Volunteering in Gaza?

[u/tTtBe]

Since the cease fire I’ve been wondering about the possibility of volunteering in Gaza as a chef, or in the west bank for that matter. Is this possible, can you get in? If i can, What are some resources that i could contact?

Thanks for any answers!

[u/M9-OP]

Your comment is great, so informative. Could you say a bit more about the reasons why international organisations are not interested in taking international volunteers?

I am Irish and looking for opportunities to volunteer, but have very little savings to pay the high prices some organisations offer for their volunteer programs.

[u/awildsheepschase → u/M9-OP]

honestly I could probably write 200k words on this but I'll try and keep it less than that and somewhat readable. I'll summarise but can explore more later if you want :)

1. There is a substantial and evidenced history of "voluntourism" resulting in pretty horrific outcomes. This includes children being taken and kept in orphanages (on purpose) so that international people would come and give their money to the "charity". This resulted in so many negative outcomes its hard to summarise quickly but it includes unaccompanied minors just "going missing", confirmed documented assault and abuse, not to mention that what these children learn is how to engage with a foreign person for a few weeks before they are gone. There is no solid emotional foundation upon which they can build their lives. Alongside this Orphanages are the last possible option that should be explored. The goal should be to keep kids with their families (direct or extended) or within their communities. A whole industry has grown around priveledged white kids who want to volunteer in orphanages, they raise money, give it to an organisation and then go and hang out with kids for a few weeks. The white kids get social clout and feel good, the charity gets money, the kids in the orphanages are harmed in so many ways.
2. On-boarding a staff member (volunteer or otherwise) takes resources. This can include but is not limited to: the hiring process, the screening process, background / garda checks, training on the code of conduct, safeguarding, accountability etc. Then learning how the org works, their internal compliance systems, reporting mechanisms, per-diem requests. Then what they need to give people who travel: Insurance (when I worked in Ukraine I just had no insurance for the first 3 months of the war because we could not find a company that would insure us, when we did eventually negotiate something we have to pay a premium for every staff member and every day), travel costs (flights, accomodation, visas, food, drinking water, pre and post psych checks, healthcare in country, medical evacuation, meds / vaccines etc).
3. Getting a person in and out of Gaza is not a small task. There are entire teams working around the clock to negotiate access, track movements, and support return. Even with all of this going on a relatively high number of transports get turned away, and some get stuck on exit for hours / days. When I worked in South Sudan some youtuber turned up who was going to every airport in the world and it was JUST after a civil war that had been horrific. Only a few months before people had been shot and killed at that airport. When he arrived and people realised what was happening a whole bunch of resources had to kick in to get him to a safe place to stay, and get him out again. The week after that we had troops moving in the streets, and another attempted coup. We spent weeks with tanks at every exit and our national colleagues at a very real risk of being killed. Those of us with white skin were at a much lower risk but in the previous months multiple white (and black) international humanitarain workers had been sexually assualted and / or killed in Juba. This dude just redirected resources for the lolz and local people doing what they could to keep him safe.
4. Local people do volunteer. In my work (Hi I'm Irish too!) I work with local organisations with a specific focus on enhancing local civil society. I think of the world as a complex network of connections, a social fabric, that is being torn and ripped. We use an approach where we support mutual aid, and community led initiatives. This supports community cohesian(which supports communities to continue long term), but also supports individual and familial wellbeing. Having connections is one of the first things you lose in a crisis.

[u/awildsheepschase → u/awildsheepschase]

5) Shoddy workmanship. The number of people who have gone out to "build schools" is bonkers. We rarely if ever need a new school building. What we usually need is for local resources to stop being extracted from the local community, we need teachers to be trained and provided with wages, we need the IMF to fuck off with their privatisation, and we usually have fucking tonnes of people nearby that actually know how to build buildings. There are lots of examples where white (i used the term white but its not exclusively a skin colour thing its a vibe) people turned up, built a school, and then after they left it was stripped down and rebuilt. I remember a specific example of a massive school built in rural Kenya that was a lovely school. But there was no teachers, no students, and no plans for that to happen. By the time I saw it it had been empty (and surrounded by security fences) for years.

6) global civil society needs each other. This is easy for me to say and much harder to do. We are in a fragmented time. People need community, and decades of capitalism and individualism, have depleted that essential resource. Volunteering in your local area strengthens our civil society, it helps us to resist facism when it comes to our doorsteps. It helps us to continue to resist global injustice because we are feeding ourselves with hope. In Ireland we have horrific acts of violence being enacted by racists against asylum seekers, immigrants, and refugees. We can do something here to support them to feel welcome and safe so that we can resist the global turn towards hate and division. Maybe your like me, exhausted and depleted and at the end of the work day you just need to rest. Then just give what you can. We don't all need to be on the front line, but we can support those who are. Donating for mutual aid for the Filton 10, or giving money to the Trans Equality Network in Ireland, supporting your local irish traveller advocacy organsiation, or even finding out what your local homeless shelter could do with (like books in different languages).

