A Voice from Gaza

by Micki Luckey

The numbers coming out of Gaza are numbing — over 33,000 dead, almost half children; 17,000 orphans; already 20 dead of starvation and many more expected; 80% of the population displaced…

Many of us in SURJ BA have been marching and demonstrating, signing petitions, sending emails, and making phone calls to protest the assault on Gaza now entering its sixth month. We follow the actions recommended by our partner, Arab Resource and Organizing Center, as well as our allies at Jewish Voice for Peace.

Another organization that supports Palestine is the Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA). MECA is located in Berkeley and provides on-the-ground support in Palestine as well as other parts of the Middle East. Below is the voice of one of their workers.

MECA staff filling up jugs of clean drinking water for displaced families in Rafah, Gaza. The photo shows a man wearing a MECA vest filling a jug for one child, with three other children holding jugs, while several adults wait in line in the background. Used with permission from MECA.

Wafaa El-Derawi, the nutrition coordinator for MECA’s team in Gaza, has toiled every day since October 8. She managed to communicate to MECA staff in Berkeley via WhatsApp in the days after the short November truce. Here are her words, as reported by Waed Abbas:

During the truce I decided, after catching my breath from the nonstop bombing, that I wanted to try to get to the people I was unable to reach during the attack days.

But I found no one. One of my closest friends and colleagues, the only one who can comfort me during such circumstances, was killed. I tried to visit his parents, wife, and kids but I couldn’t find them or their home. Apparently, they left seeking refuge somewhere else, and we don’t know where they are at the moment.

I have also lost touch with a second childhood friend, maybe because of bad internet and phone connections. Or maybe she was killed, or maybe she’s buried under the rubble, or maybe she’s one of the hundreds or thousands of bodies left in the street to perish with no one to even give them a proper dignified burial. Or maybe she’s alive and I just cannot find her.

My third close friend I was seeking, I’ve come to learn that he was actually able to leave Gaza when the Rafah crossing was semi-open, and he got his children out. I was relieved…at least I know one of my close friends is actually alive…

You know what terrifies me the most? It’s not dying because of an Israeli bombing. My true fear lays in surviving and finding no one there waiting for me. I consider the most precious gift in life to be the people we surround ourselves with. I had three close friends, and now I have no one.

We have no time to collapse or cry or react or reflect. Right now, we need to keep pushing through. …

The next day I couldn’t do anything but try to rest. I told myself that I need to cry, but I couldn’t. I know that after the war is over, we will all cry, we will do nothing but weep. Until then, we’ll rest for a bit and keep going.

Wafaa and her niece Maryam at a MECA playground in Khuza’a, Gaza, in 2021. The photo shows a woman squatting by a child with a toy on a sandy playground with a bicycle in the background. Used with permission from MECA.

In December Wafaa wrote, “I read this report [about hunger in Gaza] but actually I didn’t need official figures and statistics. I can see the children are malnourished and hungry everywhere I go in Gaza… I can even see the change in my own niece’s face which has grown gaunt.”

For a fuller version of Wafaa’s story go to www.mecaforpeace.org/gaza-diaries-wafaas-words-of-agony-pain-but-she-keeps-working /

MECA continues to provide aid to people in Gaza, as well as other parts of the region. To support their work, please contribute at https://www.mecaforpeace.org/meca-projects/emergency-aid-for-gaza-october-2023/