Activist Dr Fauziah Mohd Hasan undeterred, Gaza still on her mind

Dr Fauziah Mohd Hasan, 59, is one gutsy lady. She may look petite but her strong willpower and passion for humanitarian causes are very much transparent and it is these traits in her that would take her back to Gaza to help the needy and oppressed.

Israel may have detained her and 12 other activists on the night of Oct 5 during a humanitarian mission to Gaza, but this will not deter the gynecologist and obstetrician from participating in other missions to the Palestinian territory, which has been under Israeli siege since 2007.

In an interview with Bernama recently, Dr Fauziah, who returned home on Oct 7 to a hero's welcome after being released, said that nothing will stop her from being part of other aid missions to Gaza, a small territory of 1.8 million people.

Dr Fauziah, who has already been to Gaza twice in 2008 and 2012 under the flag of Medical Relief Society Malaysia (Mercy), said that she would keep track of the next mission to free Gaza, pointing out that a meeting will be held in Stockholm, Sweden on May 15 next year to discuss the matter.

The mother of three and grandmother of six, who is also a board member of NGO Humanitarian Care Malaysia (MyCARE), joined 12 other activists and crew members on the Women’s Boat to Gaza (WBG) mission to challenge the Israeli blockade on Gaza after land routes to the strip were blocked by Israel and

Egypt.

The Zaytouna-Oliva ship, which set sail from Barcelona on Sept 27, was only 35 nautical miles away from the Gaza coast when it was intercepted by three Israeli warships and brought to Ashdod, Israel on the night of Oct 5.

The activists and crew members were detained in Givon Prison but were subsequently released.

The activists on the ship who came from Tunisia, Israel, Algeria, Canada, Turkey, US, Sweden, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia, included the 1976 Nobel Prize winner Irish Mairead Maguire, American director and scriptwriter Naomi Wallace, academic expert from Norway Gerd Von Der Lippe and Turkey's coach and athlete Cigdem Topçuoglo.

Dr Fauziah's concern for Gaza, was further spurred by a United Nations report stating that Gaza could become "uninhabitable" within 2020 due to Israeli military operations and a nearly decade-long blockade.

She stressed that amid this report, the world should give "major priority" to the Gaza strip - "Please do not forget Gaza," she said.

Elaborating on the WBG's mission, she said that the activists were aware that there was a slim chance to break the blockade, but the mission, part of the wider Freedom Flotilla Coalition, wanted the entire world to be aware of the plight of the Palestian people, especially those living in Gaza.

"We have two objectives. Firstly, if we go (manage to reach) Gaza, we are actually unblocking the blockade.

"Secondly if we don’t reach Gaza, at least we have made the whole world aware of what is happening there and what the Israel regime can do to us. At the same time, we are giving a lot of hope to the people of Gaza, that people worldwide are still supporting them."

Gaza however was not Dr Fauziah's first humanitarian mission. She has joined many other similar missions, which has taught her about human values "deeper and deeper each day."

Her first aid mission was in Kosova in 1999. She recalled how the people of Kozovo, whose homes were destroyed, were grateful with the help that reached them, especially from Muslim countries like Malaysia.

"In the rubbles, they search for their cups or glasses and hand it over to us as presents. They went through difficulties, they were at war, but yet they still want to give something to us to take back home," Dr Fauziah reminisced.