American Friends Service Committee
When the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
left nearly 250,000 Palestinian refugees stranded in Gaza, the United
Nations turned to AFSC to help organize relief services. Early in 1949,
20 AFSC staffers faced a sea of people and began distributing food,
clothing, tents, and blankets. Ultimately, a renowned African-American
physician, Dr. Jerome Peterson, came to manage medical care.
While
staff from other relief agencies lived apart in guarded houses, the
Quakers “lived as close as we could … open and present and among the
people all the time.” By 1950, when the United Nations took over, more
than 100 AFSC staffers had worked in Gaza—most of them in their 20s and
early 30s. They had managed to help Palestinians create schools,
maternity centers, metal shops, and recreation clubs.
Learn More
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| Camps were roughly grouped around three cities: Gaza (the largest), Khan Younis, and Rafah. | | | |
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| The cold, rainy winters in Gaza made adequate shelter essential. |
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| Even with donated blankets, nights were so chilly that people often huddled together to stay warm. |
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| Lentils and beans supplemented flour and oil in the refugees’ meager diets. |
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| Initially, children had no writing tools. They learned by reciting aloud and sat on the mats, sacks or the ground. |
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| Even in these surroundings, “they had the boundless eagerness of school children everywhere,” wrote one volunteer. | |
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