Arab News Japan

DUBAI: Despite their own troubles in the Gaza Strip, about 500 children gathered and flew kites on March 7 in memory of the victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

The kite-flying event took place in the district of Khan Yunis, where schools, health centers and houses have been built with financial aid from Japan through the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, or UNRWA.

After the tragic earthquake, children in Gaza have been flying kites since 2012 to express their support and condolences to the people of Japan.

The UNRWA event also organized Japan-related activities such as origami and bamboo planting.

Participants planted bamboo, inspired by children in the city of Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture, one of the three northeastern Japan prefectures hit hardest by the disaster.

Bamboo symbolizes “strength,” “loyalty,” and “steadfastness,” and by planting the bamboo trees, it also expresses the hope that the children of Gaza living in difficult areas will “be strong.”

After joining the event, Tolin Al-Taibi, 14, said that she was thinking of disaster-affected people while flying a kite, and expressed her gratitude for Japan’s aid, noting, “They always support us.”

Thomas White, director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, said that the kite-flying event was “a really great opportunity to expose children to another culture” amid Israel’s economic blockade of Gaza.

*With JIJI Press