After many years of dedicated services to the people of Gaza through Department of Service to Palestinian Refugees (DSPR), a branch of the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC), our good friend Dr Issa Tarazi has recently retired.

For the last 11 years he headed DSPR’s work in Gaza running vital social service projects, including the Well Baby Clinic that Embrace supports, and acting as host to Embrace staff and trustees as we’ve travelled to visit and support our friends and partners.

Here are his parting words, thanking all of us who’ve stood with him and his colleagues as they work for dignity and better life prospects for all living in the Gaza Strip.

My colleagues, partners and friends, I send each one of you my warmest wishes. It is with a heavy heart that I bid farewell to each and every one of you as I end my term of service as Executive Director of the Gaza Area Committee. 

When one leaves a position of responsibility with persevering work for over eleven years, one feels a little sad at departure. The attachments I have made working will remain with me, particularly at a time when the dwindling numbers of Christians in Gaza requires from all of us in the Gaza Strip to stand together as we take part in the challenges facing Gaza and our Palestinian people.

I take this opportunity to thank each one of you for your sense of commitment. In particular, I am thankful for my colleagues, the Executive Directors of the DSPR/MECC Areas, with whom I shared the togetherness of working for the cause of Palestinian refugees.

I am also proud of the work that my colleagues in Gaza have done, even at times of great challenge and risks to themselves. All of the Gaza Staff have been a source of strength for our work and for me personally. 

I always enjoyed getting together with the Members of the Central Committee as we shared not only our accomplishments and achievements but also the challenges facing us across the DSPR. It was always an occasion to renew our bonds of working for the cause and to see each other across our different, and often difficult, physical and other borders.

May I also appreciate the cooperation I have had with the Central Office team. They were always responsive to the demands and requirements of working together.

I have a special word of thanks to offer to our Partners. Without naming each one of you in person, I would like to register my personal appreciation for the commitments you have made to the Palestinian people in Gaza and to the strong bonds of friendship that I have developed with you over the years.

For me, as well for the Staff and Members of the Gaza Area Committee, some of you have become 'household' names with pride for your association and concern for our work in Gaza. I would always welcome you in Gaza whenever you visit so we can share together some of the experiences that have made a difference for thousands of our people across the Gaza Strip.

I remain attached to the work being done in Gaza and to all the people associated with it. I want to assure all of you that I carry the best of thoughts to the work being done, to the Rights Holders in the Gaza Strip and to all of you who enable Gazans, of all backgrounds, to stand together for dignity and for better prospects of life.

I bid you farewell as you remain close to my thoughts and heart. 

With best wishes, 

Dr Issa Tarazi

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