Gaza Fishermen's Struggle

“On April 1, Israel doubled the area where Palestinians can fish in the Mediterranean Sea off of the Gaza Strip as part of Egyptian-brokered talks with Hamas. The distance fishermen can operate in was extended from 6 nautical miles at the narrowest sea corridor, to 15 nautical miles at the widest.”

Israel - temporarily at least - expands the fishing zone that Gazans are permitted to enter. But being in a 'permitted' zone has not protected them in the past from Israel's gunboats...and what about the pollution from raw sewage being dumped every day into the sea?

Gaza fishermen still struggle despite Israel’s loosening restrictions

Gaza Port in Gaza City. (Photo: Mohammed Assad)

Boston solidarity rally marks anniversary of Gaza’s Great March of Return

On Saturday, March 30 some 200 Palestinians and allies gathered at Park Street Station for a rally entitled ‘Tear Down the Walls: the Great March of Return in Gaza, One Year On.’

After chants and speeches they took to the streets to demand an end to the siege and the killing in Gaza and a recognition of refugees’ right of return.

Seventy percent of the 2 million people living under lock-down conditions in the tiny Gaza Strip are refugees from lands that became the State of Israel. They began their nonviolent civil society protests a year ago on Land Day, March 30, which is held annually in Palestine to mark the date in 1976 when Israeli forces killed six Palestinians who were protesting massive land confiscations in the Galilee.

During the past year their weekly unarmed protests have been met with lethal force from Israel, which has killed 260 people including more than 40 children, and wounded approximately 26,000 people, many severely.

While the solidarity rally was happening in Boston, in Gaza people were mourning the deaths of three 17 year olds, Tamer Alen el Khair, Adham Amara, and Belal al-Najjar, who had just been shot dead by Israeli forces. Hundreds more were wounded during the Great March anniversary demonstration in the Gaza Strip.

In February 2019, a United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry report expressed alarm at the targeting of journalists, health workers, children and persons with disabilities by Israeli snipers and found that their actions could constitute war crimes or crimes against humanity.

Both photos are by Pat Westwater-Jong.

Incredible Photos: People and the Sea

Raw sewage may be dumped on a daily basis into the Mediterranean bordering the Gaza Strip, but that polluted sea still provides solace to Gaza Strip residents - see these photos:

In pictures: How Gaza seeks work and rest from the Sea

Palestinian men sit together at Gaza's port when they don't have work, which is often for the enclave's many unemployed, drinking coffee as they watch their rods (Kaamil Ahmed/MEE)

World Water Day in Boston with the Alliance for Water Justice in Palestine

As if on cue, the all-day downpour ended just in time for our standout to commemorate World Water Day began.

“Leave no one behind” is the United Nations title for this year’s week- long series of events to bring attention to water issues and injustices in the world.

Fifty of us from several different organizations, students and individuals dedicated to pursuing the freedom and equality of Palestinians, gathered at the Boston University Bridge. We flanked all four corners of the bridge.

Our signs and banners received many nods and waves of appreciation and acknowledgement of the righteousness of our cause. Of course, not everyone agreed with us, but those who didn’t were surprisingly and happily few in number.

We gave out hundreds of fliers to people passing by and those in cars stopped at red lights.

Our mission is to explain what is happening on the ground regarding Israel’s theft of (with the help of U.S. taxpayer dollars) Palestinian water in the West Bank and Gaza.

Water is a human right. One most of us we take for granted, but denied to Palestinians

We believe it is our responsibility to let our neighbors and the world know that the situation is dire! While Jewish Israeli settlers are swimming in their pools, Palestinians are thirsty!

The Gaza Strip will be unfit for human habitation, next year according to the United Nations. Today in Gaza, 98% of the water is unfit to drink. In the West Bank, Israel’s water policies are forcing farmers off their land.

Palestinians are indeed being “left behind” and we are determined to put an end to this water injustice.

Susan Etscovitz, for the Alliance

Leafletting on the bridge. Photo credit: Larry Aaronson