Creating new perspectives since 2009
Items by Mohammed Asad
-
Amputee football: Gaza’s first squad kicks in to action
Thirteen Palestinian amputees have come together to form Gaza’s first football squad of people with disabilities. “This is the first football team of amputees in Palestine, and it was formed as part of personal efforts to emphasise the right of people with special needs to play any sport, and...
-
Charities locked out of Gaza due to the siege
Over the past years, generous donations from philanthropists and charities, especially during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, have helped alleviate the suffering of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, however, the tight siege imposed on the enclave has intensified the suffering of the poor. Chairman of a collective of...
-
Gazan takes a shot at peace
Majdy Abu Tagiyya is a sculptor, but the materials he uses for his art are unique to Gaza, they are the bullets shot by Israeli occupation forces to target peaceful Palestinian protesters. “I like to send a message to peace to the world,” Majdy says, “that the People...
-
Hamas: March of Return will not end until siege does
Large steps are being taken to lift the siege on the Gaza Strip, the head of Hamas’ political bureau said today. “We have seen aid deliveries, offers and actions, the opening of the Rafah crossing in an effort to end this humanitarian tragedy in Gaza. This is thanks to...
-
Teenager establishes Gaza’s largest cactus nursery
The founder of the project Sabara (cactus) is Afaf Massoud, a first-year interior design student at Al-Aqsa University. She started the project eight months ago after finishing high school in order to bear the cost of her higher academic studies. Afaf, 18, established the cactus nursery on her family’s...
-
Hamas: PNC meeting ‘blatantly violates the unity of our people’
Holding the Palestine National Council meeting “does not convey unity in a practical way”, the head of Hamas’ political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh, said today. The PNC, he continued, “does not reflect the nation as a whole, but rather blatantly violates the unity of our people and the legitimacy of...
-
Thousands of Gazans attend funeral of Palestinian journalist Ahmed Abu Hussein
Thousands in Gaza today attended the funeral of Palestinian journalist Ahmed Abu Hussein, who died of wounds he sustained two weeks ago while covering the mass Great March of Return protests near Gaza’s eastern border. Abu Hussein was documenting the marches in the Abu Safiya area east of Jabalia...
-
Gaza engineers generate electricity from the sea
After four years of hard work, four Palestinian engineers from Gaza have succeeded in generating electricity using waves from the sea. The four engineers first started working on the system as part of their final year project during their degrees at the Islamic University of Gaza in 2016. Due...
-
Palestinian succumbs to wounds sustained during Friday protests in Gaza
A 29-year-old Palestinian succumbed on Monday to wounds he sustained during Land Day protests on Friday near the eastern borders of the besieged Gaza Strip. Spokesperson of the Gaza Ministry of Health, Ashraf al-Qidra, confirmed that Fares al-Ruqab, 29, succumbed to his wounds on Monday.Al-Ruqab was shot in the...
-
Palestinians in Gaza launch flight of return ahead of Land Day
Some 150 young men and women took part in a march towards the Israeli border today in the build up to the Great March of Return which is due to take place tomorrow. Speaking ahead of the event one of the organisers, Khaled Safi, said: “A group of young...
-
Gaza tailors generate work by staying connected
Tailors in Gaza are sown together as the skill is passed on from one generation to the next. Fifty-seven-year-old Nashat Al-Ashi runs a sewing and repair shop in the enclave. He tells MEMO that he has more than 30 years’ experience and so many people who work in the...
-
Israel returns body of murdered Palestinian fisherman
Palestinian fisherman Ismail Abu-Riyaleh was buried in Gaza today after Israeli occupation forces returned his body to his family. The 18-year-old was killed after the Israeli navy opened fired on the boat he and two others were sailing on 25 February. The Israeli navy then captured Abu-Riyaleh’s body. “Israeli...
-
Palestinian children aim high to get UNRWA urgent funds
UNRWA’s school children in the besieged Gaza Strip have appealed to the world to help tackle the organisation’s financial funding crisis. School children in an UNRWA institute flew kites carrying the hashtag “dignity is priceless” to highlight the dire situation which they are in as a result of the...
-
Stalls open selling goods at 20% of market price in Gaza
Hundreds of poor Palestinians families in Gaza came out on to Al-Saraya Square today in the hopes of benefiting from Qatari welfare package which would see citizens paying only 20 per cent of the total costs of goods. Nearly 1,000 families were able to purchase vegetables and other basic...
-
Palestinian women protest ahead of International Women’s Day
Thousands of Palestinian women have taken to the streets for International Women’s Day in an attempt to shed light on the issue of incarcerated women who have had their fundamental rights taken away from them. The marches took place in several areas of the Gaza Strip and eventually met...
-
Truck driver strike in Gaza
Private companies which transport goods in to the Gaza Strip have gone on strike for two days in protest of the difficult condition which they are operating under as a result of the ongoing Israeli siege and the punitive measures imposed on the Strip by the Palestinian Authority. Hundreds...
-
Palestinians in Gaza protest against US cuts to UNRWA
Palestinian school children in the besieged Gaza Strip joined a protest against US President Donald Trump’s moves to eradicate the right of return from future negotiations and to cut aid and support to UNRWA. The Popular Committee for Refugee Affairs organised the event which saw Palestinians holding up banners...
-
Disabled in Gaza: We have a right to treatment
Elderly, sick and disabled Palestinians living in the besieged Gaza Strip protested at the Beit Hanoun (Erez) border crossing to demand the sector be saved from imminent disaster. The protesters stressed that patients who are in urgent need of access to medical treatment face great difficulties in obtaining permits...
-
Palestinian children call for rescuing Gaza from humanitarian crisis
Dozens of Palestinian children yesterday came out to the streets of the Gaza Strip to call for international efforts to save the enclave from the economic and humanitarian disaster caused by the 11-year long Israeli siege. The children gathered in Saraya Square in central Gaza City and held banners...
-
No electricity at 7 more Gaza medical centres
Generators at seven health centres in the besieged Gaza Strip have stopped working due to the shortage in fuel, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced today. Ministry spokesman, Ashraf Al-Qadra, said the medical departments affected are: the Sourani Centre, the Palestinian Medical Centre, the Medical Foundation, the Gaza Health...
-
Gaza farmers go for gold
Farmer Mohammed Al-Wahidi walks through the family farm and starts harvesting the citrus fruit, south of Gaza city. Mohammed picks pomelettes, which are a hybrid citrus fruit resulting from combining pomelos and grapefruits. They are sweet and very juicy. This year’s harvest “is relatively good, as each medium-large tree...
-
Scores of Palestinians injured with bullets in Gaza
Fifty Palestinians were injured by bullets shot by occupation forces in the besieged Gaza Strip today during demonstrations against US President Donald Trump’s decision on Jerusalem. Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Dr Ashraf Al-Qudra, confirmed that 50Palestinians were wounded with live rounds and rubber-coated steel bullets and more...
-
Despite reconciliation, PA still imposing sanctions on Gaza
Despite the Egypt-brokered reconciliation talks which were held in Cairo, the Palestinian reconciliation between the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas has not been fully activated. The PA, headed by the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, has been reluctant to lift the sanctions imposed on the besieged Gaza Strip, a condition...