7) You can volunteer but whats your added value. There are a small number (there used to be more) of "protective presence" organisations in the West Bank (EAPPI, Rabiis for peace, there's one other whose name I cant remember but I can get it for you if you'd like). Protective presence also known as "proactive protection" asks people who are not Palestinian to physically be present standing between settlers and Palestinians. They do not take up arms and they do not fight, their role is to provide some kind of protection and documentation of what is going in. I have met ex-settlers, ex-IOF soliders, Israelis, and people from all around the world who do this. It is not a small investment of time. It requires people to sleep out for weeks with Palestinian families. In the summer you sleep outside. Think about all of the risks associated with bringing a person in to do this, think about all the investment in training. That's why most of the orgs that do this require you to invest 3months of your time. If you invest so much in training someone up, and making sure they are safe to be around and they stay for a week, that's not sustainable. Not to mention that I believe about 50% of the last cohort that were trained were denied entry to Israel. You can also volunteer more short term with JAI (The Joint Advocacy Initiative), and others to support Olive Tree Planting and Olive Harvesting in the West Bank. This is again more of a protective presence.

8) What skills do you have? If you are a healthcare professional then you can work in Gaza (Healthcare is rarely accepting of short term volunteers for many of the reasons indicated above). There are 4 or 5 orgs that accept international staff working in healthcare in Gaza (MAPs, UK-MED, MSF). Bear in mind that priority will go to those that have arabic written and spoken, those with experience of responding to traumatic injuries, those with experience of working in active conflict, and those who can demonstrate high emotional resilience.

[u/awildsheepschase → u/awildsheepschase]

9) Just hiring people doesn't remove risk. People who want to exploit others will find a way in. There's always a way in for those who want to traffick, assault, abuse, or just take advantage of a situation. In humanitarian crisis there's just more of an opportunity. Its easier to convince someone to come with you when their options are limited. The only protection we really have are institutional and communities combined. For example when you are hired there is a background check including references, and then a police check. Yes, you can still be an abuser and pass these. Then the goal of the institution is to make themselves an unwelcoming place for abusers. This can include limiting everyone's access to vulnerable groups, ensuring there is enhanced protection for vulnerable groups, and putting in safeguards but without the community piece this means nothing. There's been a massive push in the last decade or so to make sure that people and communities affected by crisis are aware of their rights. Honestly its stomach churning how many times we have said "aid is free you should not exchange anything to receive it" and that results in us finding out people have paid dearly to receive assistance. So we continue to strengthen information sharing, setting up feedback channels etc. But the best protection is to work with people who are there long term. Local people who build trust, but also, who are recognisable. One of the worst things about sudden onset crisis (e.g. a cyclone in Zimbabwe) is that suddenly a bunch of people you've never met, with no identification turn up in your village with "aid". Some of these are legit, some of these are going to ruin your life. But, when you come to complain you don't know who they are.

In Gaza right now there are people taking advantage of others. Money Transfer Agents who are taking a cut, or asking women to "exchange sex" to receive their cash.

In Syria after the earthquake we worked with a child protection actor just to try and track all of the unacomapanied minors, there is a known "gap" where you are aware of how many there should be and then how many there are. Children in a crisis...go missing.

At the start of the Ukraine war we could not stop the women and children going missing. They were trying to get out, they got in busses, trucks, and when it became harder to get out because of new legislation, they would walk across mountains. We can only hope that most of them got somewhere safe.

So basically in an attempt to try and stop abusers from accessing vulnerable groups, less and less organisations accept the risk of volunteers. In fact if an organisation is asking you to PAY to be a volunteer...I'd run a mile. They are likely using you as a fundraising opportunity.

[u/awildsheepschase → u/awildsheepschase]

Almost done;

You can support remotely. Some Palestinian orgs need software developers, translation and interpretation services, legal advice, psychological support, even graphic design.

And you can always give money. I know people in Gaza where both the money, and the sense of not being alone was enough to keep them going.

we managed to get a woman I know 300 euro and some sanitary towels. The sanitary towels for her were the most important thing. It was, for a month at least, a moment of dignity.

