Sir/Madam:
“Beacon of Hope” by Sarah Irving and Marc Hudson (3 December 2004) presents an inspiring description of a health program run by and for Palestinians. However, the article’s depiction of the conditions in which the Bethlehem Arab Society Rehabilitation Clinic functions is incomplete. The authors ascribe psychological and other problems affecting the population served by the clinic to “military occupation” without mentioning the context of this occupation, namely, violent attacks by Palestinians on Israeli civilians. In the past few years, terrorist activities have included nightly shootings targeting Israeli civilians in the residential area of Gilo, “drive-by” killings of Israeli motorists on the Jerusalem-Hebron highway, and the brutal murder of two Israeli children out on a day hike in the area.
The observation of an unnamed physiotherapist that Israeli soldiers now are “using more live ammunition, not rubber bullets” is not surprising, given that those soldiers are themselves facing live ammunition, including the explosive belts of suicide bombers.Official Palestinian media incitement and encouragement of armed attacks, praise for terrorists, and demonization of Jews were bound to have an adverse psychological impact on Palestinians. By erasing the context, the authors, like the officials of many self-proclaimed human rights NGOs, have produced a grossly distorted image.
The point of the article is to demonstrate that Palestinians are capable, on their own, of establishing and running an effective, innovative health program that meets the needs of their community. We admire the achievements described. However, the Palestinians do not have to go it alone, nor do they. The authors could have mentioned that Israel’s Peres Peace Centre brings Palestinian patients, including patients from Bethlehem, to Israel to receive life-saving treatment that is not available in the Palestinian areas. This effort, described as a “program of hope”by Professor Anwar Dudin, a Palestinian Arab paediatrician at al-Yamama hospital in Bethlehem, reflects the Israeli commitment to peaceful and cooperative relationships with the Palestinian community.
Sincerely,
Steven M. Albert, PhD
Judith S. Jacobson, DrPH
Mailman School of Public Health
Columbia University, New York (USA)
Irwin J. Mansdorf, PhD
Israel Citizens Information Council
For the Medical and Public Health Issues Task Force,
Scholars for Peace in the Middle East