Canadian Mennonite
Volume 13, No. 2
Jan. 19, 2009


God at Work in the World

MCC responds to economic blockade of Gaza Strip

By Gladys Terichow

Mennonite Central Committee Release

The Israeli economic blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 1.5 million Palestinians, continues to push people into deeper levels of poverty.

“The situation was very bad in July, when we visited Gaza, but it is a lot worse now,” says Bassem Thabet, administrative di-rector for Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) in Jerusalem.

MCC staff have not been able to visit Gaza in recent months, but partner organizations there are reporting that some of the most vulnerable families now use milled animal feed to make pita bread and discarded plastic pipes as fuel to cook bread and meals.

In response, MCC approved an emergency cash grant of $10,000 in early December to help the Amira Society, Al-Najd, and the Culture and Free Thought Association to distribute food assistance to 350 of the most vulnerable families in the Gaza Strip. A further $15,000 grant was announced on Dec. 31.

Although there is a shortage of food in Gaza, and prices are high, the partner organizations will purchase the basic food staples, such as rice and flour, within Gaza.

“There are no other options,” says Thabet, noting that the economic blockade makes it very difficult to get food, fuel, medical supplies and other necessities into the region.

Currently, the Israeli government is allowing a few trucks a day with humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza, but most of the food, fuel and basic supplies sold there have been smuggled through underground tunnels from Egypt. The Israeli government closed all of its crossings into Gaza early last November and attempted to demolish the tunnel systems.

“This economic blockade has many ripple effects,” says Ryan Lehman, MCC’s representative in Jerusalem, adding that Gaza does not have enough fuel to operate its electrical power plant at full capacity.

“The only things that have kept Gaza from becoming a large-scale humanitarian crisis are regular food and medical shipments from the World Food Program and other humanitarian organizations,” says Lehman, noting that about 75 percent of the population is now dependent on humanitarian assistance.

Representatives of MCC’s partner organizations continue to feel optimistic that things will improve, Lehman says, but he notes that it is getting harder for them to remain optimistic and hopeful. MCC aid packages remind the partner organizations and the people they serve in Gaza that they are not forgotten, he says. “It is a gesture that shows we care.”


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