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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
76 July 2021
I
HAVE COME to the realisation that living
and working in Palestine has left me with
some unresolved Post Traumatic Stress Dis-
order due to the egregious human rights
violations I witnessed while there. I first
went to Palestine at the age of 18 in 2002 when
my Father was posted as the Irish Government’s
Representative to the Palestinian Authority. Fol-
lowing that, I worked for UNRWA’s Community
Mental Health Programme and Addameer the
Palestinian Prisoner’s Support and Human
Rights Organisation. I did my MSc thesis in
Human Rights on the subject of ‘The Right to
Education for Palestinian Child Prisoners’.
It is dicult to imagine that one day in 2005
would still be aecting my mental health 16
years later, but the brutal assault in May 2021
triggered upsetting and unforgettable memo-
ries about a place that I love. I wanted to share
them to emphasise how unrelenting the eects
of human-rights abuses and breaches of inter
-
national law have been on Gazans.
Between September 2005 and June 2006
7,000 to 9,000 Israeli artillery shells were fired
into Gaza, killing 80 Palestinians in nine months.
In December 2008 Israel launched Operation
Cast Lead with a massive air assault on Hamas
to halt militant rocket attacks. The 22-day oper
-
ation left 1,400 Palestinians.
In 2014 the combined Israeli airstrikes and
ground bombardment resulted in 2220 Gazan
deaths, 1492 of whom were civilians.
Now in 2021, as a result of a week-long aerial
bombardment, 256 Palestinians, including 66
children, were killed. In Israel, 13 people were
killed, including two children.
Unemployment in Gaza is one of the highest
in the world at 43% in late 2020. The youth
unemployment rate is currently at 70%, with
young graduates making up 58% of unem
-
ployed youth. Despair, frustration, and
depression are very common and many young
people choose to either migrate or commit sui
-
cide. It’s estimated that 38% of young people
have considered suicide at least once. For most
young people, death is a constant shadow over
their lives. Many have developed post-trau-
matic stress and anxiety disorders that are
largely untreated, and they are growing more
desperate.
Nothing changes. Nothing has changed.
It pains me to know that friends of mine have
again been mercilessly and defencelessly
pounded with the risk of injury and death and I
By Clare Holohan
Unemployment in Gaza is one of the
highest in the world at 43% in late 2020.
am completely helpless to do anything for them.
I cannot even reassure them that this will never
happen again or that they will be free soon. I
implore you to imagine being under endless
lockdown, surrounded by rubble and under con-
stant threat of aerial, sea, and land
bombardment. Gaza is a besieged, densely-
populated place without sucient electricity,
clean water, medical and educational infra-
structure – an open-air prison.
The latest aerial strafings once again brought
flash-back nightmares of the last time I visited
Gaza in 2005; one year before ‘Operation
Summer Rains’. I have to say that Gazan people
are some of my favourite Palestinians; their
infectious sense of humour, resilience, gener-
osity, and warmth are some of their
unforgettable traits.
The last time I visited Gaza we had been
invited to attend the inauguration of an EU-
funded project that had rebuilt the homes of
families which had been demolished by bombs
along the border of Egypt. Irish Aid and the EU
had helped rebuild them and we were now
going to see the finished homes and hand over
the keys to the new owners, that is, if we man
-
aged to reach them.
As we were waiting for our security clear-
ance, I noticed a military jeep pulling up beside
us at the Erez crossing. The back of the jeep
opened and out came three young Palestinian
men: all three were blindfolded and their
hands tightly tied with plastic handcus. Their
dishevelled T-shirts were ripped and I could see
the fear on their faces, despite their eyes being
covered. My heart sank as I watched them
being forced to line up against a wall, while
teenage soldiers looked on and mocked with
their rifles pointed at them. I don’t know what
the fate of those young men was, but it is a
memory which I have not forgotten.
We got our ‘security permit’ and were finally
allowed to enter Gaza in our armoured, bullet-
proof car with Dad driving and me in the
backseat with my dodgy Google map-reading
skills.
Memories of hell on earth with its resilient,
generous people
Nothing
changes
in Gaza
INTERNATIONAL
2005 2014
July 2021 77
plates is illegal under International law but like
all the other violations of International law, the
Israeli Occupation Forces refused to let us leave
until my Dad opened all of our doors and we
held our passports up to the watchtower for
clearance. All this while the bombing was
For a first-time visitor, the destruction can be
quite overwhelming. Every building is peppered
with bullet holes and either demolished or par-
tially standing with the exterior of the building
blitzed to pieces. Destruction is evident on
every corner. Sad, malnourished donkeys roam
the streets trying to scavenge for whatever food
might be left for them. It is dicult to have hope
and optimism in such surroundings and that is
why my admiration for Gazans is so strong.
