This morning I received an e-mail with the subject line ‘SOS from Gaza’:
Gaza is being destroyed. I am [….] from Jabalia. My house was bombed over the heads of my family. They are still under rescue. Please, we beg you. We need your help. We are without food and without medicine. We are dying and being destroyed. Please, I beg you to help us. Please.
I sent this to the family in Gaza with whom I keep in touch through social media. I got an immediate response from them:
Yes my friend the situation in Gaza is very difficult.. The crossings have been closed for a month.. There is no food or medicine and drinking water has become scarce and not always available.. We are suffering a lot.. I decided not to tell you this truth so you do not feel pain.. We are dying slowly.. For a while I could not find a cure for my daughter.. My wife suffered from toothache and after a long struggle we were able to treat her.. Unfortunately now the situation has gotten worse than before.. Whoever gets sick dies… and whoever goes hungry dies… Many children are dying I am writing you this letter and my heart is aching with pain from what we are seeing and perhaps you have noticed that I no longer connect to the internet on a daily basis.. We are psychologically exhausted we are dying.. We are dying please save us.. Please.. We do not want to die here. I want to survive with my wife and children.. Please save us.
Let the bombings stop, give humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, release the hostages, and release the Palestinians who have been wrongly imprisoned. Let us recognise the human being in us all, no matter what our nationality.
Give people living in conflict countries a voice, like Alon-Lee Green of Standing Together, Yael Braudo-Bahat of Women Wage Peace in Israel, and Reem Alhajajra of Women of the Sun in the West Bank. Furthermore, I hope that people in the Netherlands and elsewhere in the world will empathise with the suffering of the innocent civilians – mostly children – in Gaza. Unfortunately, we cannot reverse the violence that has taken place, as also took place on 7 October. We can, however, stop the violence that is going on now, or at least stop supplying weapons and push for dialogue.
I pray that the hearts of world leaders will soften and that we will care for each other and nature. And I play for a world where all children can play.
Photo: Jackson David, Rio de Janeiro/Brazil via Pixabay
Author: May-May Meijer, chair Peace SOS
Note: This article was published in Dutch under the title ‘SOS from Gaza’ on the Joop BNNVARA website on April 4th 2025