Palestine

Report from the medical front lines in Gaza

Steve Sosebee Gaza, Palestine 10 March 2003



My 5-member Italian plastic surgery team wrapped up their final two operations on Thursday afternoon two hours behind schedule, which was not too bad, considering we were working 15 hour days on average for a week. By our third night in the Gaza Strip, the nocturnal shooting and explosions from the nearby Israeli settlement of Dugit and the Khan Younis refugee camp no longer woke us up. A controlled exhaustion had taken over and even the war outside was merely an occasional distraction. Steve Sosebee writes from Gaza. 

The countdown begins

Diaa Hadid Ram, Palestine 9 March 2003

Last week, before a new wave of work came in, we thought about having a press conference “what will happen in Palestine with a war on Iraq?” One of my colleagues raised an eyebrow - I had asked him to speak - he simply answered my question, “More of the same shit, Diaa, what else?” Diaa Hadid writes from Ram, occupied Palestine. 

Letter from Bethlehem

Toine van Teeffelen Bethlehem, Palestine 7 March 2003

We got two full days of snow. It came with storm, so we found ourselves in a kind of emergency state. With so much snow falling on the roofs, water started to trickle down through the porous stones, and soon black spots appeared on the walls signaling humidity. 

Nablus: History under rubble

Ghadeer Shaka'a Nablus, Palestine 3 March 2003



Yesterday I went to the old city accompanying a reporter. The first place we went to was the Yasmina quarter. The first martyr in this latest invasion was from this neighbourhood. He was shot in his legs and died waiting for medical aid. Israeli occupation soldiers prevented medical personnel from reaching him. 

Jerusalem under snow

Diaa Hadid Ram, Palestine 27 February 2003

“It’s dark now, and outside of my office, most of the snow has disappeared under gritty car tracks. But I think for the first time since I’ve been here, happiness came from the skies,” writes Diaa Hadid. 

Letter from Jenin

Annie Higgins Jenin, Palestine 26 February 2003



On the twenty-eighth of January, young men were letting out triumphant whoops and jumping up and down in a victory dance. Campaign headquarters in Tel Aviv? No, Faisal Street, a main artery in downtown Jenin. The Army snipers on the roof of a commercial building are congratulating one another on their ‘victory’ over an unarmed Palestinian policeman in civilian clothes, Rashad al-‘Arrabi, wearing no protective vest or helmet, and having no tank or airborne defense. Annie Higgins writes from Jenin. 

Nablus: "Do you hear me?"

Amer Abdelhadi Nablus, Palestine 24 February 2003

Due to the fact that the world is busy with the American war against the Middle East for no other reason other than to dominate the area, I thought I should enlighten those who have been making one excuse after another for Israel, which is lead by the so-called “a man of peace” by US President George Bush. “Do you hear me?” asks Amer Abdelhadi. 

Surreal times before war

Diaa Hadid Ram, Palestine 23 February 2003

The tragedy at hand is the reality of virtually no West Bank or Gazan having gas masks, the even more real fear that the war on Iraq, as it has already, will be used to carry out more willful killings, more extra-judicial assassinations, more home demolitions, more arrests, more closure, more curfew, more, always more of the same. Diaa Hadid reports about the surrealism surrounding the pre-war. 

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