadly, physical, emotional, and psychological trauma is the norm in Gaza for people of all ages.
A recent assessment of the damage done revealed that no corner or civilian was left unharmed. In the health sector, which was already on the brink of collapse, the outcome was devastating. Six hospitals and eleven clinics were damaged including the only COVID-19 laboratory in all of Gaza. Unfortunately, the physician of that clinic has been hospitalized amid the ongoing global pandemic.
According to UNICEF, a total of 57 education facilities in the Gaza Strip suffered damage and schools remain closed, affecting some 600,000 children. KinderUSA has just finished a water rehabilitation project in 60 schools, refurbishing their lavatories and providing water tanks for clean drinking water. We are still awaiting a report of the extent of the damages if any.
Clean drinking water in Gaza is elusive with over 800,000 lacking regular access to tap water. The electricity in Gaza is dependent upon fuel which is in severe supply shortages. The rippling effect impacts the water supply as electricity, which is only available 3-4 hours a day, is needed to pump clean water. The risk of spreading COVID-19 due to poor hygiene and sanitation, coupled with families having to rush to alternative housing in UNRWA schools to avoid the bombardment, is of critical concern.
KinderUSA is working with our partners on the ground to provide immediate food essentials to the most marginalized in the north of Gaza. We have identified 900 families who will receive fresh food from locally sourced farmers and a store voucher to shop at the local market to buy household items. This effort helps boost the local economy while ensuring children receive proper nutrition. We must reiterate what Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said:
“If there is a hell on earth, it is the lives of children in Gaza today.”
This inhumane occupation and denial of human rights for the Palestinian people must end.
The barbaric attack on a civilian population in Gaza has obliterated entire families while destroying medical facilities, infrastructure, homes, and entire apartment blocks, reducing them to rubble. According to the World Health Organization significant damage to multiple health facilities in the Gaza Strip including the destruction of the Hala Al Shawa primary care clinic and substantial damage to the central testing laboratory for COVID-19 al Rimal clinic in Gaza City.
To date, 24 health facilities have suffered partial or complete damage. The blockade and closure of entry and exit points in Gaza for patients, humanitarian health teams, and the entry of medical supplies, has exacerbated an already catastrophic health crisis.
In the West Bank, militant settlers aided by the military and police have prevented medical teams from accessing casualties. Many have been beaten and injured in addition to damaging, detention, and confiscation of ambulances, and attacks on health facilities and businesses.
The industrial zone in Gaza built with USAID funds has been destroyed with factories and companies bombed further ensuring loss of jobs and economic restructuring after Covid, adding to the humanitarian catastrophe.
As of this update, 230 Gazans have lost their lives, including 65 children. This number is sure to rise as many have been critically injured. More than 50,000 people have lost their homes or have been forced to leave and are now sheltered in UNWRA schools. The only Covid-19 laboratory was destroyed, and vaccines are currently unavailable, worsening the ongoing threat of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Now, more than half of the population requires humanitarian assistance.
KinderUSA is preparing to distribute food baskets and market vouchers to families in Gaza allowing them to shop at local stores to buy essential items and to have all basic food items delivered to them. Many families are in remote locations and cannot travel, so our team will bring food directly to them. Our goal is to help families, local merchants and farmers recover some of the economic loss all Gazans are facing again.
A cease-fire has been negotiated. International humanitarian aid must be allowed entry along with medical evacuations. Military occupation, political deadlock, and hopelessness cannot continue and although the missiles have stopped, the appalling loss of civilian life without accountability predicts another war.
It is time for our government along with the international community to speak with one voice and protect the rights of the Palestinian people.
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No one in Gaza is safe! Entire families have been obliterated. Medical facilities, infrastructure, homes, and entire apartment blocks have been reduced to rubble. Over 500,000 people are in need of humanitarian assistance now.
KinderUSA is preparing to distribute food baskets and market vouchers to families in Gaza allowing them to shop at local stores to buy essential items and to have all basic food items delivered to them. Our goal is to help families, local merchants and farmers recover some of the economic loss all Gazans are facing again.
Please help us help Gazan’s and donate today! Our fundraising goal is $450,000.
The collective punishment and “crimes against humanity” identified by the recent Human Rights Watch report always fall on children who pay the highest price with their lives and their future. As of this writing, over 60 children have been killed in Gaza from the onslaught by one of the most advanced militaries in the world.
Day after day we watch, once again, as the bombs fall on the homes of thousands of families and with each attack questioning who will be next?
“We all have our important papers ready to leave if we are hit and fortunate to live through it,” said Hana, KinderUSA Country Coordinator in Gaza.
After toppling the building housing international media, the bombardment that followed was the most severe barrage of missiles with Hana stating quite simply, “I can’t believe we are still alive.”
Each night opens a new chapter of fear, death, destruction, and despair with wanton cruelty.
