Sunday, January 18, 2009

Gazan Doctor and Peace Advocate Attacked Asks Why

Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish in waiting room of hospital, photo uploaded from NY Times by mashget on Flickr

I wanted the world to see what happened to this doctor and my wish is coming true. There is a most excellent article on Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish in the New York Times.

My only complaint with the article is that it did not make the front page which is where this story belongs. Here is an excerpt of the article by Dina Kraft:

TEL HASHOMER, Israel — Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish is a Gazan and a doctor who has devoted his life to medicine and reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. But on Saturday, the day after three of his daughters and a niece were killed by Israeli fire in Gaza, Dr. Abuelaish, 53, struggled to hold on to the humane philosophy that has guided his life and work.

As he sat in a waiting room of the Israeli hospital where he works part time, he asked over and over, "Why did they do this?"

And listen to this, Kraft reports in her article that the doctor recently lost his wife to leukemia. One tragedy caused by disease, and another by the disease of war inflicted by man, namely the IDF.

Please read the full article by Kraft in the New York Times. Here is the URL to the article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/18/world/middleeast/18doctor.html?_r=1&scp=1&

2 comments:

geo said...

Very Sad - very Stupid and utterly Indefensible!

Even - if one wished to "blame Hamas" - for the Israeli invasion (which seems short-sighted and just wrong), such deaths/killings are not acceptable - and criminal!

This idea of "guilt by association" - destroying houses - because - One household member is deemed "bad", and shooting at totally innocent people - because purportedly shooting was occuring is crazy.

How Many - Israelis have been killed in Gaza over the past three weeks? All this purported shooting - if it was as claimed - would have resulted in Many Deaths.

Hearing numbers of deaths between 10 and 20 - perhaps - vs. 1200+ - isn't - "eye for an eye" - type of mindset - it is simply - murder.

As a Jew - I am ashamed and angry!

Mary Cuevas said...

hi geo,
thanks for commenting. yes it is tragic. i hope the israeli govmt is charged with war crimes. doubt it will happen. bush should be charged and doubt that will ever happen.

don't know if you watched the obama concert today, but U2 performed. bono gave a shout out to the palestinians. always have loved bono.:)
mary