Ahli Arab Hospital
Ahli Arab Hospital is a profound illustration of the mission of the Anglican Church, and a visible expression of our concern for the community in our daily lives. The hospital plays an enormous role in the provision of general medical and surgical care and in the prevention of illness and disability to all people of the Gaza Strip, both residents and refugees, regardless of race, gender, ethnic background or political affiliation.
News
October 2008
(The following article appeared in the Fall 2008 newsletter of the American Friends of the Diocese of Jerusalem. It is written by the Rev. Robert W. Tobin, retired Rector of Christ Church, Cambridge, MA and his wife Maurine.)
We went to visit Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City on Wednesday, 20 February, our first visit in almost a year. We have watched the news of the worsening Gaza blockade, the increase in deaths and injuries, the decrease in fuel and food and medicine with increasing anger and sadness and simply wanted to go and see for ourselves how our friends at the hospital are faring.
The first thing that struck us was the near emptiness of the huge Israeli "terminal" that one passes through — we saw no one else entering and passed only one emaciated man in a wheelchair seeking to exit. He is apparently one of the very few to obtain a permit for medical care, while more than 80 have died in the past few weeks while trying to exit for health reasons. We made our way through the endless gates and turnstiles and then waited in the cement enclosure until a huge metal door finally slid open and let us enter the long tunnel that leads to "no man's land." There are no human beings visible anywhere, so we simply have to wait until the magic door opens! Since our previous visit, the last quarter mile of the tunnel has been destroyed (reportedly in fighting between Hamas and Fateh), so we picked our way through marshy mud until we finally reached the gate on the Palestinian side.
The hospital driver collected us after we'd been besieged by taxi drivers desperate for a fare, had drunk a cup of very sweet sage tea, and heard endless stories of deprivation. Then on to Gaza City, where the streets were eerily empty. The one thing that has always characterized Gaza is the sheer mass of humanity. Gaza is 365 square kilometers (about 28 miles long and varying in width from 3 to 8 miles), with a population of 1.5 million, roughly 4000 people per square kilometer. The streets are usually jammed with cars, donkey carts, outdoor vendors selling everything from underwear to fruits and vegetables to auto parts.
We were shocked to see how wide the streets actually are as there were almost no vendors and very few cars. Some public taxis and cars (and one of the two hospital ambulances) that run on diesel are still moving about, along with the lucky few that have gotten gasoline, which is delivered sporadically, although no one is allowed to fill a tank, so apparently fights break out as people vie for the few liters available. Most of the shops were closed, though it was midmorning, and only in the central market were there a number of people walking about.
Consumer goods are almost no existent and, according to our friends, very shoddy and extremely expensive. Inflation has added to the misery of people with no resources — for example, a bag of cement used to sell for about 25 shekels (about $7.00) but now sells for 120 shekels IF available. The markets that used to teem with fruits and vegetable seemed primarily to have tomatoes and oranges and potatoes, all grown in Gaza. The one thing that seemed abundant was cigarettes, piles and piles of cartons for sale. When the border to Egypt was breached, apparently black-marketers brought in huge supplies, but as people have almost no money, there weren’t many buyers!
We reached the hospital and had a good visit with Director Suhala Tarazi and Medical Director Dr. Maher, along with Suhaila's assistant Samira.
The hospital story remains a small miracle. They have electricity perhaps 10–12 hours a day and depend on the generators the rest of the time, but fuel for it is hard to come by. They don’t run the boiler when on the generator, so patients simply have to huddle under the covers to try to stay warm. Suhaila used to keep a reservoir of 10,000 gallons of fuel which would last 45 days, but now is lucky to get 4,000 gallons at a time and that disappears quickly with daily use. And the cost of the electricity they are furnished from Israel has increased dramatically in price. The Gaza power plant, bombed by Israel in 2005, operates at about 40% capacity when it can get the needed fuel.
