Comments on: Mark Clarfield on a hospital under rocket fire

By: Adam

Adam — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:52:38 +0000

Y. Gazit posses a series of false premises to justify his apparent indifference to Palestinian suffering:
“7 years of rockets” ignoring 60 years of oppression and theft
Israel “wiped out” or the reality of Palestinians themselves and their properties and possessions literally being eradicated.

“defend ourselves”! – this is pure chutzpah

“I can only assume that this fellow prefers to see 1000 people killed at the other side of the border.”

Well me personally no I would not, and like the fellow in question I assume he would also wish for no deaths on either side of the ‘border’, but I can see how such an event if it were actually possible would be a fairer more equal situation, and may give pause to the Israeli hawks who keep up this insane ‘defense’.

And of course people will respond passionately about Palestinian deaths, as there are so many, and that is the point, by comparison Israeli deaths do not count – because in the great scheme of things and moving away from personal losses and no doubt personal griefs the suffering in Israel is not even slightly comparable to the slaughter and dispossession, grief and anguish in Gaza.

Israel’s propaganda machine must be very desperate to be using these weak and transparent arguments to justify what is a collective punishment against a captive population in revenge for voting for a government that Israel and the USA don’t like.

If Israel wants peace it will need to talk peace, unfortunately it does not, and uses a legitimate resistance by Hamas and others to justify its continued terrorizing of Palestinians and further threatens and even attacks its neighbors, the only state in the Middle East with Nukes which it refuses to have inspected by the UN.

Israel is a terrorist state and the sooner its population realises this the sooner there can be peace in the Middle East.

By: Caroline Richmond

Caroline Richmond — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 12:06:26 +0000

Yes, Dr Pollack, Hamas are firing rockets at Israel.
Why should it be OK for Israel to have weapons, but not OK for Palestinians?

It is senseless to discuss who started the conflict, but instructive to remember that Israel has for a long time restricted or blocked the import of food and medical supplies into Gaza. Hamas, reasonably anough, want the blockade lifted before they will agree to a ceasefire.

Also, since the present conflict began, Israel has prevented western journalists from entering Gaza, thus preventing the type of eye-witness reporting which we get from Israel.

By: Y. Gazit

Y. Gazit — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 09:20:35 +0000

Mr. Struthers heart’s bleeds for ‘Palestinian’s’ suffering, in such extent that he becomes blind whenever Israelis suffering is concerned. I have no idea what motivates this person to view this conflict through a distorted mind. The ‘poor’ Palestinian have been shelling southern Israel for the last 7 years, it’s just about they begin to pay for their crimes. I can assure Mr. Struthers that his country where ever it is, would have wiped out Gaza from the map if it had been bombarded for seven years. Only God knows what makes him think that he has the right to preach us how to defend ourselves?
As for Mr. Bartley, I can only assume that this fellow prefers to see 1000 people killed at the other side of the border. I wonder if he cared about 1000 Palestinians if his own children live were on the stake. What a hypocrisy.

By: Caroline Richmond

Caroline Richmond — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 22:23:33 +0000

Dr Clarfield must be suffering badly, with all non-urgent admissions cancelled. If he finds waiting doing nothing stressful, he could offer himself to the injured people of Gaza, and take much-needed drugs and dressings with him.

There is a UK-based charity called Medical Aid for Palestinians, and they need donations urgently, so please dig into your pockets. They also need Israel to permit import of adequate quantities of food and medical supplies to Gaza.

By: Another concerned medic

Another concerned medic — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 19:07:18 +0000

Here are real tragic stories we are interested to hear as reported by palestian and israeli medics.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7830302.stm

By: Richard Bartley

Richard Bartley — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:47:54 +0000

If it is bad in an Israeli hospital, one cannot imagine the hell of a Gazan hospital.

Hamas targeting of Israel is totally unacceptable, but allowing the concentration camp conditions of the Gaza Strip to worsen over many years has created a breeding ground for radicalised Palestinians. Israel, America, Britain and the wealthy Arab nations should hang their heads in shame.

Killing 1000 Palestinians is not the answer. It is an abomination.

By: raphi pollack

raphi pollack — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 05:57:13 +0000

The tragedy as I see it, is that this escalation could have been avoided. If the Israeli government would have dealt with the problem in its incipient stages, we never would have reached the current escalation. As soon as the Hamas started to fire rockets into southern Israel, the Israeli government should have done what any sovereign government would do…namely silence the fire. But they chose to wait 8 full years before responding to the rocket fire. Perhaps if firmer measures would have been taken earlier,this escalation would have been avoidable.
Avoiding small problems does not always make them disappear.

By: James Woodcock

James Woodcock — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:59:20 +0000

In public health all preventable deaths are our concern. But we must focus on where the need is greatest. I hope the BMJ can find more space to focus on the humanitarian catastrophe that Israel is inflicting on the Palestinian people in Gaza. There not only do we have the far greater direct deaths caused by the intensive bombardment and invasion but a huge refugee crisis amongst an population imprisoned in a narrow strip on land. This is compounded by the deprivation due to the ongoing blockade imposed on a population displaced and deprived population. It is a shame Dr Clarfield does not draw attention to the suffering his country is inflicting. All of us in public health should demand Israel desists and allows the borders to be opened.

By: Mark Struthers

Mark Struthers — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:34:37 +0000

If the ER at Soroka Hospital is a bit like “M*A*S*H” but without the laughter, then what must it be like in the casualty unit at the Shifa hospital in Gaza City?

By: Mark Struthers

Mark Struthers — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 17:02:22 +0000

“A bit like “M*A*S*H” but without the laughs.”

But then, do we laugh at the enormity of suffering suffered by this health facility in Beer-sheva … or cry at the piffling suffering inflicted on Gaza by Israel’s defence forces … or vice versa?