ZGram - 11/7/2001 - "Will tears buy bandages?"

[Ingrid Rimland]

  Copyright (c) 2001 - Ingrid A. Rimland

 ZGram - Where Truth is Destiny

 November 7, 2001

 Good Morning from the Zundelsite:

 I neglected to give you a reference about the Udo Voigt interview I ran
day before yesterday.  It was in  FINAL CONFLICT, a quarterly magazine
coming out of Britain.  Their website is www.politicalsoldier.net

 My apologies!

 =====

On to the ZGram:

This Truth-Seeking Missile was being sent by the indefatiguable Mackenzie
Paine, and I am passing it on.

 It comes in two parts.  The first, below the line, was evidently written
by an upset Israeli.  The second part is a summary by Dr. Majed Nassar,
Health Work Committee Deputy Director at Beit Sahour Medical Center.

 This is a shocking document!

 [START]

 To Dr. Majed Nassar

 By Aharon  Shabbetai

 Ha-aretz, Friday, 2 November 2001

  The electronic mail was  not silent for even a moment.

 For the past three days, a pogrom has washed  over six cities like a muddy
wave. A doctor from Beit Sahour collected  portions of blood for the
wounded of Bethlehem.

 But it is not possible  to send them.  The tanks are besieging the
hospital Therefore a youth dead from sniper fire was brought to him from
Manger Square.

 Dear Dr. Nassar, can  words

 Cause the finger of the sniper to tremble?

 Will tears buy  bandages?

 You stopped counting your wounded (you write today)

 Some of  them are lying outside.

 Will you be comforted by the fact

 that these  tanks

 that kill In my name

 are digging the deepest grave possible for my  compatriots?

  ----------------------------------

  The Israeli tanks left Bethlehem last  week, leaving in their wake a
trail of destruction.  At the same time,  another process of destruction
was begun in numerous other places including  Jabalia Refugee Camp, Beit
Lahia, Tulkarem, and Nablus.  The destruction  continues, but unfortunately
for the people living there, these places are not  as famous as Bethlehem. 
The Bethlehem Municipality has estimated the  damages caused by one week of
Israeli brutality to be over US$ 15 million, not  to mention the relatively
high number of people killed and injured.

 Since  the beginning of the Intifada just over a year ago, 791
Palestinians have been  killed (as well as 190 Israelis).*   Among the dead
are 200 children,  4 physicians, 6 paramedics, 3 journalists, and 32 women.
Twenty-five persons  were killed by Israeli settlers.  Ninety-three people
were  assassinated.  Of the 31,139 persons injured, 7,500 are children and
1,400  are women.  Ninety-eight ambulances have come under fire and were
damaged  or destroyed.  One Palestinian ambulance was taken over by the
Israeli army  which used it in its invasion of Azzoun and Salfit where
numerous villagers were  arrested.  In the month of October 2001 alone, 87
Palestinians were  killed.

 Since January 2001, the Israeli government has begun 25 new  Israeli
settlements. More land was confiscated around Jerusalem and the  Jerusalem
Municipality approved the building of 270 new housing units.   Eighteen
hectares of land from Sheikh Jarrah and 12 hectares from Esawiyyeh in
Jerusalem were confiscated in addition to 30 hectares near Ramallah and 14
hectares near Sammou/Hebron.  One hundred new military posts were
erected.  Thousands of trees were uprooted (over 8,100 in October  2001). 
Settlers have poisoned and destroyed agricultural land in the area  of
Toubas.  Water reservoirs and pipe systems were destroyed by  bulldozers. 
In October 2001, a total of 467 houses were destroyed either  partially or
completely.  In Hebron, seven homes were completely destroyed,  and the
Israeli army occupied 20 other houses and evacuated their  inhabitants.  In
October, 328 Palestinians were detained and 342 cars  were destroyed. Also
due to the siege, ninety-two schools were completely  closed.  Several
schools were shot at or raided.

 The economy  continues to deteriorate.  The unemployment rate is between
fifty and  seventy percent.  Every day there is an increasing number of
patients  coming to HWC centers who cannot afford to pay even the minimal
fees we charge  for examination or medication.  As many of the specialized
doctors are  unable to reach their working places, the number of patients
receiving  specialized services at our centers has dropped considerably. 
At the  same time, we receive daily many applications for work, any work.

 The  Health Work Committees is asking the international community for help
and  support, not only for its medical centers and programs but also for
the entire  Palestinian people.  In January 2001, the Health Work
Committees introduced  an emergency plan outlining the necessary steps to
be taken in order to ensure  the health and coherence of Palestinian
society.  Unfortunately, only a few  organizations have dealt with this
strategy in a serious manner, although it was  adopted by all attending
governmental and non-governmental bodies.

 The  following are the four major points that should be addressed in the
short  term:

 1.      Acquisition of funding to ensure  that basic operating costs of
all medical and health facilities are  covered;

 2.      Acquisition of funding to  ensure that necessary emergency and
other medical equipment is upgraded and/or  replaced according to need;

 3.        Assurance that medical personnel and outreach teams have free
access to their  workplaces;

 4.      Acquisition of funding to  ensure ongoing medical and health care
staff training, including training in  basic mental health services;

 What has Israel gained through its invasion  of Palestinian cities?  If
the aim was destruction, then Israel has most  certainly succeeded.  If the
aim, however, is to crush the Palestinian  resistance movement against
Israeli military occupation, then the Israeli  Government and Sharon have
failed miserably, and will continue to fail in the  future.

 As the poem above reminds us, it is never a comfort to see  someone
dying.  It is never a comfort to dig graves.  It is very sad,  indeed, to
see that the Israeli government is committing and repeating the same  old
mistakes that colonial powers committed ages ago.  They can never  win.

 It is time for Israel to let the Palestinians go.  It is time  for Israel
to leave the occupied territories and not come back, except as  friends
with peaceful intentions.

 Dr. Majed Nassar

 HWC Deputy  Director

 *All statistics are taken from the latest newsletter of the  Palestinian
Council for Justice and Peace (November 2001)

 Health Work  Committees/Beit Sahour Medical Center

 POB 44, Beit Sahour, Palestine

 tel:  972-2-277-4444

 fax: 972-2-277-5567

 e-mail: bsmc@p-ol.com

  [END]

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  Thought for the Day:

  "Apply the cui bono principle."

  (Letter to the Zundelsite)