The families KinderUSA serves are still rebuilding from the 2014 51 day assault. Gazans will dig out of the rubble and rebuild again, only to wait for the next bombardment. Homes, buildings, medical facilities, businesses, infrastructure all under attack and being obliterated. No one is safe.
Palestinians across their occupied land face daily systematic racism and oppression from militant settlers in Sheikh Jarrah to a 14 year suffocating blockade of land, air and sea in Gaza. They are denied their basic human rights to freedom of movement, freedom to worship, and freedom to live peacefully in their homes.
There are no shelters for Palestinians to run to when bombs rain down deliberately targeting unprotected homes in Gaza, one of the most densely populated cities on earth. When bombs fall and missiles strike, they hit civilians who have no warnings.
Over 200 Gazan’s, one quarter of whom are children, have tragically lost their lives. Entire families are being annihilated. The numbers will continue to climb taking children, mothers, fathers, siblings, wives, and husbands. Those who survive the bombardment suffer a lifetime of trauma, and many more, lifelong disability.
KinderUSA is prepared and ready to distribute food to families in need throughout Gaza. Our team is waiting for the military bombardment to subside before venturing out in full force to care for families who have lost everything including their loved ones and homes. Exhausted but always steadfast, Palestinians will survive this latest assault on humanity.
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Once again children and civilians are bearing the brunt of assault on their homes and religious institutions during the holy month of Ramadan. Facing expulsion from their homes to cowering in the arms of equally traumatized parents as bombs rain through the night at a time when families were to share iftar, the breaking of fast, and suhoor the early morning meal before a day of fasting.
Uprooting Palestinians from their homes through forced removal and displacement is in violation of international law. Flouting the laws behind a wall of silence from the international community encourages illegal settlers and radical nationalists who have been trying for decades to displace these and other Palestinian refugees from their homes affecting over 970 people, 424 of whom are children in Sheik Jarrah alone.
According to a 2020 UN survey at least 218 Palestinian households in East Jerusalem have eviction cases filed against them, most by radical settler groups.
In Gaza, many families still live in the rubble left from 2014 and struggle through Covid and a strangulating blockade of land, air, and sea now in its 14th year affecting every aspect of life and livelihood. Yet, the bombs fall, and children are killed.
Our country coordinator in Gaza said that, “I sit with my children afraid with bombing all around. It is scary for me. What are my children feeling and I am so helpless to protect them?”
Children should not be subject to nightly air raids, sirens or awakened to the sounds of jets and bombing – yet for children in Gaza, this is an all too familiar part of their childhood.
No Palestinian is safe in their homes or place of worship where freedom of faith is a noble idea for most believers. Witnessing soldiers attacking prostrate worshipers has chilled the entire Muslim world.
At a time when families should be planning get-togethers and celebrations, they are instead facing the fear of more devastation and loss. The violence must end. Lasting peace and security for both sides means ending the occupation and the collective punishment of the people in Palestine.
“The current assault reminds us that Palestinians live on the brink of devastation every day. They cannot take life for granted like so many of us. We need to uplift and support them now and always,” Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, Chairperson KinderUSA.
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With every turn, Nour faces a new hurdle. Supporting a family of 6 in an area of Gaza that still sits under rubble from successive wars, Nour does what he can to care for his family.
From working construction to collecting items for recycling, Nour did anything to feed his family until Covid took over and shook the world.
“My children have medical needs as well as food needs. I have to choose with the funds I receive from the Social Ministry,” says Nour. “My children, like all children, dream and talk of what foods they want for Ramadan. I have nothing. It was so difficult for me to face them. Then I was informed of the KinderUSA distribution we would receive. Alhumdulilah!”
Nour and his family received live chickens, fresh fruit and vegetables, freshly prepared cheese, eggs, and date filled pastries prepared by women working from their homes. Enough food to sustain them for the entire month.
“When I learned my family would benefit, I felt I could breathe again! You have helped me and my children and we feel truly blessed during this holy month. Thank you, KinderUSA, and everyone who has thought of our family this time.”
For many Palestinian families, our modest food distributions provide a ray of hope amidst the bleak uncertainty of life in Gaza. The need is great, and our efforts together have made a difference in the lives of thousands of Palestinian children and their loved ones.
The current assault on Palestine is indefensible. 15 children are dead in Gaza. While the world watches, lives, homes, and religious institutions are being destroyed in direct contravention of international law.
“Once again, Palestinians are experiencing the cruelty of the occupation and vicious assaults as they are fasting this Ramadan. We are unwavering in our support and call upon all people of conscience to challenge these heinous crimes against innocent children, peaceful worshippers, and others who are victims of a policy of collective punishment,” Dr. Laila Al-Marayati, Chairperson KinderUSA.
Turning a blind eye and ignoring the plight of the Palestinian people is a betrayal to all humanity.
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We envision a free, just and peaceful Palestine where children thrive and look forward to a productive future, like children everywhere.
