“We are all different. Different colours and religions, shapes, sizes and ideas but in our school we work, learn and play together. We think all children should have that, that’s why we wanted to help Children of Peace.”

Charlie, aged 10

Here, Executive Head, Mickey Kelly shares with us the values and ethos of the school…

At Redriff we prepared for our Nativity Play as children have done at Redriff and in England for many, many years. In Year Six we were talking about the story and the parts of the story shared with between Islam and Christianity. We looked at where the story comes from, why Mary and Joseph and their baby had to become refugees and what that must have been like for them. Inevitably, we were drawn to look at this region that is so precious to three of the great world religions. A place where there has been conflict and dispute over so many centuries.

Our heads of school took the lead in raising funds for Children of Peace at all the performances and events run by the school and to promote the work of Children of Peace in our community. In any conflict there are competing ideas, views and versions of history. The children were clear that they did not wish to take any side but to support the right of all children to play, to grow and to learn in peace and where possible, alongside one another.

“Children don’t always have do everything the way that it has been done before. We can do things differently. It will be our world and our future, We can make it better. That’s why we wanted to support Children of Peace”

Aditia, aged 11

“My family are from South Africa and they know how hard it is to build a peace. But children are the future and in helping children we are building a better future in this part of the world.”

Kimora, aged 11.

How do children in Gaza spend their free time? 

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) recorded that 48 percent of Palestinian children under the age of 18 reside in the Gaza strip. That’s 972,426 children. With the limited opportunities available for them and the fact that they are growing in a very far from normal life, what does their life look like? In this article, I will try to highlight how the children of Gaza spend their free time and vacation. 

Extracurricular activities are almost entirely absent from children’s lives in the strip. While there are a number of renowned clubs and organizations that teach horse riding, swimming, Mental calculation, football and even coding and robotics for children under 15 years old, such places are expensive and not within reach of the majority of children. The lack of public transportation and a difficult lifestyle, along with the deteriorating economic situations all of which make the number of children who enjoy joining these activities is very small.

In addition, the siege on Gaza creates further obstacles for children to live somehow a normal life and broaden their perspectives and explore a variety of interests. Such activities are essential to boost children’s confidence and increase their self-esteem. Moreover, they are very important to provide children with real-world skills such as Goal setting, teamwork, time management, prioritization, problem-solving, analytical thinking, leadership, and public speaking, those skills are the bone to future careers in the 2030s and after. 

In summer, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) used to launch summer camps for hundreds of children and usually, the registration quota is filled within a few hours. However, in light of the financial crisis that UNRWA suffers after the United States stopped paying its share of its budget, it has reduced its expenditures on summer camps in recent years to a quarter, bringing the number of students participating in summer camps to less than 160,000 Student affiliated with its camps. These camps operate according to an organized plan during which entertainment and educational activities are implemented. Only students with refugee status can register to these camps leaving a large number of students with worse alternatives.

Furthermore, these entertaining summer camps are held at schools. Those same schools they spend most of the year in and the same schools that are used as shelters during the Israeli aggression on Gaza. Besides, these summer camps last for two to three weeks which covers a small period of the 12 week summer vacation. 

On the other side, there are camps run by Hamas and Islamic Jihad, their summer camps are military training based in which children train to take up arms and perform some military postures, which some specialists warned against. Especially to children in the preteen stage. Not only children get accustomed to violence, but they also train in rough settings running and standing for long hours under the burning sun.

Also, when there’s no power nor internet to play video games, teens find such training very tempting. Yet we need to keep in mind that the limited opportunities and poverty drive the parents to send their children to anything instead of having them complaining at home with the frequent power outage and poverty. 

There are also religious camps ran by local mosques where children learn religious traditions and memorize the Quran. Also, street football is a major entertainment for male children. Contrarily, female children have even fewer opportunities and usually stay at home playing with dolls, reading, watching TV, or helping with house chores. 

The workforce survey data for 2018 indicated that 1.3 percent of children in the Gaza Strip work, with or without wages. Some of them wake up at six in the morning to go to work in woodwork and concrete and building-stones factories.

For such work, the child earns 15 shekels, sometimes 20 shekels, which equals 6 dollars. Children as young as ten years old work inside the port corridors on the Gaza Sea, selling drinks, and selling tea and coffee from morning until midnight. Some of them spend their time at dumpsters collecting plastic and metal waste or anything they can sell to support their families. 

There are limited green spaces and free parks in Gaza. Hence, the Gaza Seashore, despite its dangerously polluted water, remains the main destination in the summer for those who live by it or can afford the transportations. Some children participated in the peaceful Great March of Return protests. Which resulted in the death of more than 300 children, in addition to approximately 18000 injuries.

No parents, anywhere, want to bring their children up in a prison.  But the parents in Gaza are left with no choice or say in this matter. Planning anything in the politically and economically unstable area is quite impossible, let alone planning a decent future for their children, with the ghost of uncertainty hovering above their heads.

This article is one of a series on the situation of children in Gaza and how can you help and how do your contributions and support improve their lives. 

Netanyahu claims victory in Israel’s latest election

Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to claim victory following exit poll results on Monday, but it is still not yet certain whether his Likud Party will be able to secure a majority.

Likud and the Blue and White alliance led by Benny Gantz (pictured here) had been running neck and neck in the polls in advance of the Israeli election on 2 March, the third in a year. Both opponents have had to contend with legal difficulties. Netanyahu’s corruption trial will begin on 17 March, and a cybersecurity company once headed by Gantz is facing a criminal investigation although Gantz himself is not thought to be a suspect. 

Gantz has also had to deal with embarrassing leaks from advisors. His campaign strategist, Israel Bachar, was sacked after he claimed, in a taped conversation, that Gantz was a security risk because he wouldn’t have the courage to attack Iran. It has also been alleged that Blue and White MK Omer Yankelevich described Gantz as ‘weak and stupid.’ The complex coalitions between smaller parties make shifts in the polls difficult to interpret. Although Likud’s rating edged up slightly in the lead up to the election, this was at the expense of Netanyahu’s traditional right wing allies rather than Gantz’s supporters and is thus unlikely to affect his chances of remaining Prime Minister.

Concerns over Netanyahu’s settlement expansion plans

Netanyahu has recently announced plans for 3500 new houses in an area of the West Bank known as E1 which is located between East Jerusalem and the Ma’ale Adumim city-settlement. A particular concern is the fact that this new development would bisect the western West Bank, and many have asserted that this is a further blow to any prospect of a two-state solution. In further bad news for Palestinians, the courts have recently given the go-ahead for a major new development in the West Bank town of Eli.

This expansion project had formerly been frozen due to claims that the town was built on Palestinian land. Netanyahu has also recently lent legitimacy to twelve illegal settlements by ordering that they can be connected to Israel’s power grid. If he is successful in the elections, it looks likely that there will be still further expansion beyond the Green Line

Egypt and Israel seek harmony in music festival

In a move which reflects less tense relations between Israel and a number of its Arab neighbours, an Israeli music competition, Hashmaliko, has been given permission to hold events in Egypt’s Sinai province. This digital music celebration will last four days, bringing together Arab and Israeli musicians. The Egyptian authorities have agreed to offer both security and medical support to ensure the event runs safely.

Although it is unusual to see acts from Israel and Egypt performing together, particularly striking is the inclusion of an act from Iran, Israel’s bitter rival. Improved relations between Israel and Egypt can be identified on several fronts – including a major gasoline deal. However the border between Egypt and Gaza is still tense, and Egypt is constructing a concrete wall at the Rafah crossing, the only way out of the Gaza strip which doesn’t lead into Israel.