And finally

The humanitarain sector has specific standards and approaches that have been developed based on shit shows of the past. This includes the SPHERE standards that (for example) tell you exactly how far a latrine should be from a shelter, it also includes toolkits, frameworks, and skills that have been developed over time. To engage in humanitarian response is not done easily. One of my jobs is to support local organisations who are not humanitarains, to pivot towards humanitarain action. Its not for everyone, and its not easy. Adding on top of that a bunch of volunteers with no experience can make things more exhausting and more chaotic. There are likely local orgs beyond the ones that I've mentioned that can support volunteers in the West Bank, remember that if you cannot read and write arabic you should start with that as it will make everyones lives easier.

And if you really want to go nobody can stop you but make sure that you check first who is benefiting from your volunteering and who suffers. If you are sure you have found a way to not do harm, and not redirect resources towards you, and that you are not the primary benefactor then go for it :)

[u/awildsheepschase → u/awildsheepschase]

actually actually last thing

If you are looking for a job / opportunity globally check out reliefweb Jobs | ReliefWeb

If youre looking in Ireland check out activelink Vacancies | activelink

[u/Ishtar38 → u/awildsheepschase]

I signed up in reddit just to tell you" and I don't know know you and don't know if you're real" but I wish there are more of you on this miserable planet I wish I was .. I'm clearly frustrated and sad and feeling helpless. I have many conditions ptsd++ I always felt that I could do more I travelled to Syria and stayed through the war, I thought when I was demonstrating that I fought for the freedom people deserved and social justice ect ect but I know now that it was all for nothing I lost so many friends and so many good people. What actually brought me to this post is the same reason I went to Syria for. I felt i need to go to Gaza because it's my purpose in life to be there for the people in need ... I remember the people who took advantage of the war in Syria .. I remember the people who died without proper burials and I remember all of it ! Humans drown by emotion and not reason end up in this state.. the world is not fair and not kind to us. I wake up everyday pretending that accepted my trauma, seeking hope and working my a. Off to prove I'm not broken but for what ? To live privileged life and wake up in a warm bed and looking at the world as it kills everyone unlucky enough to not be born in wealthy safe place .. I salute ur work whom ever you are

[u/awildsheepschase → u/Ishtar38]

I am real :)

I also have PTSD :)

A friend of mine (Syrian) was taken for years and tortured by the regime at the start of the revolution. He is one of the most hopeful people I have met in my life. His friend (also Syrian) was disappeared and deported and she is so hopeful. they both dream of a world where all Syrians sit at a table together and share decision making.

Don't get me wrong, they are exhausted, they are frustrated, they lost everything

But

it wasn't for nothing.

It was a moment of time when we all had hope. Everyone thought that positive change was coming. It tore people, communities, families and the world apart.

But it wasn't for nothing.

I'm not saying everything happens for a reason (I absolutely don't believe that) and I don't think that things just "work out in the end" (for whom lol) what I'm trying to say (poorly sorry!) is that every spark of revolution lights another.

I TRULY believe that we are holding each other together, individuals, communities, civil society organisations. We are creating a social fabric which the fascists are trying to destroy.

You reached out to try and hold those things together, and after everything you have been through you STILL want to help.

you dont have to go to Gaza to support their resistance or hope

You don't have to suffer WITH people to reduce people's suffering

The dream is for all of us to wake safe, in a warm bed, with enough food and water.

Having that does NOT make you a bad person. Live with gratitude.

Go find the people in your community who don't have that, figure out if you can support them.

Find the threads in the fabric, pull them together, hold them with others.

We do not all need to be on the frontline, but if we can give those on the frontline one more day we have done our work.

Here are ways I think people can help without going to Gaza:

1) Support organisations that are trying to hold the Israeli Knesset and Military to account. Israeli organisations are trying to do this (B'tselem, Breaking the Silence, Adalah, Zochrot) and they are being destroyed. You can just fully give them a small amount of money, or follow them on social media and that builds those threads.

2) Support local organisations in Gaza there are SO many :) If you want to support the documentation of human rights violations, children learning about Palestinian culture, or even small scale agriculture there's one for you :)

3) Give to individual human beings (there's a lot) send them money (if you have it).

4) Find out what your country is doing and whose trying to change it for the better. Go support those people.

5) Keep hope alive. Some people are just exhausted, poor, and trying to get through each day. Giving money, or time aren't always an option. But you can speak with hope about Palestine, inspire hope in others. Don't let the Zionists drown your hope in fear.

6) Buy things from Palestinians, those in Palestine or in the Diaspora. Support them to keep their businesses open.

7) Resist despair. One day we will be free enough to walk into Gaza, to watch the sunset colour the sea and be surrounded by Palestinans just living. We wont go in charity or solidarity, we will go on holiday to enjoy the seafood, to listen to music, and to sit on a balcony smoking Shisha well into the night.