WHAT YOU CAN DO FOR GAZA

Social networking sites are overflowing with enraged posts speaking up for Gaza. Blaming people for inaction, coaxing people into action, almost every fifth post is somehow commenting on the issue, and rightly so- the atrocities have continued for too long and so has the silence. However, realistically speaking, none of these posts are furthering the mission to save Gaza than those who they blame for silence. So what do we do? Frankly, from my Newsfeed, it seems as if nothing “can” be done other than changing my display picture or uploading a status. Thankfully, that is not the truth.

Before we examine the range of ways we have for helping Gaza, we need to first discuss those that are barely helping, if at all. Changing our profile pictures and status updates that support Gaza, serve the same purpose, that of showing solidarity. They speak out against the horrific violation of human rights and demand justice for innocents. Sadly, these posts and/or pictures create a ripple effect so small, that it is almost negligible. Mass cyber protest is definitely a possibility, just a very distant one with very little chances of making any difference at all.

Boycotting products that are US/Israel related is sadly ineffective too, in fact it’s self-damaging. First of all, the proof of any particular company funding the Israeli government is very little and in most cases debatable. Secondly, most of the products that are allegedly funding violence in Gaza, are owned by innocent Pakistanis, here at home. Our boycott which will probably not even deal enough damage to a multi-national company would definitely make a fellow Pakistanis life hard, if not miserable. In other words, we cause ourselves difficulty by boycotting products that can barely be proven guilty of funding Israel, while dealing almost no damage to the real aggressors, if they are aggressors at all.

 “..the least and all we can do to show our solidarity for the people of Gaza is protest on social media…”

 Thankfully that’s not true. Countless organizations are collecting money for donations for Gaza through websites, some of these are either collecting money to provide medical or rehabilitative aid to the victims of the Israeli violence like the “UNRWA” which supports around 5 million Palestinians, “Save The Children” which works specifically for the betterment of the Palestinian children, “Muslim Aid” which specializes in helping Muslim victims of disasters or human rights violations, all over the globe and has launched the “Gaza Emergency Appeal” project to specifically help those in Gaza.

 Other organizations are collecting funds to send in terms of social activists that are ready to endanger their lives in order to carry out mass -peaceful- protests in the region. It sounds dangerous and it is, yet these groups are not ready to let that stop them from helping those in need. If they can risk their lives, then the least we can do is support them monetarily if not physically. Such initiatives include the “Free Gaza” organization and “Gaza Ark”.

These are only some of the projects currently underway for the betterment of the Palestinians, and while we all want to do all that we can for those currently being tortured in Gaza, we should not donate blindly, lest a website is fake. That’s why I would personally suggest spending some time researching about the organization you are donating to, especially if it’s online.

Besides these initiatives, all of us can pray for those in Gaza, and moreover we can abstain from spreading hate between the Palestinian and the local Jewish communities of Israel. Palestinians have been subjected to war and suppression for years on end; the crimes against them definitely surmount any justification that the foreign authorities will ever be able to provide, but these people are trying to forge bonds with the local Jewish communities in Israel. Justice for Gaza is imperative but so is peace in that region, anti-semitic posts will eventually destroy any chance there is for peace to be reached in that region. Our anger is justified but we cannot forget who the enemy is, and it is certainly not the local Jewish in Israel, it’s the authorities. Our efforts should be focused to help those in Gaza not only for now, but for the future as well, without peace there is no future for Gaza, and without harmony, there is no peace.

Good thing is, it doesn’t end here. Rather than sharing photos of brutalized children, we can spread the message of all those organizations that are currently helping those in Gaza, not only does it show our solidarity for our brothers and sisters, speaks out against the mayhem created by the Israeli authorities, but it has the potential of changing the lives of millions.

By: Rabab Ahsan