More than 50% of the 1.6 million Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip are under the age of 18. This raises a terrifying question: What does it mean for the future of peace in the Middle East if these children are growing up amid bombs, destruction, high unemployment and prison-like restrictions on personal freedoms? In this interview, Dr. Eyad Serraj, president of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, talks about the effects of this harsh reality on children and families, what it takes to overcome them and what is required of the international community. [Note: This interview was commissioned by The Child’s View from Gaza Ad Hoc Organizing Committee in Vancouver, BC, Canada, in conjunction with a presentation of Gaza children’s art in March 2012.]
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Caring for Gaza’s kids
