DUBAI // Children in Gaza are at a high risk of developing long-term psychological problems due to the recent fighting, a UN official said yesterday. Dr Ayman Abu Laba, the Unicef representative in the Gulf region, said that organisations focused on the reconstruction of Gaza will face large challenges. "The real battle has just started," he said. "There are many factors that need to be dealt with, and the children have been severely affected by what has happened."
Children are showing signs of severe distress and will need a guarantee that they are in a safe place, he said. Dr Abu Laba was among the international government and relief officials at a symposium on the Gaza conflict organised by the Dubai Press Club. There are 400,000 schoolchildren in Gaza, said Sami Mushasa, the media and communications director for the UN Relief and Works Agency. Over the past 16 months, the agency has conducted research that determined most pupils were failing courses for reasons related to the conditions of occupation.
Creating security for the Palestinians is as important as rebuilding Gaza and reconciling the factions in the occupied territories, Mr Mushasa said. "Palestinians should have the right to their own security above everything else," he said. "Israel is entitled to theirs, and so are the Palestinians. This is essential." Many in the western world received a skewed picture of what was happening because Israel banned foreign journalists from Gaza, said Qassem Ali al Kafarna, chairman of Ramattan News Agency.
"This was a clear strategy of Israel to prevent the media from entering Gaza," he said. "There is a difference between actually being there, and being able to convey the emotion and the urgency of the situation, and being outside." Western media were perceived by many as being pro-Israel, a bias that was reflected in the recent controversy surrounding the BBC and its refusal to air a charity appeal for Gaza by the Disasters Emergency Committee, said Mohammed Yousef, president of the UAE Journalists Association.
He said the BBC "has always been partial to the Israeli side". nsamaha@thenational.ae
