Looking for Trouble

On the way back to Palestine, a guest blog by Gerri Haynes

(THIS POST FROM GERRI WAS LOST SOMEWHERE BETWEEN PARIS AND SEATTLE. IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE FIRST IN THIS SERIES)

(Gerri Haynes and Laura Hart, of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, have returned to Gaza, taking in medicine. Gerri will be sending back reports.)

Laura Hart and I have planned this visit for several months. We thought we would visit our friends in Gaza for two days and then go to Bethlehem to see Zoughbi Zoughbi – then maybe go up to see another friend in Nablus. We received permission from Israeli security early in our travel plans – two months ahead of our planned day of entry! My husband, Bob, ordered medicines as requested by the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme with the money we had gathered since our last visit to Gaza in April of this year.

Our WPSR group has made five medical service trips to Gaza since 2009 and we thought a planning visit with our GCMHP hosts might help us make our next service trip – scheduled for April 2013 – more focused. We were ready to travel. It would be a quick visit.

Then came the Pillar of Cloud (or Defense – depending on how you read the words)…six people dead on the Israeli side, 172 people and many hundreds injured in Gaza – many buildings destroyed – the threat of another ground attack – then the truce. So here we are on a plane – we’ve traveled together many times and are good at providing each other with privacy and support – we are companionable travelers, hoping to offer some help or comfort to our friends in Gaza.

About one week ago, I sent out a notice to my email list that we were planning to make this trip and wondering if people would like to help us purchase more medicine. Five thousand dollars and many important good wishes came quickly to us! Some people designated medicines – some were happy to buy school supplies – so we’re traveling with three times as many medicines as we planned and one bag full of needed school supplies – an offering to the huge present need for help, sent with the love and commitment of so many friends.

Only freedom to move and trade will bring the independent ability to address the needs of the people of Gaza.

Laura and I will land in Paris, quickly change planes and fly on to Tel Aviv. We’ll have dinner with a dear friend in the airport, then spend the night at Neve Shalom (Place of Peace), run by Jewish and Palestinian Israelis. Wednesday morning, we hope to enter Gaza.

I’ll keep you posted.