As part of a ten-day mission to the region, the UN SG’s Special Representative for Sports for development and peace, Wilfried Lemke of Germany, will visit Gaza today and tomorrow, and will enter Gaza via Israel’s Erez crossing, or “Border Terminal”.
UPDATE AND CORRECTION: According to information in a UN press release prepared by an information officer accompanying the UN’s “top sports envoy”, Lemke apparently could not enter Gaza on Sunday, because the IDF had closed the Erez checkpoint [possibly because of the demonstration described below]. So, he must have made a round-trip on Monday, when Erez was open, despite what Israeli sources reported was an unusual Palestinian attack, reportedly involving cars and horses carrying explosives, on the Nahal Oz fuel crossing in middle Gaza, after which every crossing but Erez was closed. The formal UN press release reported that Lemke said, after meeting young Palestinian athletes at a sports stadium in Gaza City: “I am deeply touched by the plight of the people of Gaza”. This UN press release can be read in full here.
In an interview at the American Colony Hotel on Saturday evening, Lemke said that the mission was his idea, after the IDF’s Operation Cast Lead (27 December-18 January), and that UNSG BAN Ki-Moon had fully endorsed and backed the proposal.
Last evening, back in Jerusalem after a long trip through the northern West Bank to see sports projects in the cities of Nablus and Qalqilya, Lemke explained that when he learned from different media reports about how professional and prepared German soldiers returning from duty in Afghanistan had been affected by psychological shock [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder], he realized how much worse the situation must be for Palestinian children, particularly those in Gaza after the recent large-scale Israeli military operation there.
About six and a half weeks ago, he said, he travelled to UNHQ/NY to discuss a proposed intiative with the UNSG. “We have to do something to help the children in Gaza”, Lemke said he told the SG. “Perhaps I can bring some sports to them and their communities”.
Lemke said that BAN “totally agreed”, and said: “Yes, go there and see what’s going on. Try to build up some programs with NGOs and other organizations … Don’t worry about the funding, just think about projects. Listen and learn what the UN can do”.
Continue reading UNSG's Special Representative for Sports, Willy Lemke, going to visit Gaza today