Palestinians from Gaza and Pick Up For Gaza have called for a global strike on 1 October 2024.
An effort to draw attention to the atrocities in the enclave and to unite protest movements to make a change and bring an end to Israel’s ‘killing machine’. Organiser Hanin Siam says activists have been too focused on their local initiatives and a global effort is needed to force change.
“We want people to stop their work and protest. Use speakers to air the sounds of the air strikes that are hitting us and our people, so people know what we are living through.” seven-year-old journalist from Gaza, Lama Jamous, tells MEMO.
This powerful plea from Gaza’s youngest journalist reflects the desperate situation unfolding in Gaza and the urgent need for global solidarity. Lama, along with Dr Ahmed Al-Mughrabi, former head of the Plastic and Burns Department at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, is calling for a global strike to be held on 1 October in support of Palestinians in the Strip.
Organised by Pick Up for Gaza, an initiative led by a group of activists, the strike aims to bring international attention to the ongoing violence and atrocities in Gaza, urging people worldwide to stop working, stop purchasing and take a firm stand against the silence surrounding the suffering of Palestinians.
“Red lines traditionally observed in conflicts have been completely disregarded by Israel in Gaza,” says Al-Mughrabi.
Hospitals, schools, churches and aid organisations have all been targets. The indiscriminate violence is devastating, and yet the international community remains largely silent. “They are killing everybody; they don’t care,” he says.
Al-Mughrabi was evacuated to Cairo earlier this year but still speaks passionately about the ongoing atrocities in Gaza. Describing the situation as nothing short of genocide, he recalled the siege of Nasser Hospital, where essential supplies like food and clean water were entirely cut off. “My own child would ask me for sweets, and I couldn’t even find dry bread,” he explains.
As the Israeli bombardment intensified, hospitals became more than just medical facilities, they served as shelters for the displaced. “At one point, we had around 5,000 displaced people inside,” he said. “It was overwhelming. Alongside our patients in the ICU and burns unit, we were all just trying to survive together.”
Each day was a blur of surgeries, as the hospital was flooded with patients suffering from severe injuries, he explains. “During those first months of the war, I barely slept,” he said. “Maybe one, 2 maybe three hours a night, if I was lucky. I was so focused on the people in front of me that I barely had time to think about what was happening outside.”
Then came the chilling night in mid-February when the hospital itself became a target. “At 2am, they bombed the main surgical building. The smoke filled the air, and we had patients who were killed and injured right in front of us.”
“We couldn’t even look out the windows because of snipers. We were trapped,” he adds. He swapped his scrubs for civilian clothes and took his family and left through the checkpoint which had been erected by occupation forces at Nasser Hospital. He explains that he was forced to pretend to be a civilian because occupation troops were targeting surgeons. “Either they kill us or they detain us,” he says, adding that the fate of many of his colleagues remains unknown after they were disappeared by occupation forces following the siege of Nasser Hospital.
According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Israeli occupation forces have killed over 41,500 Palestinians in Gaza since October last year, injuring more than 96,000 others. These numbers are not just statistics; they represent lives lost, families shattered and a population suffering an endless cycle of violence.
For children like Lama Jamous, who experienced this violence, the trauma is inescapable. “We went from Gaza City to Khan Yunis, and the situation there was very bad. We stayed in tents, and it was terrible. People were living in tents that didn’t even protect them from the elements,” Lama explains, describing how her family was forced to flee from city to city – one danger to another – eventually reaching Egypt, though not by choice.
“We didn’t want to leave our country like this, under these circumstances,” she adds, highlighting the deep connection many Palestinians feel to their land, even as they are forcibly displaced from it. Yet, her spirit remains unbroken. “I wanted to raise my voice and tell the world… We are just people living peacefully in our homes, and Israeli occupation forces come and destroy them. What is our fault?”
The 1 October global strike is about making the world stop and take notice. It is about ending complacency and forcing international leaders to reckon with the consequences of their silence.
The Pick Up for Gaza team hopes that the scale and visibility of the strike will lead to greater pressure on governments and international bodies to intervene and halt the bombardment of Gaza.
The strength of this grassroots movement is evident in the rapid success of their organising efforts. In just a few weeks they were able to connect people from 86 countries, to coordinate this global initiative. A member of the team, Kendall Paige and her fellow organisers have worked tirelessly to amplify the voices of Palestinians, sharing their stories and raising awareness through social media and international collaborations.
Paige acknowledged that although she is not Palestinian, she feels a profound sense of responsibility toward the people of Gaza. “This is not what humanity looks like. We need to take a step back and just not allow this to continue,” explains Paige.
“The atrocities we’re seeing should never happen to anyone. That’s why we won’t stop until Palestine is free,” she adds.
This sentiment of empathy and global responsibility has resonated with activists worldwide, fuelling the momentum for the 1 October strike. They believe that stopping the world, even for a day, will send a powerful message to leaders and governments complicit in the violence through arms sales and support for Israeli military operations.
“We need to stop the flow of weapons that are being used to commit these war crimes,” urged Al-Mughrabi, adding that loudspeakers should be used to play the sounds of explosions that are a daily reality in Gaza, making it impossible for the international community to ignore the suffering any longer.
“The occupation must end,” he states firmly. “And countries must stop supporting the occupiers. This global strike is just one step, but we need it to be more effective, more widespread, and we need it to continue.”
We hit the streets and asked: Will you STOP for Gaza on Oct. 1st?
From Canada, Syria, Japan, India; people from all over the world are saying ‘YES’!
Make your pledge at https://t.co/iGiskNHTPr – and spread the word!
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•#shibuya #tokyo pic.twitter.com/7n2HvHyxzZ— Pick Up For Gaza (@PickUpForGaza) September 25, 2024