10/10/05: Palestinian Doctor Tells Of Life Under Occupation - Madison-Rafah Sister City Project
Palestinian Doctor Tells Of Life Under Occupation
The Capital Times :: METRO :: 1C
Monday, October 10, 2005
By Samara Kalk Derby The Capital Times
To get to work each day, Tawfiq Nasser needs a green card, known as a "dirty ID." He also needs what is called a magnetic card to show that he is not a terrorist or security threat.
On top of that, he must carry two permits, both of which have to be renewed every few months.
Nasser is one of the lucky ones. As director and CEO of Augusta Victoria Hospital in Jerusalem, the Palestinian doctor moves about the city and the rest of Israel with some aggravation and complication.
"This is a privilege, a real privilege," he told an audience of about 40 Sunday afternoon at Memorial United Church of Christ in Fitchburg.
Nasser, who has studied and worked in the U.S., was in Madison to give a presentation, "A View From Jerusalem: Challenges for Palestinian Health Care." He also spoke at St. Stephens Lutheran Church in Monona. His appearances were co-sponsored by the Madison-Rafah Sister City Project.
"I am not angry," said Nasser, 40, noting that he makes a good living and has a driver to help navigate the checkpoints.
But with its 52 permanent and 60 "flying" or mobile checkpoints, and now its security fence almost half complete, the Israeli government punishes the whole Palestinian population for the crimes of a few, creating "more anger, polarization and radicalization," he said.
Suicide bombers -- whom Nasser calls creative and "literally crazy" -- will plan their attacks close to the wall to make holes in it, he said: "Just to signify to the world that we need a way out. We can't just be prisoners."
Israel contends that its controversial 435-mile security barrier -- a mixture of concrete, razor wire, ditches and electronic fence - is crucial in keeping out Palestinian suicide bombers.
Hundreds of Israeli civilians have been killed and injured in suicide attacks in the last five years. Israel maintains that the wall has cut attacks significantly.
The U.S. administration is talking about a viable Palestinian state, Nasser said.
"We appreciate Bush saying it," he said. "We just don't know if he meant it. Like when he said we are in a 'crusade' in the Middle East. Whoops!"
Still, Palestinians want more than just a "viable state," they want a better quality of life and opportunities for success, security and independence, Nasser said.
In Nasser's imagination, he likens Palestine to a patient on life support with "200 tubes" attached to him.
Nasser's Augusta Victoria Hospital is the second largest hospital in East Jerusalem. It is largely underwritten by the Lutheran World Federation and by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency to provide affordable health care to Palestinians from East Jerusalem and the surrounding areas of the West Bank.
Nearly 40 percent of the hospital's operating expenses come from charitable contributions, he said.
As the Jewish community in America supports Jews in Israel, so too must Christian churches support Palestinian Christians, Nasser said.
Nasser has become close friends with Jacob Assaf, an Israeli Army colonel, who is director of the Department of Emergency Medicine at Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem. Assaf helped Nasser open the first pediatric oncology unit for Palestinians earlier this year and the two doctors are campaigning to show how the occupation is detrimental to the health of Palestinians.
They were recently invited by United Nations ambassador John Bolton to make a presentation to the U.N., but couldn't get any media attention.
As the two men dined that night in a New York steakhouse, Nasser joked that if he took his steak knife and jabbed Assaf, 500 reporters would come flying because when it comes to Palestinian-Israeli relations, violent conflict is what gets attention.
During a question-answer period, Judith Utevsky assured Nasser that not all Jews give unconditional support to Israel.
"We've been oppressed in the past and to turn around and do the same to others is just heinous," said Utevsky, a member of Shaarei Shamayim Reconstructionist Congregation.
"As a Jewish person I feel a moral obligation and responsibility to work to end the occupation," she said.
\ E-mail: skalk@madison.com