By Yvonne Ridley

WHEN I signed my first petition demanding justice for the Palestinian people I was a 13-year-old schoolgirl and it marked the start of what has become a lifetime commitment.

 From reading about the atrocities of Sabra and Shatila through to personally eye witnessing the aftermath of the Jenin Massacre and climbing on board a boat to break the Siege of Gaza, I thought that little more could shock me as I tried to raise awareness of such breathtaking injustices.

 There were many Americans on the two boats that did break the siege to Gaza and I've met many people like you, reading this column today, who are equally committed to the Palestinian struggle.

 It seems there are no depths to which Israel will not plumb in its bid to destroy, degrade and brutalise the Palestinians … and all with the complicity of most European governments and the unconditional support of the powers that control Capitol Hill.

 Heroic US President Jimmy Carter was right when he called Israel the Apartheid State and if the Palestinians were all black instead of olive skinned, then probably the rest of the world would see more clearly the blatant discrimination at play. Black lives do matter, but so do other lives whatever shade or olive hue our skin is; if we cut and bleed our blood is the same colour, isn't it?

 What I am trying to say is that I thought I was beyond being shocked by the antics of the Zionist State but something happened which caught my breath and I'm reminded it of today as I prepared to go to a Palestinian fundraiser in London. It came by way of an email from an acquaintance I’d met in Egypt some years earlier and in the header was a message which read “Gazan guy with Cancer”.

 The message was only 39 words long but let me share it with you. It read: “There is a guy in Gaza who suffers from cancer. Can you find a way to get him to the UK to do the medical care that he needs? Any medical reports are ready to be sent to you.”

 Most of us, wherever in the world we live, know someone or some family which has been afflicted by cancer; such a terrible disease that even today some people cannot bear to use the C-word.

 Having seen with my own eyes the pitiful resources of doctors in Gaza, I cannot begin to imagine what it must be like to suffer from any illness in Palestine. Hospitals and clinics are at the mercy of charities and medical aid. Quite how cancer sufferers cope with life threatening diseases such as the Big C is beyond me.

 I mulled over the email for a while. Had this been anywhere else in the world I would have gone to the media, organised an airlift, tugged on peoples’ heartstrings, raised tens of thousands with this man’s plight.

 But the reality is Palestine is largely a dirty word in the mainstream media, a turn off, a cause to be avoided so I knew this course of action would not work. Instead I contacted a heroic little charity called InterPal. Based in the UK and banned in America, its work is globally recognised and admired universally except among your neocons and Israel which tried – and failed – to demonise the charity.

 Emerging fearless and victorious from all sorts of court battles and legal clashes, I knew if anyone could help this cancer sufferer InterPal would and so I forwarded my friend’s email to the charity. Now at this stage I imagine some of you will think this story has a happy ending and if this man were born anywhere else other than Palestine it probably would. Instead the email that came back left me shocked.

 I was informed the charity would investigate and do its best to try and help the cancer sufferer and then I was told: “There are currently more than 25,000 people with medical issues awaiting permission from the Egyptians and Israelis to leave Gaza for treatment. Not all will have cancer, but many - too many - are suffering from very serious illnesses”.

 This is truly shocking and depressing. Let me run that statistic by you again: 25,000 people who need medical attention are awaiting permission from the Egyptians and the Israelis to leave Gaza for treatment.

 There are screaming headlines in Britain if the National Health Service fails to meet deadlines for patients and I know the recent brouhaha over Obama Care and Donald Trump’s intervention is still making headlines in America.

In Britain, the NHS states quite clearly that for cancer victims: “You shouldn't have to wait more than two weeks to see a specialist if your GP suspects you have cancer and urgently refers you”.

 And yet there are 25,000 Palestinians in Gaza who need medical attention including cancer victims. We know some of them will never get to see a specialist because of the siege of Gaza and we know that for many more, when they do see a specialist, it will be too late.

 If 25,000 is a figure difficult to visualise or comprehend then imagine half the crowd who filled the London Olympic Stadium in 2012 or half of those who watched the football World Cup final in Brazil.

 Sadly, the statistics coming out of Palestine never fail to shock and dismay. The world should hang its head in shame that seriously ill people are being denied basic medical facilities that the rest of the world takes for granted.

 No wonder so much of the work done by Palestinian charities involve medical aid. It seems there’s more chance of saving lives within the confines of the little Strip than there is expecting any compassion or help from those who maintain the brutal siege by land, sea and air.

 (Yvonne Ridley is an author and journalist living in the UK. Her latest books is called TORTURE: Does it work? Interrogation issues and effectiveness in the Global War on Terror. You can order a copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Torture-Interrogation-issues-effectiveness-Global-x/dp/1782668306 )