'Waqaf Water' Shows Malaysia's Concern For Gaza's Plight

By Ali Imran Mohd Noordin KUALA LUMPUR, March 30 (Bernama) -- During the Israeli attack on Gaza in 2008, part of the infrastructure destroyed was the Strip's water sanitation facility. The military onslaught 'Operation Cast Lead' also killed 1,400 Palestinians. The destruction of the water sanitation facility resulted in the daily discharge of up to 80 million litres of effluents into the Mediterranean Sea, which were not fully treated. The above is as reported in ‘Dashed Hopes: Continuation of the Gaza Blockade’ report by 25 international organisations. The destruction of the facility also means that 90 per cent of water supplied to residents in Gaza is unsafe for consumption because it is contaminated with nitrates and other salts. The Israeli aggression and blockade of aerial, land and sea access into the Gaza Strip has caused severe hardship to Palestinians there. This prompted thousands of Palestinians to risk their lives everyday to smuggle in the much-needed daily essentials through the secret underground tunnels that crossed into Gaza from the Egyptian border. WATER Concerned by the hardship faced by Gaza residents, Malaysia's Perdana Global Peace Foundation (PGPF) is out to assist the Palestinians via its ‘WaqafWater4Gaza’ (WW4G) initiative. ‘Waqaf’ is a charitable donation in the form of property or money or other valuable items. It is a form of continuous charity or 'Sadaqah Jariah.’ PGPF trustee Dr Shamsudin Hitam said 1.5 million bottles of drinking water (500 ml per bottle) will be given to the Gaza residents as a symbol of Malaysia's support for their cause. "There is no minimum price for each bottle in the waqaf water programme. Contributions from the public will be put to good use to fund this mission," he said at the launch of the WW4G Road tour in Putrajaya recently. As of last February, some 400,000 bottles of drinking water have been sold for the programme. "The water will be purchased in Egypt before being distributed in Gaza. From a logistics point of view, this is much easier when compared to transporting 1.5 million bottles of drinking water from here (Malaysia) to there (Gaza)," he said. WW4G The WW4G programme is held to instil within Malaysians the spirit of peace and a hatred for any inhumane acts. It also shows the concern of Malaysians over the atrocities committed by the Zionist aggression. The programme was officiated by Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin. ATROCITIES The world community is aware of the atrocities committed by the Zionist regime against the Palestinians, but the world’s superpowers choose to turn a blind eye towards these acts of violence and barbarism. The United Nations Report on the ‘Humanitarian Situation in the Gaza Strip’ released in October 2011 shed some light on the human crisis faced by the Palestinians in Gaza. According to the report, some 38 per cent of the 1.6 Gaza residents live in poverty, and half of them are youths and children below 18 years of age. The average salary there has dipped by 20 per cent in the past six years, while 26 per cent of the labour force (38 per cent are youths) are unemployed. At the same time, the living costs there are spiralling upwards every day. The report ‘Dashed Hopes: Continuation of the Gaza Blockade’ by 25 international organisations including Amnesty International, the International Federation of Human Rights and Oxfam International also listed the various issues faced by residents in the besieged area. Among the issues highlighted in the report is the paralysed local economic scenario, the blockade imposed on Gaza's international borders and the destruction of education and residence facilities. ROAD SHOW At the launch of the road show, a special exposition 'War is Crime' was also staged. The exposition displayed hundreds of photographs and facts about armed conflicts across the globe and human suffering resulting from these conflicts. Among the images depicted were the bodies of soldiers killed in the conflicts as well as the suffering endured by women, children and senior citizens. Photographs of the carnage and destruction caused by bombs in Iraq and Gaza were also displayed to the public. -- BERNAMA