In a nonviolent act, hundreds of Palestinian children gathered on Wednesday afternoon near the border wall between the Gaza Strip and Egypt carrying plastic saws and hammers and symbolically attempted to demolish the wall in a move that shows their rejection of the siege imposed on Gaza.
The demonstration started after nearly 300 children gathered near the Salah Ed Deen Gate close to the borders in the southern part of the Gaza Strip. The children carried plastic hammers and plastic saws along with posters that read, “Stop the torture, open the Crossing, no to the Separation Barrier."
The protest was called for by the Palestinian Child Rights Society whose aim was to highlight the Palestinian rejection to the barrier, siege and the imprisonment of more than 1.5 million Palestinians in Gaza.
The Gaza Strip remains under a two year strict illegal Israeli siege affecting all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip.
One of the children, identified as Anees Al Ashqar, struck the wall with his plastic hammer saying, “We are deprived from our basic rights. My friend Osama is sick and cannot leave Gaza for treatment as he cannot find any treatment in the Gaza Strip." “We want to live as all other children in the world do. Some of us have not seen our parents since so many months due to the siege." Al Ashqar added, “Open the Crossing, remove the Wall”.
Another child, identified as Sayyid Ahmad, said that he and all other children in Gaza reject the ongoing assaults against their freedom. “We want to live free, we want to live in dignity, we reject Israel’s policy of collective punishment," he added.
He called on the Arab countries, especially Egypt, to intervene and stop the suffering of children in Palestine by breaking the siege.
Ahmad demanded the international community prosecute every person who participated in this siege, and demanded that the world respect and honor all international agreements and resolutions that guarantee their rights.
The Israeli siege on Gaza led to the death of more than 211 patients, including 46 children. Last week a 10-month old infant died at a local hospital in Gaza after Israel barred his family from transferring him to a hospital outside the Gaza Strip. Also a 6-year old child died of kidney failure.
