Activist’s love affair with Gaza
Johannesburg woman writes book on her experiences in conflict area
SHE was an activist fighting for the basic human rights of Palestinians for two decades before she walked in their streets and saw their suffering firsthand. Now Shenaaz Farred is fighting again, this time to bring safe drinking water to the communities of the Gaza Strip.
Farred, a mother of four from Johannesburg and author of the book Gaza Forgotten, spoke about her experiences during a lunch held by the Al Ihsaan women’s group in the Malabar Community Hall yesterday.
Farred was one of a group of South Africans who travelled to the Gaza Strip, a region tormented by ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, in 2011 as part of the Africa 1 Aid Convoy.
“I fell in love with Palestine 20 years ago,” Farred told the room full of women.
“Gaza was the first love of my life. I took my kids with me on weekends [when I went out] to create awareness about the issues there. We are all connected to Gaza.”
Still, it was a shock, she said, when she was chosen to go to Gaza and saw the hardship up close.
“We went into the heart of the war, leaving our families behind and going to a place where bombs are falling [daily].”
She describes Gaza as “two million people living in an open-air prison”.
“I was there, witnessing the people’s pain and hardship. I cried every day I was there, and even when I came back.”
It was after her return, when she was confined to her bed for two months after an operation, that Farred decided to put her experiences down on paper.
“A young journalist came to see me to hear my story, and she asked if I [would consider] writing a book. I never told my family, but wrote on my laptop every day.
“The main objective was to create awareness about Gaza, not just among Muslims but also Christians and Jews. “People think apartheid was bad in South Africa, but if you go to Gaza, you see [how bad it really can be].”
Farred said the situation in Palestine had only worsened since her visit.
“It is still heartbreaking. Israel is stopping aid from coming into Palestine. When we went, we were escorted by the Egyptian army.
“Meanwhile, the people do not have proper food and only a couple of hours of electricity a day. [They] are dying in hospital because they are on life support and there is no fuel for generators.”
Clean drinking water also remained a problem, with only 10% of the country’s water supply being drinkable and the United Nations predicting Gaza would be “unlivable” by 2020 as a result.
“They are on the brink of human catastrophe,” an emotional Farred said.
“I wrote the book because Gaza is forgotten; world leaders are looking on and doing nothing to help. We need to help people in their difficulty.
“We must not go down in the history books of those who didn’t help, but we must fight to the bitter end.”
Farred said the proceeds of her book sales would go towards building a well in Gaza, which would provide clean water to a hospital, a school and agricultural land.
Gaza is forgotten; world leaders are . . . doing nothing