We were invited to lunch in the beautiful Al
Deira Hotel. There we feasted on a delicious
fresh fish lunch with spicy Gazan salad and rice
topped with pine nuts. All this with the freshest
and famous Gazan strawberry juice. This hotel
is an unexpected gem in the grim reality of
Gaza. It contains a small number of rooms which
are beautifully styled with arches and vaults –
each more like a palace than a mere hotel room.
The view from the restaurant on the terrace
overlooking the seafront is breath-taking. If
given the chance, Gaza could be a busy Medi-
terranean tourist destination, with children
ago, had been living homeless in tents. Dignity
had been briefly restored to these people.
Unfortunately, those homes have since been
bombed to rubble. I might add that all of these
houses were built with EU taxpayers’ money.
I also visited my Bedouin friend Hanan and
her five-year-old daughter Sheyma who I first
met while volunteering in the St John Eye Hos-
pital in Jerusalem. I used to bring Sheyma
treats,, and we became close friends. Hanan is
a malnourished, single mother and lives with
Sheyma in a small plastic tent in Rafah. I was
invited in for tea and fruit. Despite having very
little, the generosity of the Gazan people is just
so strong. Unfortunately, when I tried to call her
a few years ago, her number rang out, so I have
lost touch. I hope they are OK and wonder if they
are still alive.
It was getting dark by the time we left, and
we had heard that an attack on Gaza was about
to happen. As we waited for the Israeli army to
open the gate for us, I heard a massive BOOM
BOOM. It was literally as if the sky was falling
2021
increasing in the background. I remember my
Mum’s face looking equally terrified and help-
less and she shouted up to the watchtower that
they were war criminals. As expected we got no
response, but the gate was lifted. We quickly
drove through and made the journey back to
Jerusalem in silence and me in tears.
16 years later the situation is much worse.
The UN Secretary General António Guterres
says “If there is a hell on earth, it is the lives of
children in Gaza”. The UN had warned in 2012
that it would be impossible to live in Gaza by
2020.
As Village went to press Israel, under a new
Prime Minister, seemed to be renewing its
bombardments.
Gaza has been abandoned for far too long
and the reality seems to be accepted by the
international community which increasingly
accepts Israel as trade partners. It is time to end
this illegal occupation. Dignity and hope must
be restored, and justice must be given to the
victims of the endless Israeli war crimes there
by allowing them to tell their stories and bring
awareness to their plight.
Bombs caused fear among
many children, which led
to a loss of concentration,
loss of appetite, bed
wetting, and other
disorders.
flying kites and families splashing and enjoying
the waves.
When we arrived in Rafah in the early evening
for the inauguration ceremony of the housing
project, a group of barefoot children sur-
rounded me. Young girls and boys with piercing
blue eyes, blonde matted hair and others with
olive and black skin tones, and even redheads!
The diversity in Gaza is so striking and this is
what makes it so special. They were all smiling
at me and asking to get their picture taken. And
then they started begging me for my water
bottle. They were telling me how thirsty they
were and had no fresh drinking water. Drinking-
water is contaminated in Gaza due to Israel’s
illegal dumping of sewage onto the Gaza sea-
shore. Bottled water is a rare luxury and I felt so
guilty that I had no more bottles to give out. I
threw my empty bottle in the bin and to my
horror, I watched as a dozen kids fought to fetch
it so they could recycle it for a few shekels.
The inauguration ceremony was quite
moving. I felt some joy as I watched my Dad and
UN ocials handing out keys and property own-
ership papers to the new owners who, one hour
and the ground shook. I had never been so ter
-
rified in my life. Another BOOM followed. This
was the start of the Israeli sonic boom bombing
campaign which would happen daily that
summer. The sole purpose of these bombs is to
prevent the residents from sleeping and to
create an ongoing sense of fear and anxiety. In
the past, the Gaza Community Mental Health
Center reported that the bombs caused fear
among many children, which led to a loss of
concentration, loss of appetite, bed wetting,
and other disorders. The Center also reported
that sonic booms caused headaches, stomach
aches, shortness of breath, and other physical
eects that appeared among both children and
adults.
The border gates were opened for us and I
again felt a feeling of utter helplessness and
sadness, as I could leave this terror and go to
the relative peace of our home on the Mount of
Olives in Jerusalem. I felt a sense of guilt that I
could leave freely whilst the children I had just
met would remain and endure this mental
torture.
Opening and searching cars with diplomatic
