Sitting in the library flicking through the BBC News Middle East section, whilst listening to people talking about their hangovers and essay deadlines, I must admit it seems quite surreal to think that in less than a month I will be attempting to break the blockade of gaza together with thousands other people from all over the world coming all the way to show their solidarity.
Talking to different fellow-students at warwick here at the end of term, all talking about their Christmas break at home with their families, it also feels hard trying to convince them and myself why it is Kat, Nora, Fred and I are going to Gaza and why we think it is important...
I believe, we are joining the campaign against the siege of Gaza because we want to give the Palestinians the freedom to travel for study, work, and much-needed medical treatment as well as receiving visitors from abroad. The blockade of Gaza is a violation of international law that has led to mass suffering of the people living in Gaza
This includes the right to education; many students in Gaza have been denied their right to take up university places abroad, moreover, no paper, pens or electricity have been supplied making note-taking and studying very difficult. We want the blockade to end so that students in the Islamic University of Gaza can get degrees from UK Universities like us, giving them a brighter future.
We want to make it possible for people in Gaza to see their family and friends living abroad, who the blockade has isolated them from – just like Nora hasn’t seen her family in Gaza the last 10 years.
The blockade has also prevented sewage pipe maintenance resulting in it mixing with the local drinking water, as highlighted in the UNEP Water Report.
If you want to know more, and learn more reasons for why we need to work together to end the siege, please have a look at this website:
http://gazasiege.org/index.html
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