EMERGENCY PALESTINE HEALTH FUND

The Emergency Palestine Health Fund is a fundraising initiative led by the Northeastern University Global Health Initiative and the Northeastern University Students for Justice in Palestine in collaboration with the Palestine Solidarity Committee at Harvard College, the University of Chicago Students for Justice in Palestine, SJP Chicago (DePaul University, Loyola University of Chicago, Illinois Institute of Tech, University of Illinois-Chicago, University of Illinois-Urbana Champaign, Moraine Valley College), Tufts University Students for Justice in Palestine, Boston Jewish Voice for Peace, Wellesley University Students for Justice in Palestine, Smith College Students for Justice in Palestine, Swarthmore College Jewish Voice for Peace, Northeastern University Minority Association for Pre-Health Students, Northeastern University Students Advancing Intersectional Dreams, Interrobang Poets, Sunrise Movement at Northeastern, Stanford University SJP, and the Palestinian Youth Movement. The aim of this fundraiser is to support PCRF in providing emergency humanitarian aid to Gaza. We hope to reach our goal by pooling funds from students, alumni, and broader communities across our partner universities and organizations.  

For the past few weeks, the Gazans have experienced an unprecedented level of violence. As of May 27th, over 1,900 people have been wounded as a consequence of the bombardment, with nearly 270 people killed. 68 children, as young as 5 months old, are among the victims. Additionally, as of May 17th, 2021, offices in the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza have been destroyed. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), an estimated 1,750 people have been displaced due to the bombing of their homes, and major primary healthcare centers that provide essential medical services like COVID-19 testing and vaccinations have been destroyed. Gaza’s impoverished health system now struggles to cope with a shortage of hospital beds, intensive-care units, and medical supplies. Blood bags, surgical lamps, anesthesia, antibiotics, PPE equipment, ventilators and oxygen tanks remain scarce, while there continues to be an influx of wounded patients. According to UNICEF, there have been 95 attacks against water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) structures in the West Bank and Gaza strip since 2019, not including the further damage to infrastructure in the past few weeks. The children in these areas are now being disproportionately affected as over 817,000 do not have access to these WASH stations. 

The onus now lies on us to mobilize material support for Gaza’s health crisis. We are partnering with the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF), a non-profit organization that focuses on providing children in Palestine with pediatric care, building a sustainable healthcare system in Palestine, and sponsoring volunteer medical teams from all over the world to treat thousands of sick and wounded children in Palestinian hospitals. Our current fundraiser will support emergency humanitarian relief efforts by PCRF to provide key medical supplies to many hospitals across Gaza. As a grassroots organization that is on the frontlines of providing emergency humanitarian relief to families and children in Gaza, supporting the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund is absolutely instrumental. The money raised will go towards procuring medical supplies for Gazan hospitals-the Emergency Room for kids in the Rantisi Hospital and the Shifa Hospital to name a few- as well as providing free treatment for the injured and food for those affected.