21 March 2010

Through the good work of all the people who have sent my appeal around cyberspace and who have responded to me, I have been introduced to a wonderful US based NGO, the PCRF (Palestine Children’s Relief Fund http://www.pcrf.net/) The PCRF will take on Amal’s case and do whatever they can to help her. The least she deserves is a second opinion, which is something her mother also wants for her. The PCRF will contact Amal’s family very shortly and take it from there.

The PCRF has been operating for many years and specialises in providing medical help for Palestinian children. It has full-time staff in Gaza and is the main NGO sending children out for free care and sending surgery teams into Gaza. They look after every child who comes to their attention and do everything they can for them. In the past 20 years they have sent over 500 injured kids from Gaza for free care.

When children can be treated locally, the PCRF arranges for treatment through local and overseas teams that work in Gaza. When they can’t provide treatment locally, children are flown to other countries for treatment free of charge. The PCRF is currently treating several children in the US and Dubai, and more are on their way to the US.

Mr Steve Sosebee the President and CEO of the PCRF told me that the problem with getting teams into Gaza, which is quite difficult but not impossible, is the political blockade on international NGOs regarding any contact or relations with the Gaza Hamas-led government, including the MOH. European and American NGOs are not allowed to have any contact with the Gaza government there, and can face severe punishment if they are to work with or even communicate with them. In the past, the PCRF has had a waiver from the US government to permit them to send surgery missions into Gaza to work in PA hospitals, but that needs to be reaffirmed now because that was when Hamas was in charge of Gaza but the PA in Ramallah was in charge of the hospitals there. Now Hamas is in charge of all Palestinian institutions in Gaza and the PCRF needs a new permit, which they have requested.

The PCRF are happy to continue this work and to cooperate with anyone who shares this common vision to provide help for anyone who needs it and to break the siege in this manner. Please visit the PCRF website and support it in any way you can. This is an amazing organisation that does the impossible under extremely hostile conditions.

It is quite clear that we need to apply pressure on European and US governments. People say boycotts don’t work but the boycott against Hamas is working very well indeed at preventing NGOs from providing much-needed medical and other care. The boycott clearly should be against Israel and not Hamas. When NGOs are blocked from offering the help that is so desperately needed, they are effectively colluding with the Israeli government. Do they understand this, and if they do, do they care?

I wonder what we can do to change this reality because it has to be changed.

Thanks everyone for helping with this appeal. Let’s hope and pray that Amal can be treated and that the shrapnel can be removed from her brain without causing her any further damage.


Page content last modified: 21 March 2010