Gaza children return after a 10-day football trip in Ireland
The team had “huge difficulties to get the travel permits from the Israeli authorities,” explained Zoe Lawlor, GAI Cordinator.” Five accompanying adults, one of them a female child psychologist were denied access to travel.
It was the very first time the teens could go out of the besieged strip and experience a different culture. They were appreciative of the “kind, generous and warm reception of the Irish people; even people that we randomly met in the streets insisted to offer us meals or ice creams”.
Children in Gaza above 9 years old have experienced three wars in their short lifetime. Thousands suffer from post traumatic stress disorders. Sports and arts function as an escape and provide relief in a reality surrounded by destruction. They now have a “new story to tell, one of freedom, friendship, play and solidarity in Ireland”.
Read full report from Palestine Monitor