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The Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility delegation to Gaza is flying home

The WPSR medical delegation in front of the wall near East Jerusalem.

By Gerri Haynes

(Gerri Haynes, a former president of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, has been sending back reports from inside blockaded Gaza. As she did three times before, Gerri organized a team of doctors and other health care providers to work in hospitals and clinics in Gaza in an effort to directly help the people there and to bring attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis that the Israeli blockade has created. Eighth and last in the series.)

This morning, we met with a representative of the Israeli Committee Against Housing Demolitions. Driving through Jerusalem, we could see again the effects of the Separation Wall and the inequities of services provided on each side of the “Green Line.” Disputes over land and the right to build continue – it seems there is a long way to go to reach peace between the peoples of this land.

In the afternoon, members of our group toured the water facilities of Bethlehem, observing the ways provision of water to Palestinians is controlled or limited. And in the evening, we heard from a hydrologist in Bethlehem – learning more about the distribution of water resources between Israel and Palestine. Water use by settlers is four to five times that available for use by Palestinians.

We were treated to another delicious meal at Wi’am and listened to Rafiq and Lucas Zoughbi, joined by their cousin Larry, as they jammed in the Wi’am Garden – and so we head for security at Ben Gurion to fly back to the U.S.

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Rafiq and Lucas Zoughbi, joined by their cousin Larry, jam in the Wi’am Garden (Photo by Bob Haynes),