Located in Gaza, the city of Blood donations are being made in Gaza to aid victims of the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria. The campaign is part of a solidarity project put out by Palestinian volunteers after the terrible earthquakes killed and injured tens of thousands of people last week, according to Naglaa al-Ghalayini, the coordinator from the Al-Amal charity for orphans, who spoke to reporters. What hits Syria and Turkey harms Gaza and Palestine, as al-Ghalayini put it, thus the point of this gathering is to solidify the notion that the Arab world and the Islamic world are one globe – one body.
As the Gazans put it, “it is true that we in Gaza do not have the equipment or capabilities that can be provided to the earthquake victims in Syria and Turkey or the material capabilities, but we do have our blood to offer to our brothers in Turkey and Syria in loyalty to all the people who supported the Palestinian cause and supported Gaza.” Al-Ghalayini expressed his condolences to the dead’ families in Turkey and Syria and hoped that the injured would make a full recovery soon.
“Depressed and astounded”
Subhi Quta, 33, told Al Jazeera he came to give blood as soon as he heard about the campaign, seeing it as a chance to contribute in the wake of the calamity in Syria and Turkey. Saddened and astonished by the events that followed the earthquake, we all shared a same experience. We have seen houses collapse and bodies retrieved from the debris during past conflicts in Gaza. Quta remarked, “But the catastrophe in Turkey and Syria is progressively devastating. Sohaib Shehadeh, who is 43 years old, had the same view. I would not think twice about doing more if I could. “I would go if the opportunity to volunteer to assist clear the rubble and provide relief to the homeless families was presented,” Shehadeh remarked.
Years ago, my home was destroyed by an Israeli airstrike, and my brother, uncle, and their family perished when Israel targeted their residence. Natural and man-made calamities have the same bitter taste of displacement and loss. Since the earthquakes struck on February 6, they have affected over 26 million people in southeastern Turkey and northwest Syria. As search and rescue operations continue, the number of those killed by the earthquakes has risen to 33,000.
