Wasteland

W

A United Nations delegation has made it into northern Gaza. They made a video on their way in and it is now circulating on social media.

It is hard for me to come to terms with the fact that this is the same part of Gaza that I visited last summer. I probably drove in on the same road.

People in Gaza had been suffering Israel’s blockade for years and health workers told me how difficult it was to get essential supplies for hospitals. You could also regularly hear the buzz of Israeli military drones overhead: a constant reminder that a strike could come at any time.

But there was another buzz about the place too: the buzz of life and of resilience. People were always around and children were everywhere.

Now there is hardly a building left standing. It is heartbreaking to see the devastation that has been inflicted.

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Richard Burden

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I was Labour Member of Parliament for Birmingham Northfield between 1992 and 2019 and a former Shadow Transport Minister. I now chair Healthwatch in Birmingham and Solihull, and the West Midlands Board of Remembering Srebrenica. I also work as a public affairs consultant. I am an effective community advocate and stakeholder alliance builder with a passion for human rights. I am a trustee of the Balfour Project charity and of Citizens Advice Birmingham, and a former Chair of Medical Aid for Palestinians.

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You can reach me by email at richard@richardburden.com or use the form on the Contact page to send me a message.