Nour Odeh / Al Jazeera – 2010-05-16 00:59:47
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/201051512357719711.html
Palestinians Mark Nakba
Al Jazeera
Palestinians across the world are marking on Saturday the 62nd anniversary of Nakba, which means catastrophe.
In 1948, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were displaced and many became refugees due to the formation of the state of Israel.
Mass gatherings commemorating the day of “catastrophe” in the West Bank and Gaza displayed a rare instance of unity between various political factions.
Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh reports from Beit Jala, a town in the West Bank.
Born in Gaza
Born in Gaza
Al Jazeera Television
(May 10, 2010) — Firas Mazloom was born with two holes in his heart. His condition could have been fixed by routine surgery, but Israel’s siege on the Gaza Strip has crippled the medical system there. The doctors do not have the training or the equipment to perform the necessary operation.
Firas went to Israel for a check up after he was born and was supposed to return for a follow-up. But Gaza is blocked off from the outside world and Firas never made it back to Israel for his heart operation.
His parents say their request to cross the border was turned down six times because his case was not considered an emergency.
But when their son’s condition suddenly started to deteriorate and the doctors in Gaza could no longer help him, their only solution was to send him to an advanced hospital in Israel — and now it was urgent.
An Israeli doctor accepted the request and Firas’ parents, Amal and Assad, started a race against time and bureaucracy to get their son out of Gaza.
Just when they finally managed to push through the red tape to get their son out of Gaza, Firas died.
The journey to Israel would have taken only an hour, but after three hours of obstacles and delays, Firas’ journey never began.
Ran Yaron from Physicians for Human Rights helps Palestinian patients get access to the medical treatment they need.
He says: “Since Israel controls the only gate out for Palestinians who seek for care unavailable, it has responsibility to let them out.
“Nearly 25 per cent of the patients who apply for exit permits are denied due to rejection or to delays. I do my best to help Palestinians, not only because they are human beings … but also as an Israeli I feel responsibility for them.”
But Israel’s main concern is security. Colonal Moshe Levi, the Gaza Strip coordinator of the Israeli army, says: “Four out of five requests we received every day, we approved. This is 80 per cent from the requirements from the Palestinian side we approve.
“Our challenge is how to create a balance between the security needs and between the civilian needs. This is the main issue, this is the main challenge of Israeli policy here.”
One year later, the pain caused by the death of their first child has subsided because Amal is due to give birth again. She is expecting another boy – they will call him Firas.
Hope has been restored for this young family in the besieged Gaza Strip, but the political situation remains unchanged.
There are still more than 1,000 patients in Gaza who are desperately waiting for the bureaucracy to allow them adequate health care.
• Born in Gaza can be seen from Monday, May 10, 2010 at the following times GMT: Monday: 1230; Tuesday: 1930; Wednesday: 0530, 1430; Thursday: 0030, 2330.
