Palestinians express solidarity with Turkey-Syria earthquake victims

The Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and the besieged Gaza Strip expressed their solidarity with the victims in Turkey and Syria impacted by Monday morning's earthquake.

On Monday morning, a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Turkey and Syria, killing at least 11,000 people as they slept, levelling buildings and sending tremors as far away as Cyprus and Egypt.

In Gaza, dozens of Palestinians participated on Tuesday night in a solidarity vigil for Turkey and Syrian, lighting candles and praying for the victims of the humanitarian catastrophe.

"We came here to deliver our condolences to our brothers and sisters in Turkey and Syria," Ethar Nassar, a Khan Younis resident, said to The New Arab as she carried a picture of destroyed Turkish and Syrian cities.

"As Gazans," the 25-year-old young woman said, "we know very well what it means to lose our relatives, to experience destruction and displacement because we already experienced such tragic stories amid the endless Israeli wars against us."

"We are following up on the situation in Turkey and Syria, and we feel their pain, and we pray for the survivors to have the power to continue their lives soon," Nassar added.

Rana al-Haddad, another participant, said to TNA, "all of us [Arabs] have to go to the streets and demand their governments to give aid to both Turkey and Syria, despite the political positions about them."

The 18-year-old university student believes that at this moment, "humanity must win out during this situation and all the people have to help each other."

"We are suffering from a real disaster, and we have to help all the victims," she said. 

Similar opinions were shared by Abdul Majeed Abu Sowailem, a Ramallah-based political analyst. But, he said, "it seems that the disaster will not encourage the United States to lift its sanctions against Syria, which suffers from an ongoing war that's lasted more than a decade."

"The US sanctions imposed on Syria and the current humanitarian situation are considered harmful, especially since the Syrians need to obtain emergency aid as soon as possible," he opined.

Officially, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Ishtaye announced that civil defence and medical teams were dispatched to "participate in search and rescue work for the victims of the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria," according to a statement issued by his office.

Ahmed al-Deek, an assistant Palestinian foreign minister for political affairs, told TNA that the delegation would consist of 64 people.

Meanwhile, Palestinian activists in Turkey and Syrian Palestinian activists launched a solidarity campaign dubbed "Palestine with You," providing relief and support in southern Turkey and northern Syria.

"It is an expression of gratitude, solidarity and gratitude," according to Mohammed Abu Taqiyya, a spokesperson for the campaign.

He said the campaign was launched by a group of civil society institutions in Turkey, in cooperation with the Palestinian diaspora, to support the Palestinian community, in addition to Turkish and Syrian victims of the earthquake.

"Palestine has always appreciated humanitarian stands and learned the meanings of a person losing his family and his home and sleeping in the open air, and this stand came to carry these values," he said.

"Volunteers in the campaign assist both Turkish and Syrian authorities in evacuating the injured and providing tents, food and some medicine for the survivors of the humanitarian disaster," Abu Taqiyya added.

"Here," he stressed, "there is no difference between Turkish, Syrian or Palestinian (…) all of us share the same fate, and we have to be unified to overcome this catastrophe."