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Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, July/August 2004, pages 62-64 Southern California Chronicle Child Psychiatrist Says Young Gazans Suffering From Diseases, Poor Health CareBy Pat and Samir Twair
IN RESPONSE to the catastrophe taking place in Rafah, the Southern California Chapter of KinderUSA hosted an emergency fund-raising program during the Memorial Day weekend featuring a talk by clinical psychiatrist Dr. Jess Ghannam of the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Ghannam travels every three months to Palestine where, over the past 12 years, he has established clinics in Gaza City, Jabaliyah, Khan Younis and Deir al-Balah under the auspices of the Gaza Community Mental Health program. “The Israelis have targeted the infrastructure of health care delivery,” stated the clinical psychoanalyst, “That is what occupiers do.” Kidney failure, rising rates of cancer and shortage of vaccines are the three major results he sees from Israel’s violation of the basic human right of health care. “The Israelis dig deeper into the water table so that all that’s left is salt water for the Palestinians,” he explained. “This causes kidney problems. I’ve seen Palestinian children faint in the classroom because of this. And some pass out just because there wasn’t proper water to drink.” Dr. Ghannam speculated that the growing incidences of cancer are caused by Israel’s use of Gaza as a dumping ground for its toxic waste, which then seeps into the water table. The rate of vaccinations in Gaza is 50 percent less than it was before Oslo, he noted, and could leave the population vulnerable to an epidemic of infectious diseases. “Palestinian children show the highest symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the world, according to the World Health Organization,” he added, “but somehow they don’t exhibit the disorder.” The children may have nightmares and wet their beds, he said, but when it comes to being basket cases, they show an amazing resilience. The entire community is in the same situation, he pointed out. Everyone comes together, and the love within the family group transcends the outside attack. “These children go to school,” he said, “they connect with family relationships, they are united against a common enemy. “The Palestinians are facing an existential crisis—they are on the verge of being exterminated,” Dr. Ghannam warned. “What Sharon does not comprehend,” he concluded, “is that the Palestinians are going to remain no matter what terror he rains down on them.” KinderUSA is sending milk and blankets directly to Rafah. For information or to contribute, visit its Web site at <www.kinderusa.org>. “Co-existence, Co-resistance, Co-operation” Series Opens
On the 56th anniversary of the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe), Women in Black/Los Angeles (WIB-LA) and the Palestine Aid Society (PAS) co-hosted the first in a series of “Co-existence, Co-resistance and Co-operation” educational programs at UCLA. The theme of the May 15 program was “The Past, Present and Future of Israel/Palestine.” Moderator Mark Kaswan noted it was no coincidence that Israelis have been attacking the Rafah refugee camp in southern Gaza during the anniversary of the Nakba. As Israelis demolish homes in Rafah, they are extending the no-man’s-land on the 4.5-mile-long Egyptian/Israeli border, Kaswan stressed. A 250-meter-wide buffer zone is now being extended for a couple of hundred meters—and, in the process, Israel has demolished 131 residential buildings. “During the first 10 days of May, 1,100 Palestinians have been made homeless,” Kaswan stated. “As of May 14, 29 Palestinians have died and 13 Israeli soldiers have been killed in Rafah.” Who knows, he speculated, maybe the Israelis will continue to bulldoze houses until Rafah no longer exists. Wrapping up the morning session was a panel discussion on “Myths and Facts of Zionism and the Palestinian Experience.” Speakers were Tamara Hamdan of USC Students for Justice in Palestine, Dr. Najwa al-Qattan of Loyola Marymount University, UCLA’s Dr. Gabriel Piterberg, and Dr. Mahmood Ibrahim of the California Polytechnic University, Pomona. Professor Ibrahim, who earlier outlined the history of the Palestinians, noted that the first intifada reawakened many Israelis and the rest of the world to the needs of the Palestinians living under military occupation. So effective was the uprising, he said, that the Oslo accords were instituted to negate the strides made by leaders of the intifada and the Israeli peace movement. After Oslo, Ibrahim pointed out, settlements increased and the nascent Palestinian economy went into a tailspin. When asked about the role of the U.S. in the creation of Israel, Dr. Piterberg said that, in the early stages, the U.S. was important