On November 4 this year, Plant een Olijfboom, Free Press Unlimited and Hilversum for Palestine organised a memorial protest with thousands of children’s shoes to commemorate the Palestinian children killed in Gaza. Palestinian authorities say that around 17,000 children have been killed in Gaza. The memorial protest took place at the Mediapark in Hilversum, the Netherlands.
Photo: all the children’s shoes at the Mediapark in Hilversum to symbolise the Palestinian children who were killed
Speakers read the names and ages of the children at the time they were killed. The list seemed endless. The children were so young! Sometimes a name was mentioned and followed by the words: ‘a baby.’ My mother heart felt so sorry for these children.
Esther van der Most, founder of Plant een Olijfboom, was quoted in the Dutch newspaper Gooi- en Eemlander as saying that statistically every ten minutes a Palestinian child is murdered. To commemorate the children killed, I brought roses and a teddy bear.
Photo: May-May laying roses for the children, photo Abood Hamam
In addition, Free Press Unlimited presented photos of all the journalists killed in Gaza at the Mediapark. Up till Monday November 4th, 192 journalists have been killed in Gaza – people with a family and dreams, doing their work with nothing more than a notebook and a pen. Dedicated to documenting the horrors that have been perpetrated and to revealing the truth.
Photo: the photos of the 192 journalists killed in Gaza
We at Peace SOS are also shocked to hear the news of apocalyptic scenes in north Gaza. We hope that there will be a ceasefire soon in Gaza and Lebanon, that humanitarian aid will be delivered to the suffering people in Gaza, that the hostages will be released and that the Palestinians in military detention will be released, if applicable, and treated well.
We, as adults, need to care for all the children in the world together. May all lives be cherished.
May-May Meijer, founder of Peace SOS
Cover photo: a child laying a rose for the children
Plant een Olijfboom: https://www.planteenolijfboom.nl/
Free Press Unlimited: https://www.freepressunlimited.org/en