In light of the deliberate neglect of the occupation, Corona unifies the efforts of Jerusalemites

Juman Abu Arafa - Occupied Jerusalem

With the arrival of the new Corona Virus (Covid-19) in occupied Jerusalem, the violations of the Israeli occupation against the city and its people, who have faced since the occupation of its east in 1967, faced a continuous marginalization of the health, education, economy and other sectors.

More than 460,000 Jerusalemites live in great concern about what will happen in their city after the suspension of education, commercial activity, the closure of places of worship, and the health system sagging in front of the epidemic.

Maher Deeb, the medical director of Mar Youssef Hospital in Jerusalem, confirms that the numbers of the declared Jerusalemites are not close to the truth, indicating in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net that the numbers are greater than what was announced, due to the failure of the Israeli Ministry of Health to conduct investigations and field surveys in East Jerusalem, and prevent the Palestinian Authority From any actual intervention in the city.

Deeb adds that the domestic quarantine is not available to a large percentage of Jerusalemites because of the population density, as it averages 7.3 people per one room of residence, which raises the alarm, in light of the expectations of a large outbreak of Corona in the coming weeks.

Union of more than 80 institutions
In light of these circumstances and expectations, the Jerusalemites decided to reassure their fears themselves and manage the crisis away from lamentation and scarcity of possibilities, and since the 13th of last month, they launched the “Jerusalem Rally to confront Corona” with the participation of civil society institutions in Jerusalem, where today 81 81 Jerusalem institutions are united under their banner, bringing back memory to what Before the occupation of the city.

The coordinator of the "Jerusalem Rally to Face Corona" Ahmed Al-Budeiri told Al-Jazeera Net that the gathering has achieved sovereignty for the Jerusalemites with the services it provides and with the unity it has achieved, as it includes institutions that differed in their stripes and colors, and agreed on one goal that is to protect Jerusalem and enhance its resilience in the face of the Corona pandemic.

The Jerusalemite bloc consists of four arms, which are the arm of the directors of the participating institutions to carry out the supervision and guidance process, the volunteer arm that the gathering attracts and allows them to record their data through a special application, and the communications arm, which provided a hot line in the Arabic language to provide free psychological, health, educational and legal services and consultations.

In addition to the staff of specialists in the above-mentioned areas who united their efforts within the forum, an information and media technology unit that devised applications for communication between parts of the community itself, and between the community, volunteers and citizens joined.

It also launched a Facebook page with an educational and informative mission, in which well-known Jerusalem faces appear in all fields through live broadcasts or attractive designs and phrases.

Just as the group worked to fight rumors by spreading awareness, they fought with their families using the weapon of families, as it communicated with the common family of Mutlaq to deter it, thereby reducing the level of rumors.

Al-Badiri added that the gathering made an appeal to Jerusalem merchants not to monopolize and raise prices, which received a real response.

Field work
In a joint union between the assembly and the Jerusalem hospitals, medical tents were installed adjacent to Al Mutlaa Hospital and Mar Youssef to receive patients and sort them before entering the hospital, in addition to a tent under the French hospital to receive births at the height of the crisis.

As a solution to the problem of quarantine and overcrowding, Al-Badiri said that the gathering, in conjunction with managers of the participating hotels and institutions, had prepared Grand Park, Capitol and Christmas hotels in Jerusalem to receive quarantine cases and doctors from the West Bank working in Jerusalem.

The sterilization of vital institutions, the management of blood donation campaigns, and the provision and storage of emergency medical equipment and tools were also included in the group's ongoing achievements up to the moment and anticipated for the zero hour.

On the zero hour, Marwan al-Ghoul, coordinator of the institutions in the "Jerusalem Rally to Face Corona", says that the gathering is taking an inventory of ineffective medical teams, and calls on doctors, nurses and midwives in Jerusalem to register their data and put them on the reserve list to face the crisis.

Al-Ghoul added to Al-Jazeera Net that the gathering addressed the official Palestinian and international authorities and businessmen to expand the area of ​​support and assistance.

"No one will go hungry in Jerusalem."
While 75% of East Jerusalemites live below the poverty line, Corona has paralyzed the economic movement in the city, increasing the percentage and increasing the need for Jerusalemites to support.

This support was actually launched last Tuesday through the electronic service platform "Madad", which was developed by the Jerusalem Fund and Endowment as a social solidarity platform, to support the Jerusalem Governorate in managing the crisis resulting from the spread of Corona.

"Madad" provides free services to Jerusalemites, such as providing food, relief services, medicines and medical consultations, in addition to the free delivery service, while maintaining the confidentiality of the information of the applicants. It also provided an emergency number that receives Jerusalemites' needs 14 hours per day.

The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Jerusalem Fund and Endowment, Munib Masri, told Al-Jazeera Net that "Madad" aims to ensure access to all needy families, to secure their basic needs and help Jerusalemites abide by the decisions to ban movement and commitment in their homes.

He added, "We must think and work together to get out of this crisis that has afflicted the world. We must also unify our efforts to enable the steadfastness of the people of Jerusalem. They are the first line of defense that stands in the face of the deal of the century."