Democracy Now! producer Anjali Kamat and Jacquie Soohen of Big Noise Films traveled to the Gaza Strip in March 2009 along with a 60-member international delegation led by Code Pink. They entered via the Rafah crossing controlled by Egypt on March 7 and spent four and a half days traveling across the Strip and meeting journalists, writers, farmers, doctors, economists, lawyers, human rights monitors, teachers, students, UN officials, political activists, emergency relief workers, small business owners, factory workers and owners, and people working in and living near the vast network of illegal tunnels used to smuggle in basic goods to the besieged population of Gaza.

They visited homes, factories, farms, hospitals, schools, government and UN buildings, and entire neighborhoods destroyed or severely damaged by Israel’s latest war and interviewed survivors of attacks by Israeli sniper fire, tank shells, white phosphorous bombs, and bombs dropped by F-16s and Apache helicopters. Almost everyone they spoke to had lost close family members and had their homes and sources of livelihood destroyed in this war.

Below is a sampling of interviews and reports from their trip, with many thanks to their guides in Gaza: Rafah-based journalist Fida Qishta, Jabaliya-based failmmaker Rizq Abu El Aish, and Sami Abu Salem, a journalist for Ramattan from Jabaliya refugee camp.

January 11,2010: One Year After Israeli Assault on Gaza, Survivors from Samouni Family Remember the Tragedy that Killed 29
One year after Israel’s assault on Gaza, we go back to a deadly attack that took place on one Gazan neighborhood. The Samouni family, who live in an agricultural area in the Zaytoun area of Gaza City, lost twenty-nine members of their family in the attack. Anjali Kamat and Jacquie Soohen visited the surviving members of the family in March.

December 30,2009: Flashback: ICRC Spokesman in Gaza Describes Glaring Lack of Medical Access During Israeli Assault
We look back at the glaring lack of access to emergency care for the thousands of people seeking urgent medical help during Israel’s three-week military operation one year ago. Iyad Nasr, the spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross in the bombed-out Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City, describes the ICRC’s operations to Democracy Now!’s Anjali Kamat.

December 28, 2009: Palestinian Journalist Remembers Israel’s Assault on Gaza
One year ago this weekend, Israel began its twenty-two-day assault on the Gaza Strip. Dubbed “Operation Cast Lead,” 1,400 Palestinians and thirteen Israelis were killed in what was Israel’s deadliest attack on Palestinians. We look back on Operation Cast Lead with Palestinian journalist Sami Abu Salem, who was in Gaza during the assault recounted his memories to Democracy Now!’s Anjali Kamat.

August 17, 2009: Human Rights Watch Calls On Israel to Investigate ‘White Flag’ Shootings of Gaza Civilians
Human Rights Watch released a report last week detailing new evidence of possible Israeli war crimes committed during last winter"s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza that left over 1400 Palestinians dead. The report says Israeli soldiers unlawfully shot and killed at least 11 Palestinian civilians, including 5 women and 4 children, who were in groups waving white flags to make clear that they were civilians and not combatants. We speak to HRW’s Fred Abrahams and air exclusive video from Gaza from Democracy Now!‘s Anjali Kamat and Big Noise Film’s Jacquie Soohen.

April 06, 2009: Land of Ruins: A Special Report on Gaza’s Economy
Democracy Now! producer Anjali Kamat files a report on the state of the Gazan economy, where unemployment and poverty rates are among the highest in the world.

March 20, 2009: Palestinian Doctor, Peace Advocate Recounts Israeli Attack on Home that Killed 3 Daughters, Niece
Palestinian gynecologist and peace advocate Dr. Ezzeldeen Abu al-Aish speaks to Democracy Now! producer Anjali Kamat and Jacquie Soohen of Big Noise Films in his home in Jabaliya, Gaza, where Israeli shells killed three of his daughters and a niece two months ago. He recounts the story while walking through his destroyed home.

March 16, 2009: On Trip to Gaza, Parents of Slain Peace Activist Rachel Corrie Remember Their Daughter Six Years After Her Death
Today marks the sixth anniversary of the killing of American peace activist Rachel Corrie by an Israeli military bulldozer in Rafah. She had been trying to prevent the demolition of a Palestinian home near the border with Egypt when she was killed