but not central to the founding of the state. The Soviet Union was more critical, he explained, particularly when it allowed a shipment of arms from Czechoslovakia to reach Zionist forces. “Since 1967, the U.S. is sustaining the occupation,” Piterberg said. “The Israeli right wing is aware the U.S. doesn’t want peace.” As for the possibility of Israel withdrawing from land it occupies, the UCLA scholar said, Israelis are too conditioned never to relinquish land ever to do so. “There can be no peaceful solution,” he concluded, predicting the conflict will end in a South African-style struggle. Following a musical performance by the Ron Yuval Trio, Dr. Khalil Barhoum of Stanford University outlined the Palestine National Initiative (al-Mubadara). “Nonviolent Resistance to the Violence of Occupation” was the theme of the afternoon session, in which Bassam Sharif pointed out that the majority of Palestinian refugees live within 100 miles of Israel. Most of the land on which stood the 450 villages destroyed by Israel is vacant land, he said. “This land has been planted with trees and given names such as Canada Park or Mexico Park in honor of the donors who planted trees in these areas. “Since 85 percent of Israelis live on 15 percent of the land,” stated Sharif, who was born in Nablus in 1967, “if refugees came back, they wouldn’t displace Israelis but would return to land that has remained vacant for 56 years.” Other panel speakers were Dr. Yael Korin, Rula Karam and Greta Berlin. “Killing Zone” Shown in Venice“Dispatches: The Killing Zone” is a one-hour documentary revealing the shocking violence Gazans must face daily under Israeli occupation. Shown on London’s Channel 4 and throughout Europe and Canada, it was turned down by the U.S. Public Broadcasting System on the grounds that it would “alienate” some of its donors. On May 1, however, the documentary was aired in the United Church of Venice under sponsorship of WIB-LA and the PAS. Greta Berlin, a volunteer in the International Solidarity Movement, was the emcee. “Dispatches” reporter Sandra Jordan and producer Rodrigo Vasquez dodged bullets in April 2003 to document the systematic attacks inflicted on Palestinians. They also photographed Israeli bulldozers ripping apart homes and shooting tear gas at any protests by unarmed Gazans. The British journalists arrived at one refugee camp just as ISM volunteer Tom Hurndall was shot in the head by an Israeli sniper. The film offers a startling picture of the destruction Israel is waging against the Palestinians, their failing economy and way of life. It can be ordered at <www.ameu.org>. Berlin, who was shot in the leg by a rubber bullet while serving as an ISM volunteer in Jenin last year, said that conditions are much worse in Gaza now because Israel refuses entry to journalists. She urged everyone in the audience to phone their congressional representative and urge them to approve House Resolution 111, which condemns the murder of Rachel Corrie and asks for an investigation into her death beneath the blade of an American-made Israeli bulldozer. “Anytime an American is killed in a foreign country, the FBI investigates it, but no one has gone to Israel regarding Rachel’s deliberate murder,” Berlin stated. “If you want to know more about the resolution, look up Rachel Corrie on Google.” If a congressman receives 15 phone calls, the activist said, there is no way he will ignore the message. One person asked how Americans can care about the Palestinians when they don’t know what’s going on. “The Internet offers a glimmer of hope,” Berlin replied. “Another thing you can do is watch C-SPAN in the morning and, if you want to get in, call on the Republican line. They’ll put you right through if you say you’re undecided, but favoring Bush.” Berlin said that when neocon Midge Dector was espousing Israeli propaganda on C-SPAN, she called in and asked Dector how she could justify Israel forcing Palestinians to flee their homeland to accommodate incoming Jews.” “Decktor spouted I was voicing Palestinian myths,” Berlin told her listeners, “but the more I questioned her, the more she was flummoxed and was unable to make sound arguments.” Another audience member asked if the U.S. has military bases in Israel. Prof. Mahmood Ibrahim explained that the U.S. maintains two rapid deployment bases in the Sinai Desert. Israel performs many dirty jobs for the U.S., he maintained. While the U.S. encircles India and China with bases, Israel is its central base. Another questioner asked if WIB-LA and PAS will be impacted by the PATRIOT Act. “I hope I’m on every one of their lists,” Berlin asserted. “I started working on the Palestine issue 40 years ago, when I was married to a Palestinian. We had small children, and I dropped out because of threats from the Jewish Defense League. But I’m back now, and I’m not leaving.” Muslim Achievement Awards
