Today at St George’s Cathedral in Jerusalem the funeral will take place of Salwa Duaibis a Palestinian Christian who has worked tirelessly with the organization Military Court Watch (MCW). I met her briefly at a recent garden party at the British Consulate in Jerusalem. She was lovely. Very kind, very compassionate, and very tired.
Since October 7th the Military Courts have been processing minors at a greater rate than ever. MCW wants to confirm that where young people are detained they are treated properly, arrested properly and held in internationally accepted conditions. They are not. Testimonies of former detainees tell over and again of brutalization, inhumane treatment, poor conditions. Salwa was part of a small team collecting these stories, supporting young people by attending court when family access was denied, and highlighting the issues. Just last week I sent her a message to try to arrange for Stewart and me to visit a court with her.
Salwa had a stroke and then a further series of fatal strokes. I’ve been reflecting how profoundly so many people will be affected by her death: the Sabeel community, where Cedar, Salwa’s mother, is such a force; Palestinian Christians who are all so interconnected; MCW and all the families they support.
Who will take her place, I wonder? She shouldered a huge responsibility and had a vital role in learning and telling truth. One person; one story; one huge loss.
Earlier this week I was contacted by a trusted friend. Through an intermediary who can get money into Gaza he has been supporting a family since October 7th. I suspect this quiet charitable giving is going on a lot. I’ve noticed on X recently many more pleas for help: Individuals asking for money by Paypal or any means possible. I am sceptical. Although the need is almost overwhelming, how can we be sure this isn’t a variation on that well known Glasgow scam: ‘I need the train fare to get to my mother’s funeral in Aberdeen’? This makes me unwilling to respond to strangers encountered in this way.
My friend is utterly reliable, however. The young man he was supporting is now on his own: his mother and his brother are both dead. He needs money for a tent. It’ll cost 3000 NIS or £615 (approximately). The inflation in price is a cost of war, profiteers are doing very well, thank you. But this is the going rate, we believe. And we’ve been asked to help.
My friend says, ‘I can’t do it myself any more. I have medical expenses and other bills. Can you help?’
This young man is one out of possibly 1.9 million displaced people in Gaza. The UN estimates 9 out of 10 people have had to move from their home and have been moved repeatedly since. The Israeli army has been issuing evacuation orders: five in the last week alone, and sixteen in the month of August. These orders are an attempt to be seen to be ‘protecting civilians’ but the truth is there is nowhere to go and civilians have nowhere to hide from the relentless bombardment which goes on even as peace talks are brokered. UNOCHA reports that between 7 October 2023 and 26 August 2024, at least 40,435 Palestinians were killed and 93,534 were injured, according to MoH in Gaza. The numbers are so vast, it is hard to imagine.
You will have seen images of tired and dusty people with armfuls of clothing and small children dragging jerry cans, on the move. There are thousands of them, with nowhere to go.
In her acceptance speech at the Democratic Nominating Convention Vice-President Kamala Harris talked briefly about the suffering of Gazans, but she spoke in passive terms, with no mention of the causes of the suffering or the people behind it. Accepting that Hamas hold some responsibility, it is the Israeli military, backed by the USA, and others, who have almost totally destroyed the infrastructure and history of Gaza. It is the Israeli military who are firing on tents and people crowded into schools for refuge.
One young man needs a tent. Can we help?