Updates

"Dear Blockade, I was 14 when I first met you. You never asked me to be friends, you just took over my life. You grew as I grew. I'm writing to you because you're a part of my life..."

We were thrilled to receive 41 submissions to our Gaza Unlocked essay contest "My Life Under Blockade."  The essays were a powerful tribute to the bright and talented youth in Gaza...

This text is an adapted translation of a report by Palestinian journalist Yehya al-Yacoubi, published in Felesteen newspaper on October 25th, 2018.

During my visit to Israel and Palestine earlier this month I was able to spend five and a half hours in Gaza.  I intended to spend several days visiting AFSC’s staff and partners in Gaza but the Israeli military didn’t approve the permits I required to enter Gaza until the day before I was scheduled to return to the United States.

"The economy in Gaza is collapsing," writes the World Bank in a new report published at the end of September.

On September 7, 2018, Palestinian activists invited anti-Zionist Israeli activists to have tea and protest in solidarity with the Great March of Return. Since the Gaza siege fence and occupying military forces stood between them, they instead joined the demonstration from the eastern side with Palestinian flags and spoke with the Palestinian protestors by phone.

For more than 100 days, Palestinians in the Gaza Strip emerged from the shadows of occupation and blockade. Thousands of Palestinians, women and men, old and young, partisans and independent, marched to the barbed-wire fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel and raised their voices. Despite living under blockade and witnessing brutal wars, a majority of the protestors maintained the peaceful and nonviolent nature of the March of Return.

Last week 70 members of the U.S. House of Representatives sent an open letter to the US Secretary of State requesting immediate action to “alleviate the growing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.”

The Independent ran a story a few days ago by their Middle East correspondent Bel Trew about a Palestinian girl in Gaza, 13 year old Fatima Abu Shedeg, who dreams of going to the Olympics in 2020.

Last week the Episcopal Church held its tri-annual General Convention in Austin, Texas. The Episcopal Church is a mainline Christian denomination with three million members in the United States and is the U.S.-based member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion.

A recent article from The Guardian highlights the creative ways in which Gazans create opportunities and engage youth in the face of blockade. Gaza Sky Geeks, a “tech hub and co-working space”, trains youth in coding and modern online business practices.