We are on the ground in Gaza, actively distributing aid to thousands through direct supplies within Palestine. Our team from Doctors Worldwide Turkey have been providing medical care, financial support and equipment in two physiotherapy and rehabilitation centres within Gaza for the past 10 years with a 20-strong team of local Palestinian staff and since Oct 7, have been supporting medical efforts in the Shifa and Indonesia Hospitals as well as distributing food, water, hygiene kits and medical supplies to thousands.
Recent reports from Gaza’s Health Ministry reveal that more children have been killed in the Gaza Strip over the last three weeks than in every other armed conflict annually since 2019 (Save the Children). Rightfully therefore, calls for an immediate ceasefire have dominated discourse surrounding the current situation in Palestine, with millions across the world protesting and advocating for a stop to the onslaught of bombing in Gaza. However, concerns around the potential impact of donating to support communities in Gaza are growing. Below, we respond to three common arguments against the provision of financial support to charities and organisations working in Palestine.
WHY IS IT STILL IMPORTANT TO DONATE TO GAZA?
Debunking common arguments against offering financial support to Gaza right now.
- Everything is being destroyed anyway: Whilst the continued bombing of Gaza is still occurring, humanitarian efforts to support the Palestinian people are not focused on any sort of structural rebuilding or clinic/hospital redevelopment, but instead on survival. Supplies are at an all time low. Healthcare workers are struggling to continue their work with a lack of medical supplies, medication and hygiene kits, and families are rationing food and water due to their lack of access to resources. We cannot abandon the people of Palestine simply because it is a logistical challenge to provide them with the support they need.
- The borders are closed so we don’t know where the money is really going: Due to Israel restricting aid into Gaza , many charities are stockpiling rations in warehouses nearby, and waiting until they are able to reach communities in need. A small number of charities however, have access to supplies on the ground and are not solely reliant on external resources. Doctors Worldwide Turkey have been working in Gaza since 2014, and have a long-established team on the ground right now, who are currently supporting medical needs in the Shifa and Indonesia Hospitals as well as distributing food, water and hygiene packs from supply points directly within Gaza.
- Palestinians need a ceasefire, not money thrown at them: Absolutely. Calls for a ceasefire are urgent and necessary, and campaigning for an immediate end to the bombardment of Gaza is critical, yet the two are not mutually exclusive. You can do both: support well-established advocacy, human rights and peace organisations, and charities on the ground in Gaza who are distributing necessary aid to the millions currently displaced, injured and vulnerable. Your donations still make a significant impact and must exist in tandem with a united call for ceasefire. Feeling overwhelmed by the barrage of painful media coming out of Palestine is completely understandable, but as external communities we should not let that feeling of helplessness result in inaction. Whether you undertake personal advocacy, support Palestinian advocacy organisations who very much need long-term funding, give directly to charities on the ground, or all three, we all have the ability to do something.
More about our Gaza Appeal: www.doctorsworldwide.org/palestine
