Friends campaign to send medical help to Gaza
‘I would like Kamran and Islamic Trust to know Quakers actively share a common cause with them...'
Quakers are raising funds to send a team of medical workers to Gaza.
Rajan Naidu and Fran Wilde, from Selly Oak Meeting, are taking the action as part of a campaign set up by Islamic Help. Activist Emma Cooper is joining them.
Rajan Naidu told the Friend that the campaigners are attempting to raise £2,000 ‘as their contribution to the £40,000 it takes to equip and send a team of medical workers to go for 28 days to do specialist, much needed work in Gaza’.
‘At a recent fundraiser set up by Islamic Help, we heard from some of those medical workers of the work they do in Lebanon and Gaza, under the most threatening of conditions. Most hospitals in Gaza have been destroyed, so they have to improvise and set up operating theatres wherever and however they can. We learned about the amazing difference made to people’s lives by [the organisation] Interburns. I am hoping Quakers will become a strong part of this compassionate and practical initiative.’
Islamic Help has already sent six teams of medics to Gaza. According to the donations page, the surgeons have described ‘scenes of an apocalyptic nature’ after spending two weeks in the region. ‘They worked throughout the day and night to provide emergency relief in overcrowded hospitals, the hallways filled with families seeking shelter in every corner, even on the stairwells,’ says the group. ‘They have run out of medical supplies, essential items to perform surgery, to disinfect wounds, to bandage and repair. There are not enough doctors and nurses to treat the patients.’
Kamran Shezad, of the Bahu Trust, is the director of Islamic Help, and has been a guest at Yearly Meeting. At the time of going to press, the appeal had raised over £2,000.
Rajan said: ‘I would like Kamran and Islamic Trust to know Quakers actively share a common cause with them on climate/social justice, and help contribute to a bridge of understanding between Quakers and the Muslims in Islamic Help and the Bahu Trust.’
