Appealing to the Waves

Appealing to the Waves: Children of Gaza Prisoners Make Their Case to the Mediterranean

It is one thing for Israel to punish Palestinian prisoners for resisting the military occupation and apartheid. But why punish the children of those prisoners? 

For Israel, the denial of family visitations to Palestinian prisoners is a tactic used to break the will of some of these prisoners. The most disaffected by this strategy are Gaza prisoners, some of whom are denied the right to see their own children for years at a time. 

Appealing to the Sea

And for years, these families have appealed to the international community, to the Red Cross, to the United Nations, to no avail. So, a group of Palestinian children decided to write to their imprisoned fathers and mothers through the waves. 

‘Letters through the Waves’ was the name of the campaign, whose organizers hoped will send a symbolic message to the world, and will also serve as a form of therapy for those children, all of whom were born after the imposition of the Israeli siege. 

The Palestine Chronicle visited the children during the letter-writing event at the beach and read some of their notes. 

One child wrote,

“I love you, baba, and I miss you a lot. I hope you will be successful in your life and you will finish your studies. Holidays do not make me happy because you are away from me.”

Another child started her letter with: “I am prevented from visiting my baba, the prisoner in Israel ..”

The children then placed their notes in bottles and threw them into the Gaza Sea. 

Israel Must Be Pressured 

“Israel continues preventing hundreds of children from visiting their parents in the occupation prisons,” Abdullah Qandil, director of the Wa’ed Association for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners, told The Palestine Chronicle.

“Time has come for international institutions to pressure it to allow these children to visit their families.”

Qandil explained that he hopes such events will put pressure on Israel through international institutions.

Thanks to the Palestine Chronicle for the article and photo. For more photos go here. All photos by Mahmoud Aijour, the Palestine Chronicle.

Israeli Navy Attacks Palestinian Fishing Boats

May 20, 2023


Earlier Saturday, Israeli navy ships opened fire at Palestinian fishing boats near Gaza City and in the southern parts of the besieged coastal region.

Media sources said the navy fired many live rounds and used water cannons in attacking Palestinian fishing boats only three nautical miles from the Sudaniyya seashore, northwest of Gaza City, forcing them to leave.

They added that the navy fired many live rounds at Palestinian fishing boats sailing less than five nautical miles from the shores of Rafah and Khan Younis in the southern part of the Gaza Strip.

On Thursday evening, Israeli soldiers injured five Palestinians during protests near the perimeter fen east of Gaza City.

Earlier Wednesday, Israeli navy ships attacked Palestinian fishing boats near the shores of the northern part of the besieged Gaza Strip.

Earlier this month, Israeli navy ships attacked Palestinian fishing boats about three miles off the coast of the Al-Waha area northwest of Gaza City in the besieged and impoverished coastal region, shot two fishermen, and abducted two others before confiscating their boat.

The attacks are part of constant Israeli violations against the Palestinians, especially the fishermen, farmers, shepherds, and workers in the besieged and impoverished Gaza Strip, and resulted in dozens of casualties, including fatalities, in addition to severe property damage and the confiscation of many boats after abducting the fishermen.

In March of 2021, the Palestinian Interior Ministry in Gaza said Israeli mines were responsible for an explosion that killed three fishermen.

from IMEMC News, May 28,2023

Our Annual Standout at Harvard Graduation

On Thursday, May 25th, the annual Water Alliance Solidarity with Palestine stand out at Harvard University graduation took place from 2-3:30 pm in front of the student center in the heart of Harvard Square.

There were many banners, which talked about apartheid Israel, freedom for Gaza, and the theft of water in Palestine.  We had good attendance with about 20-25 people and handed out 600 leaflets to graduates and their families with many good conversations. We were joined by folks from JVP Boston and others.


The leaflet highlighted the demand that the $3.8 billion the US gives Israel every year that supports Israel's apartheid government be conditioned and stopped unless Israel ends all the various forms of attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel itself. We will be back each year until this condition is met.

All photos by Skip Schiel.