Coast gran on deadly aid mission to Gaza
A Gold Coast grandmother will risk her life on a perilous journey, sailing from Istanbul to Gaza to help deliver 5500 tonnes of humanitarian aid supplies.
Three ships carrying food, medical aid and more than 200 unarmed peace advocates departed from Istanbul, Turkey, this week and will attempt to sail through the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Strip.
Helen O’Sullivan, an educator at the University of Queensland, is one of three Australians who joined the Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FCC), after months of watching the fierce conflict unfold.
“I watched the Palestinian death toll in Gaza reach over 35,000 in six months,” she said.
“Over half of these children. Thousands are orphaned.”
Ms O’Sullivan said the confronting death of six-year-old Palestinian girl Hind Rajab earlier this year motivated her to join the flotilla.
Audio of Hind’s final call begging for help while trapped in a car for hours made international headlines.
On January 29, Hind was killed, with analysis of satellite images revealing at least three Israeli tanks surrounding the car with their guns pointed at the vehicle.
Watching the news unfold on TV, Ms O’Sullivan said her only thought was her own granddaughter.
“I can’t imagine the helplessness and horror,” she said. are left
“When you ask me why I volunteered to take aid to Palestine, it is because I am a mother and there are over 17,000 children like Hind,” she said.
Ms O’Sullivan when she broke the news to her family of her planned trip, it was met with “mixed reactions”.
“When I told my adult children was joining the Freedom Flotilla Coalition they were concerned,” she said.
“But I believe they also understood that my reasons were closely tied to my love for them and their children.
“I want to be a role model and demonstrate how important it is to speak out when there is injustice, no matter how powerful the perpetrator is or how unpopular you may become.”
It comes as a United Nations report in March revealed about 700,000 people, 600,000 of which in Gaza alone, were on the brink of starvation last year.
Food insecurity experts in the report also estimated that famine could set in by midMay while US humanitarian
Iand development agency, USAid said famine had already taken hold in some parts of Gaza. Meanwhile, a recent report by Refugees International found Israel had created “famine-like conditions” in Gaza by “consistently” blocking legitimate humanitarian aid.
“Our research makes clear that conditions inside of Gaza are apocalyptic,” it said.
An Israel Defence Force spokesman said on Wednesday that the humanitarian aid intake into Gaza had “significantly increased”.
Ms O’Sullivan said co-ordinating the flotilla had been an “enormous” effort.
“It is intense and draining, however people are very committed to seeing this mission through,” she said.
When you ask me why I volunteered to take aid to Palestine, it is because I am a mother
Helen O’Sullivan