|
20 December 2006 "Gaza Community Mental Health Programme Condemns the Internal Palestinian Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) denounces the internal fighting and grave escalation of violence between armed groups from Fatah and Hamas, which led to the death and injury of many people in the last few days. GCMHP considers such incidents a crime against Palestinian people and their just cause. GCMHP regrets that the violent incidents spread to include attacks on health and educational institutions, converting them to a battlefield between the conflicting parties and resulting in causalities amongst innocent civilians. The Gaza Community Mental Health Programme warns of the dangerous ramifications of such conflicts and their impacts on the mental health of all Palestinians. Such impacts include; increasing people's anger, worries, frustration, fear, and feelings of insecurity about their safety and lives and their children's. We, at GCMHP – being part of the civil society, and from our long experience in the ramifications of such incidents on the psychological state of people, and as part of our national responsibility towards this serious deterioration - announce our availability to contribute to any mediation efforts or activities in order to bridge the gap between the conflicting parties. We are also ready to work towards reaching compromising solutions to serve the public interests, which in turn; will reflect positively on the mental health state of Palestinian citizens. Moreover, we, at GCMHP, forewarn of the negative repercussions of the continuation of the violent incidents on the social peace, threatening the internal stability, and the social fabric and structure of the whole Palestinian community. We, also, stress that the sole beneficiary of the continuation and escalation of such events are the enemies of Palestinian people, who are lurking and attempting to ignite turmoil and internal riots, achieving their interests of dragging the Palestinian cause to a cycle of internal clashes, marginalization, and lack of respect from the international community, and even from friends of Palestinians worldwide. Accordingly, Gaza Community Mental Health Programme calls for the following: 1- The declarations and speeches made by Fatah and Hamas leaders – which we consider a good start - should be translated into practical steps on the grounds in order to stop clashes and defuse the crisis in a manner that ends all the military actions and clashes; particularly, pulling armed groups from the streets immediately. 2- All parties should resort to dialogue and avoid the use of weapons as a mean to solve their conflicts. 3- Prevention of frictions between militant groups, particularly in health, educational, and all other civil places in order to avoid converting intuitions into battlefields. 4- Intensification of mediation efforts from our brothers and friends to hold meetings between the conflicting parties in order to end the crisis. 5- Immediate start for negotiations to form a national unity government, capable of lifting the unjust international siege on Palestinian people, and ensures social peace and dignified life for all Palestinians in order to continue their legitimate struggle to get their rights of self-determination and establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Gaza Community Mental Health Programme |