Swimming with Gaza. Swimming for Gaza.

An international initiative saw people from all over the world swimming with the children of Gaza on Saturday 26 August.  In Portugal, the initiative took place that day at Carcavelos Beach, following on from another event promoted by MPPM at Melides Beach on 22 July.

Since 2007, the inhabitants of Gaza have been trapped in an iron blockade.  They have no parks, no mountains, no valleys, but they do have the beach, their only free space for leisure.  That's why every year, at the end of September, they hold a swimming festival on Gaza Beach.

This year, the Gaza Swimming Carnival was held earlier, on 26 August, to coincide with a major international initiative.  The idea came from Paul O'Brian, from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, who invited people and organisations all over the world to show solidarity with Palestinian children that day by taking a dip in the sea, a river, or a swimming pool and sharing their videos or photos with them.

So far, 800 children from Gaza, aged between 9 and 13, have received swimming lessons.  Another 150 children from families unable to afford lessons have learnt to swim in classes funded by the Swim With Gaza (SWG) initiative.  They all took part in the Gaza Swimming Carnival.

In Portugal, Elena Probst and Hindi Mesleh organised this initiative at Praia de Carcavelos and brought together a small but committed group of people who drew attention to the situation of the inhabitants of Gaza, especially its children, and expressed their solidarity.

Meanwhile, and taking advantage of the "Give Peace a Chance" Camp organised by Plataforma pela Paz e o Desarmamento ("Platform for Peace and Disarmament"), MPPM had already promoted a "Swim with Gaza" initiative at Melides Beach on 22 July.

The Swim With Gaza organisation broadcast live on its Facebook and YouTube channels and updated information on its website and Twitter feed. The event was also reported on Al Jazeera's Arabic and English channels.