Press Office at Tuesday’s Child

EVENT    Tuesday’s Child hosts party in Gaza for children of Zeitoun massacre

DATE       Tuesday 15th June  2010

The Belfast children’s charity Tuesday’s Child held a party for children in Gaza this week.

The majority of the children invited were from the extended Samouni families who witnessed one of the worse war crimes of the Gaza war last year – the Zeitoun massacre.

Sixty of the 100 children at the party lost one or both parents in the war. Many others lost brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and friends. Other children were badly injured themselves and are still traumatised.

The party had singing, dancing, face-painting, clowns and a pantomime horse and each child received a party lunch and gifts from Tuesday’s Child.

“We have had so much fun today”, said 9 yr old Abdullah, badly injured in January 2009 and found alive 4 days later in the rubble lying beside his dead grandparents.

Shaban, 10 yrs, who lost both his parents in the Zeitoun massacre said “I liked the pantomime horse and party games best and I liked my gift. My brothers and sisters are here too and some of my cousins and we are all happy today”.

Speaking from Gaza city a Tuesday’s Child representative said. “The party was a great success and it is good for the children to come together and join in the singing, dancing and games. These children are deeply traumatised and play and music helps them release their pain.

Tuesday’s Child first met the children of Zeitoun earlier this year in January 2010 when they visited the beleaguered village with Christmas gifts and aid.

Tuesday’s Child founder Orla Sheehan said, “We cannot begin to even imagine the sheer horrors these children have witnessed. They are beyond our worst nightmares. We are delighted to be able to bring even a little joy into the darkness of their young lives. It is tragic that, even after all these children have had to endure, they are still living under illegal collective punishment. The reality is that when the party finishes the children still return to a home ravished by cold blooded murder; many have no parents to come home to and share their news with. The blockade and ongoing persecution of so many children must end. The world debates the Gaza siege, but if we focus on the children, the solution is very simple. The siege must be lifted. To allow it to continue into a fourth year is a blot on all of humanity”.

For further details please contact Orla Sheehan on 07813 834045 or email orla.sheehan@btinternet.com or the charity email info@tuesdayschild.org.uk

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