4
CEX.ZBRATXNG A » S C A B B I A
street r o o t s IlB
Education * Dialogue ♦ Independence
Palestinian children fill bottles with water from a public tap in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip on October 26, 2009. There are allegations by humanitarian workers that Israeli
restrictions prevented Palestinians from receiving enough water in the occupied West Èank and Gaza Strip.
‘We want to live in peace’
Isdud A t Najjar honored for her work with Mercy Corps in Palestine
,
Isdud Al Najjar
?
BY JOANNE ZUHL
STAFF W R IT E R
T t took two months, international
Xnegotiatfon^anri I]_S. ftqqnrts tg pvtrart
Isdud Al Najjar from the barricaded city of .
Gaza and bring her to Portland. For weeks
she was a captive of the conflict between .
the Israeli and Palestinian governments that
has shut Gaza off from the rest of the world.
But Gaza is her home,
and her family is
there, and she knows
she will have no
trouble getting back
in.
The ordeal
illustrates only some
of the conditions
Najjar works under as
thé program manager
for economic recovery
in the Gaza Strip. She
spearheaded the
agency’s humanitarian
work in the region
when Israel and
Hamas, the
Palestinian party that
won control of Gaza,;
erupted into war,
killing 14 Israelis and
an estimated 1,300
Palestinians while
creating an imprisoned region for 1.5
million more.
She arrived in Portland to be honored
with Mercy Corps’ Ellsworth Culver
Leadership Award for her work in à city
literally cut off economically and socially by
the Israeli and Palestinian conflict In Gaza,
unemployment is more than 40 percent
communities lie in rubble for want of
building materials, and nearly all of the
people rely on international assistance for
basic needs such as food. Eightypercent of
Gaza’s population lives below the poverty
line.
Dining the fighting, Najjar led the
distribution, of food and blankets, and helped
establish recovery and post-trauma
programs for children. In the aftermath of
the war, Najjar leads Mercy Corps’
programs to help rebuild the Gazan
economy, including the Cash-for-Work
program that employs seamstresses, cooks,
and repair specialists for farming and fishing
equipment to help, offset the paralyzing
unemployment.
We spoke with Najjar during her brief
stay in Portland, a few days before she and
her 4-month-old son returned to Gaza at the
end of October. :
80 percent rely on fpod assistance from an
international agency. They cannot afford
their own food. At the crossing points, they
are allowing th ese supplies in. B ut w hen
they dose the crossing points, and there’s a
scarcity of food, people panic — mothers
more than fathers because the mothers are
taking more of the burden on their
Joanne Zuhl: I understand simply
getting here was a major undertaking, what
happened?
Isdud Al Najjar: No one can imagine it
because it is so difficult Until you
experience i t Just to get outside of Gaza I
need an Israeli permit I need to cross a
crossing point that connects Gaza with
Israel. It’s not easy to get i t It’s oply for
international human aid or social workers
who can get in and out, or if you have severe
health problems and need help.
When I get out of Gaza, I have to also get
out through Jordan. When you get out of
one, you worry that you can’t get out of the
next one at the right time. If I am late, the J
crossing will be closed and I’ll lose my
permit for that date. You get only one day to
get through. So when I get back, I’ll have to
call the Israelis to get the permit for that
day to get from Jordan to th e West Bank and
then from the West Bank Into Gaza.
J.Z.: So an average resident of Gaza is
basically trapped.
I. A.N.: The 1.5 million, they cannot go.
Because I’m working for an international
organization and I’m an aid worker, they can
issue me a perm it But generally, it’s been
almost impossible. Going back is much
easier.
J. Z.: What is an average day like for a
resident of Gaza?
I.A.N.: We have more than 40 percent
unemployment in Gaza, so most people are
poor people and they don’t have anything to
do, actually. They chat with their neighbors
and sit outside their houses. If they have
land, they take care of their land. Eighty |
percent of the households in Gaza are
relying on assistance from the international
community, which means that only 20 |
percent can get their own food. The other
"No one can Imagine it because It Is so
difficult« Until yon experience it. lust to get
outside of Gaza X need an Xsralli perm it. X
need to cross a crossing point that connects
Gaza with Israel. It's not easy to get it. It's
only for international human aid or social
workers who can get in and out, or if you
have severe health problems and need help ”
shoulders because of the unemployment
You have domestic violence because men
can become violent on the women and kids.
When we have closed borders, people just
go mad-because they are afraid of the
scarcity of food items. They depend on them
for their basic needs.
J.Z.: How does that level of unemployment
affect the community, the society?
I.A.N.: As a direct result of the
unemployment, we have seen an increase in
domestic violence. We see an increase in
kids who are Selling something in the
streets. It was once difficult to find kids in
the street selling tissues or something, or
begging for money. But these days, this is
increasing, because families are pushing
their kids to go. And there is also an
increase in drop-outs from the school, and
this has led to a kind of gender
discrimination, because if a family is to
choose how to educate, they will educate
their son and not educate their daughter,
because the son could work and help the
family, and the daughter will just get
See NAJJAR, Page 5