shelter box appeal

Gaza. Why we must act.

There comes a point when politics, ethnicity, and tribal loyalties become irrelevant. Right now, nearly two million people, in Gaza and beyond, have lost their homes and are desperately trying to find shelter among the rubble of their towns and villages.  Babies are dying of exposure and hundreds of thousands of families are broken, grieving, and placed in the unending hell of dislocation. Faced with human suffering on such a scale, the humanitarian imperative trumps every argument  

 That’s why the Convention, which stages large progressive conferences on such things as Brexit and The Rule of Law, is holding an evening of music, readings, and speeches in aid of ShelterBox, a UK-based charity that provides tents, bedding, cooking equipment and hygiene kits to people hit by both natural and man-made disasters.

 We aim to raise enough money to help 100 families. That’s maybe 500-600 individuals.

 This is a tiny number, we know, but the event is important because it tells those who are suffering that there are people beyond the Middle East and its divisions who now simply see their distress. And, also, because the act of giving and the demonstration of empathy are important pushbacks at a time when the world has become that much darker, and available compassion seems reduced.

This new state of the world could not have been more sharply demonstrated than on January 27, 2025, the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz, when world leaders gathered with survivors at the camp to remember the millions murdered and broken by the Holocaust.

That same day, President Donald Trump choose to suggest that the millions bombed out of Gaza should be permanently resettled in Jordon and Egypt and that “they” – presumably, the Israelis – should start again in Gaza. If there is one message from the ceremony at Auschwitz it is the need to guard against this kind of casual dehumanisation, where an entire population can be forced from their land to clear the way for attractive new beachfront properties. 

This event, then, is dedicated to a humanitarian need and the recognition that everyone in the situation of nearly two million Palestinians has a claim on our sympathy and support. 

Henry Porter