
“In Conversation with John Ging” Head of UNWRA
By
Dr Hanan Chehata
Press Officer, Middle East Monitor, London
This morning (November 30th) John Ging, the Head of the United Nation’s Relief and Works Agency (), hosted a discussion on the current crisis in the Gaza Strip. The closed seminar, which was co-hosted and organised by Oliver McTernan, Director of Forward Thinking and Dr Daud Abdullah Director of the Middle East Monitor, was attended by a small group of prominent individuals with a deep interest and commitment to the situation in the region. Those in attendance included Clare Short (MP), Jeremy Bowen (BBC), a representative of the Malaysian High Commissioner, a representative from Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP), Interpal, the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and several members of the press.
The main focus of the discussion was the siege on Gaza and what needs to be done to alleviate the suffering of the 1.4 million Gazans trapped in the region.
Policy makers must go to Gaza and see the situation for themselves
John Ging started by giving an overview of the situation in Gaza. According to Ging, one of the main problems at the moment is simply that “the truth is not getting out.” What is happening on the ground is not being reported widely enough or accurately enough. Throughout the meeting one of Ging’s main action points was to suggest that people, particularly high profile policy makers, go to Gaza to see the situation for themselves. He stood firm by his conviction that if members of Parliament and Congress and governments around the world could see first hand what was going on in Gaza, they would be forced to implement a change in their policies in the region. “I am convinced that they will be compelled to do more if they see the situation for themselves”, he stated. It is not enough to just sit around a Foreign Ministry table and discuss the situation. The Ministers must first go out and see the situation with their own eyes and then go back and have their meeting, he argued. This is particularly important in the case of EU member states, he said and for the members of the Quartet.