Social workers send letters from Gaza

As 2023 drew to an end, two executive members of the International Federation of Social Workers – Joachim Mumba, IFSW President & Pascal Rudin, IFSW Acting CEO – posted an email to all IFSW members. In it, they stated, “As we approach the end of another remarkable year, we want to take a moment to reflect on the incredible contributions and achievements of our profession worldwide” and went on to wish “you all a joyful holiday season and a successful, fulfilling year ahead”.

The email was met with disbelief by members of the Palestinian Union of Social Workers and Psychologists, who have been urging the IFSW to make a statement on the genocide in Gaza and the intensified oppression in the West Bank since October. Their response was to send a message to the IFSW that included the statement, “This message is to the leadership of IFSW that celebrates human rights and the New Year while their colleagues are being slaughtered in Gaza and West Bank. Congratulations on the new year, you who master silence.”

They also sent the messages below, messages gathered from social workers still working in the Gaza Strip, at least from those they could contact; many have died.

The RSW Collective thanks the Palestinian social worker Raed Amira for bringing this to our attention and for gathering these important messages from social workers in Gaza.

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After many attempts, over 25 days, I succeeded in reaching our colleagues and friends, social workers in the Gaza Strip. Gaza is facing genocide by the colonial capitalist occupation and has been left with nothing of the basic elements of life. My contact succeeded with three social workers and one other whose name I did not have time to discover. They were from the North, Center, and South of the Strip). Maybe it’s a coincidence, but fate wanted me to talk to our friends and colleagues to tell us they were fine, and they asked me: “How are you?” Their words were difficult to listen to, but these are real stories of the lived experience of social workers in Gaza today. 

Dr. Salameh Abu Zuaiter, Head of the Palestinian Union of Social Workers and Psychologists in the Gaza Strip, says:

“Hello, my friend, and thank you for calling. We are fine and we hope you are well. We are fine because we are still alive. We are fine because someone is asking about us,” adding, “My friend Raed, my message will not be to the international human rights system that has fallen in the face of this blood. And not to the United Nations, which has not been able for more than 75 years to bind this brutal occupation to any resolution. Nor will it be to the Western empires that conspired against Gaza and our people. My message is only to social workers and the IFSW.

We are living under bombardment by planes, tanks, and naval battleships. The scale of the tragedy and destruction cannot be described, and you cannot imagine what we are suffering. We appeal to you and ask you to work with all you might for a ceasefire and an end to genocide. We appeal to you to work hard to stop this aggression. Because if we remain alive, we do not know how life will return to its normal course: the doctor to his patients, the social workers to their community and their beneficiaries, the farmer to his land, the mother who lost her children to her destroyed home, or to the children who lost their fathers, homes, and siblings. Ending the occupation is a priority, and your defense of Palestine is a priority. Professional, ethical, and union-based.”

Mohammad Al-Sharif: A social worker from the northern Gaza Strip.

I lost contact with Mohammed for more than three weeks. In the last communication between us he said his house had been destroyed and that he and his family had been injured. I thought I would not be able to talk to him. Mohammad today says:

“Today I’m fine, and I’m moving from one place to another to escape the bombing. Our family was divided into two parts so that if a missile surprised us, at least one of the family members would live. We don’t know what to do. Here, when you see the martyrs in the streets, we are unable to do anything because approaching them is inevitable death at the hands of the occupation tanks and soldiers. We have lost many loved ones and friends, and we have lost many social workers and wonderful, loyal colleagues. Here is a message to all the social workers in the world: we have a message and a goal. We are not just numbers that the occupation wants to eliminate. We are continuing and may be martyred at any moment but remember that we have addressed you and sought refuge with you through IFSW more than once to be more just and bold in decision-making. I don’t want to remind them that this colonial occupation has exceeded 75 years. From the displacement, killing, and now the genocide of the Palestinian people.”

Mohammad Al-Bobo, a social worker from the south Gaza Strip.

“My colleague’s social workers, the situation in the southern Gaza Strip is very frightening, continuous bombing, displaced people from all over the Strip, lack of basic necessities for life, injured children and others searching for their brothers, fathers and mothers. Hunger, shock and thirst are the masters of the situation. It is crime, it is genocide in every sense of the word. We call on you to intervene. Immediately for a complete ceasefire and to save what can be saved from the crimes of the occupation. We can no longer endure, but we are patient. We can no longer imagine what is happening, but we are steadfast. We, as social workers, cannot help our children and women and how to help ourselves. “

There is another voice that spoke simply. He cried sometimes and screamed at other times. I don’t know his name. He said:

“I am a social worker. I was in shelter schools, playing with children and helping them as much as possible. I was trying to make them forget the sound of bombs and trying to keep them away from the destruction. Suddenly, one of the missiles fell in this safe school, and a number of children were martyred. I was always trying to play with them and spread a smile on their faces. I don’t know what happened to the children and their families. Everyone has left and is trying to find an umbrella to shade themselves, trying to heal the wounds. 

I ask all social workers in the world to unite their voices towards Palestine and its freedom, towards a ceasefire in Gaza, and towards holding this colonialism accountable. Hold accountable the brutal occupation forces and everyone who bombs, kills and occupies our land, even if they are social workers.

Oh social workers in the free world, do not forget us. We have learned from our colleagues that many of you are raising your voices loudly against colonialism, injustice, and occupation. We want you to raise your voice loudly to end occupation and colonialism. But we also ask for action against those social workers, and social work organisations, such as the Israeli colonial Union of Social Workers who practice killing and destruction. We ask you, in light of this tragedy, to take a step forward and freeze the membership of murderers and monsters and expel them.

I apologize to you in advance IFSW. Do you understand what I’m saying? Do I need to repeat it louder? Social workers in the occupying state participate in the killing and destruction of our people. Isn’t this a shame!”