Welfare Association Takes All-Party Parliamentary Britain-Palestine Group Delegation to visit projects in Palestine
The delegation at the destroyed Gaza Industrial Zone (left to right): Duncan Sinclair (Office of Richard Burden); Martin Linton MP; Sara Apps (Office of Martin Linton); Graham Bambrough (CAABU); Ed Davey MP; Sarah Teather MP; Andy Slaughter MP; Richard Burden MP; Tony Lloyd MP.
Ed Davey MP
Andy Slaughter MP at al Wafa Hospital, Gaza
The All-Party Parliamentary Britain-Palestine delegation included Richard Burden MP, Martin Linton MP, Andy Slaughter MP, Tony Lloyd MP, Sarah Teather MP and Ed Davey MP. The purpose of the trip was to provide an insight to the daily lives of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, especially since the Israeli attacks on Gaza last month, and an understanding of the difficulties in carrying out projects under the Occupation.
The delegation went to Gaza to witness the aftermath of Israel's Operation Cast Lead, visiting affected sites in Gaza and speaking to Palestinians about their experiences. They managed to access Gaza after a 6 hour delay at Erez crossing, situated at the north-east corner of the Strip. This was the first British Parliamentary delegation to visit Gaza since the bombardment. Staff from Welfare Association's Gaza office showed the MPs the devastation in Gaza city, and Welfare Association projects affected by the conflict and the siege. They visited the Qattan Centre for the Child and the Gaza Music School, a newly opened facility for children aged 7-12 years that was destroyed by bombing on the first day of the Israeli attacks.
The schedule included a visit to the totally devastated town of Izbit Abed Rabbo, where 5000 people had previously lived close to the border with Israel, the MPs were able to see a tented refugee camp near Beit Lahiya and the destroyed American International School in north Gaza. They visited Al Awda Hospital in Jabaliya, which was bombed with white phosphorous shells. This hospital provided healthcare services for 39% of the area's total population, and was providing much of the treatment to victims of the conflict. Welfare Association had previously provided this hospital with emergency medicines. On the 17th February, the MPs visited al Wafa Hospital, supported by DFID through the World Bank's PNGO project with the Welfare Association Consortium (consisting of Welfare Association, the British Council and Charities Aid Foundation), which had been rendered unusable due to the attacks. While they visited the al Wafa Hospital grounds, the MPs found fragments of what is thought to be white phosphorous in the garden. We work with this hospital in our Gaza Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) project. Welfare Association has recently received a grant from the British government's Department for International Development Humanitarian Response Fund to provide emergency support for CBR for Northern Gaza, Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah governorates. This project supports emergency expansion of comprehensive CBR services in areas of high need through integrated health professional teams providing physical, occupational, social and psychological support to the disabled, both old and new cases, and to their families. Disability aides, such as crutches, walking frames, walking sticks, wheelchairs, air mattresses, and artificial limbs are provided. An estimated 800-1,000 disabled children will benefit.
The delegation also visited the West Bank where the group visited projects and were able to see evidence of Israeli settlement expansion and the separation wall separating farmers from their crops. |
