Israel / Palestine
Act for Peace in Israel / Palestine
Act for Peace is working with the Middle East Council of Churches' Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR) and other project partners to assist communities in the Gaza Strip. DSPR helps provide essential health, education and community development opportunities for over 80,000 refugees, and advocates for the rights of Palestinian refugees and displaced people, and a just resolution to the Israel-Palestine conflict at domestic, national and international levels.
DSPR’s health clinic program delivers primary health care services in poor and under-serviced localities in the Gaza strip. This includes ante-natal and post-natal care, well baby clinics, psychosocial care and mobile health services. Over the last year, the program delivered essential health services to approximately 20,000 families in the Gaza Strip, including well-baby clinics and management of new pregnancies.
We have also facilitated the participation of Australians for the first time in the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI). EAPPI is a program of the World Council of Churches (WCC), in conjunction with local churches and Palestinian NGOs and communities, to bring internationals to the West Bank to experience life under occupation. The Ecumenical Accompaniers (EAs) spend three months providing a protective presence to vulnerable communities, monitoring and reporting human rights abuses and supporting Palestinians and Israelis working for peace. More than 600 EAs from around the world have participated in the program since its inception in 2002.
Clinics in Gaza: providing essential health services
During the 2008-09 bombing of Gaza by Israeli forces, a DSPR health clinic in Gaza was reduced to rubble by Israeli missiles. Constantine Dabbagh, the Executive Director of DSPR, was shocked by the extent of the destruction.
“There was a heap of rubble, and some papers from files blowing about in the wind, and that was all. Nothing survived. After 40 years of service to the community, all that could be found in the rubble were a few smashed machines.”
Fortunately, the clinic was not serving patients at the time due to intense fighting in the area and no lives were lost. Medicine supplies, water purification equipment, food, computers, extensive files and equipment were all lost in the attack. The medicines and machines are greatly needed in the region, as the Israeli blockade has prevented important supplies from reaching Gaza since June 2007.
The clinic was only one of three clinics helping over 80,000 people. It offered pre and post natal care along with general practitioner services. A program had just been launched to visit 15,000 homes in the region and check every child between the ages of 6 months and 3 years for malnutrition. It is women and children who will suffer most because of this destruction, as now they have no where to go for vital healthcare until the clinic is rebuilt.
After visiting the rubble, Mr Dabbagh pledged to have a temporary clinic up and running within days, saying, “The community is very anxious that we continue, so we will be replacing what we can and starting from scratch.”
The two other clinics supported by Act for Peace have continued to provide services to the area in the wake of the conflict. Simmer and his family are refugees who rely on this support. Simmer used to journey to Israel to work as a farmer, but has been unable to travel because of the conflict and cannot find work in Gaza. He is married with three mentally handicapped children that he cannot provide for because there are no jobs available. He does, however, receive invaluable support in terms of healthcare and food from the clinics, which allows his children to get the nutrition and medical support that they need to survive.
It is for families like Simmer’s that the valuable work that occurs in these clinics must continue and that is why Act for Peace is working to ensure that these essential services are available to those in need. Through our partnership, we have been able to support 21,000 visitors to the baby clinics and 17,800 participants in women’s health sessions. We have also provided 23,000 litres of milk, 230,000 high-protein biscuits, 100,000 litres of water and milk powder and 9,000 blankets to people who have lost their houses and incomes as a result of the conflict. We will continue this support into the future, along with advocacy for the rights of refugees and displaced people who have been unfairly harmed by the violence.
Read more here about the new clinic, which is providing much-needed medical care.
 |
can provide a supply of milk for a malnourished child or can provide one dose of life-saving medicine |
 |
can provide a student with shoes, a uniform, and a school bag full of supplies, so that they can continue their education |
 |
can provide a woman with a hygiene kit and a visit from a healthcare worker after she delivers a baby |
 |
can provide nutritious food for a family of four people for one month. |
 |
can give a person training in Community Awareness skills so they can become a figure of leadership |
 |
Can go a long way in rebuilding a primary health care clinic that was destroyed in the recent Israeli led war in Gaza. These clinics provide essential medical care for over 34,000 Palestinian refugees. |
