Support ANERA: Meals and Aid for Gaza's Children

Very few books have affected me the way that “Every Morning in Jenin” did. The narration of the lives of four generations of Palestinians was tough to digest from the outset, but it soon became overwhelming, causing me to put the book down and reflect.

The story of the Palestinian people from 1949 onwards is a tale of injustice and suffering that is hard to comprehend and even more difficult to accept.

There are plenty of other books that reveal the depths of human cruelty – books like "If This is a Man" by Primo Levi or "Life and Fate” by Vasily Grossman, and while reading them, I remember being left with the same profound sense of disgust at what humanity is capable of inflicting upon some of its most vulnerable members.

Yet, those were stories of the past—tragic but immutable. However, when one reads of the death, suffering and starvation of innocent Palestinians spanning 70 years of occupation, it is impossible not be to reminded that this is an ongoing reality, a continuous and escalating tragedy that is happening again right in front of our eyes.

Since October 7th 2023 each day ends with a macabre bulletin of tens, if not hundreds, of people being killed and wounded in Gaza (and in the West Bank) by rockets, bombs, mines and snipers.

Among these impersonal and cold numbers there are innocent children whose precious lives were stolen from them before having been able to experience anything but war. And even among those who miraculously survive the fighting, the risk of dying from starvation, inevitable consequence of the inhumane embargo on Gaza that has persisted for the last 10 months, is ever greater.

Unlike reading about injustices perpetrated on innocent and civilian populations in the past, the current situation in Gaza imposes on each of us the duty to help those whose basic human rights have been forgotten or completely disregarded.

Gaza is a strip of land of 365km2 with 2,375,000 inhabitants, of which slightly less than 40% are children under 14.

Each and every single one of those innocent children should have the right to life, liberty and security, yet more than 14,350 of them have been killed in the last 7 months. Shot by snipers, blown up by rockets and mines, debilitated by hunger, torn apart by shrapnel bombs.

Every innocent child should have the right to an education, yet more than half a million children in Gaza are out of school. Nearly 85% of school buildings has been destroyed by DIRECT rocket hits.

Every innocent child should have the right to be cured, yet 31 out of 36 hospitals and medical facilities in Gaza have been bombed and hundreds of local and humanitarian medical personnel have been killed.

Every innocent child should have the right not to be tortured or subjected to cruelty, but more than 5,000 children have lost a limb in the last 10 months.

Every innocent child in Gaza should have the right to leave the country with their family, but there is a wall around Gaza and the occupied territories and anyone who gets within 50 meters of it gets shot.

Reflecting on what I could do to help improve even marginally the lives of innocent Palestinian children, I realized that the very least was to donate and to organize a fund raiser to support those who are dedicating and risking their lives to provide food, medical aid, blankets and hygiene kits in this seemingly endless hour of need.

After some research I found a charity that is managing to get numerous trucks and thousands of meals across the border into Gaza almost every day: ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid).

ANERA is focused on helping Palestinians in Rafah and Khan Younis, two of the hardest-hit parts of Gaza. Everyday ANERA prepares and distributes around 150,000 meals through their community kitchens. ANERA also operates two clinics in Khan Younis providing medical help to the wounded and organizes psychosocial support activities and recreational sessions for kids.

I have talked to the President of the organization, who was kind enough to give me some of his precious time, and they are in desperate need of donations to keep doing what they are doing.

Here you can find a log of ANERA’s humanitarian activities in Gaza updated daily: https://www.anera.org/blog/gaza-and-west-bank-response-log/

By raising €10,000 we would be able to provide 36,000 meals to those who need them the most.