Muslim scholars who have made contributions to the art world were honored at the 11th annual American Muslim Achievement Award banquet at the historic Biltmore Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. This year’s recipients were Dr. Ashfaq M. Ishaq and Mohamed Zakariya. Dr. Ishaq, who holds a Ph.D. in economics from George Washington University, worked at the World Bank before developing the Arts Olympiad for the International Child Art Foundation. He is editor of Child Art magazine. In her introduction, art psychotherapist Bobbi Stoll described Dr. Ishaq as “the Pied Piper of Children’s Art.” According to the honoree—who stressed that education’s focus on productivity should shift to creativity—a child’s creativity begins to diminish after the fourth grade. Dr. Ishaq hit upon the idea of bringing children together to express their creativity in art, and from this developed the Arts Olympiad for the International Child Art Foundation, held every four years on the National Mall in Washington, DC. He showed works of art entered in the 2003 festival by children from more than 90 countries. Persons wishing to know more about the art Olympiad and Child Art magazine should consult <www.icaf.org>. Mohamed Zakariya was born in Ventura, CA and traveled to Morocco at the age of 18 to study Arabic. At age 19, he became a Muslim. He then studied Arabic calligraphy, and at one time received a tutorial in Ottoman calligraphy at the Research Center for Islamic History, Art and Culture in Istanbul. This institution presented him with diplomas in 1988 and 1997. It is Zakariya’s design that was chosen by the U.S. Postal Service for the stamp commemorating the Eid holiday. In addition to teaching calligraphy in his studio in Arlington, VA and contributing to books on calligraphy, he is the author of Music for the Eyes, an introduction to Islamic calligraphy. MEF Reviews Sabeel TripAt a May 2 meeting, Middle East Fellowship members reviewed their attendance at the 2004 Sabeel Conference in Jerusalem (see p. 70 of this issue). In opening the discussion, the Rev. Darrel Meyers said 600 people attended the conference, and many more would have if residents of the West Bank had been allowed to travel to Jerusalem to participate. The group traveled to see Israel’s Apartheid Wall at Abu Dis, but was unable to visit Ramallah because of Israeli security clampdowns following its assassination of Hamas leader Dr. Albdel Aziz Rantisi. The Rev. John Larson recalled participating in Holy Week observances in Jerusalem and musing over how Christians, Jews and Muslims had coexisted peacefully before the founding of Israel. “In 1948, Christians accounted for 18 to 20 percent of the Palestinian population,” he said. “Now they are only 2 percent because of the official Israeli harassment to make them emigrate. “Christianity isn’t a building,” he pointed out. “It is a community.” The retired cleric criticized Christian Zionists for their narrow understanding of the New Testament. Reverend Meyers concurred that the Book of Revelations, on which their skewed beliefs are based, actually is a protest against empire building. Christian Zionists, however, have distorted it into an exclusionary belief in the Rapture that will ascend them to heaven while non-believers die in an apocalypse. “Their oppressive, bigoted way of seeing the world is wrong,” Reverend Larson continued. He recalled stopping over in Paris on the return trip and seeing on the hotel television Israelis perpetrating atrocities against the Palestinians. “We don’t see in the U.S. what is being done in Israel in our name,” he noted. “We aren’t envied around the world, we’re hated.” If there is a Third World War, he predicted, it will begin in Palestine. His wife, Barbara, described three different women she met during the recent trip. The first was Hanna, who teaches English while her husband travels six hours a day to get to and from their home in Beit Hanina to his teaching job in Bethlehem because of Israeli checkpoints. The second was Renata, who studied at Barbara Larson’s alma mater, Radcliffe, and who stands with other Women In Black on Fridays to protest the Israeli occupation. The third was Vrenni, a Swiss missionary who has taught at the Evangelical School and Orphanage in Ramallah since 1965. She plans to retire there and continue to help Palestinian children. Rosemary Guzman recalled her visit to the Friends School in Ramallah and an educated Palestinian woman who said she would never see her sons again because she had sent them to the U.S. to be safe. After she expressed admiration for a pin the woman wore, Rosemary said she was surprised to find the pin at her door the next morning. Pat and Samir Twair are free-lance journalists based in Los Angeles. |
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