The hospital can't get light bulbs for the surgical lamps, but were excited that they'd finally been able to procure detergent for washing the bed sheets and dishes, though mops and cleaning supplies are not available. Somehow, in spite of all this they have no incidence of infection within the hospital, something our best U.S. hospitals cannot claim. Spare parts for equipment are not available. Suhaila confessed that she had asked staff members who went into Egypt while the wall was down to bring her some cement to repair the floor outside the surgical theater and was very pleased to have gotten it! The pharmacy for the in– and out&ndashpatients is functioning and the hospital is able to get medicines delivered via UNRWA and the Red Cross, but they never know when deliveries will be allowed. Anesthesia is again available but in the past months they have had to postpone surgeries when it wasn't allowed through.
We walked about through the various departments and met post–surgical patients in the ward. Many recent surgeries are to remove kidney stones as the salty, impure water has caused a huge upsurge of that problem. We saw 3 pre–school children being treated in the burn unit as the number of burns has skyrocketed while people try to cook and heat their homes over open flames. The weekly "mobile" clinic was in session so there were lots of families with children in for diagnosis and whatever treatment is available. Everyone gets a package of basic foodstuffs to take home, along with sandwiches for lunch, but they've had to quit providing milk or fruit juice for the kids.
And, of course, the staff suffers the same conditions — no one attempts to keep food in the refrigerator since power goes off so often. Dr. Maher reported that his home had lost electricity at 7 a.m. the day before our visit and it had not come back on by noon the following day. This is simply routine — when the power is on, people rush to heat water for a shower and those who have washing machines try to do a load of clothes, but sometimes laundry sits in the tub for hours or days.
In spite of these endless tales of loss, the hospital continues to be a beacon of hope. It may be the only place in all of Gaza that is totally free of violence — while it is customary for patients in the PA public hospitals (there are 2 in Gaza City) to have armed guards to "protect" them from attacks by their rival party, NO weapons enter Ahli. There are no armed guards at the gates — if anyone arrives with weapons, they are told either to send the guns away or there will be no treatment. Thanks to the long history of Ahli’s treating everyone in need of care with absolute impartiality, this policy is honored and the Ahli ambulance travels freely through the city.
We asked what they see as the future, but these very remarkable human beings say they can no longer imagine what might come next. Each time they think things have reached the worst possible situation, something worse happens. People die almost daily in Gaza from Israeli attacks. A ten year old child was killed by a bomb the day before we arrived. Israel has announced a policy of targeted assassinations for all Hamas leaders, but that simply means that the "collateral damage" costs many innocents their lives
How did our day end? After a nice lunch with the hospital staff, we returned to wade back through the mud of "no man's land" and into the Kafkaesque Israeli terminal. Since absolutely no one else was passing through, the bored soldiers entertained themselves by making me (Maurine) go three times through the x–ray machine (a weird glass booth with air current whoshing around and a large warning that no one on a pacemaker is to step inside!) I stood on the yellow foot prints with hands in the air, proceeded to a chamber between two electronically locked doors, then was sent back to stand on the footprints again with hands at my side. Back to the locked chamber, then back again to the glass booth where I was told to take a sort of yoga position with one hand and one foot forward and the other back. Then into the anteroom of the locked chamber where I was told there was something in my pants — having already produced my passport from my pockets, I finally turned and raised my shirt to show I wasn’t hiding anything. Then the magic doors unlocked and I was allowed out.
Were we afraid? Not at all, but mainly because we were traveling in an Ahli Hospital vehicle. The place we ate lunch was chosen because it was secure; our friends never leave home after dark (of course, there are no street lights). And they basically move only between home and work. How do they live this way? It is a miracle of faith and commitment that is an inspiration to us. The most common expression in Arabic is "insh'allah" (Good willing). It is clear that those who work at Ahli Hospital trust in God's love and power to continue what they do each day. When we left late in the afternoon, we felt a great reluctance to leave. Those who continue to serve all of God's children who are in any kind of pain or need without question and in spite of their own suffering are living in the Gospel in a way that challenges and inspires us. Thanks be to God!
July 2007
(From the newsletter of American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem)
Suhaila Tarazi, Director of the Ahli Arab Hospital writes, "I hope God will grant us wisdom and strength as we continue our mission of serving the needy during these hard times in Gaza.
"The mood here is somber. People are anxious for a new beginning; they are hoping for the light of peace. What is unfolding, however, is far from that and the glimmer of hope is fading. We pray for our Lord and Savior, the Prince of Peace, to guide us, to help us, and to strengthen our will as we work to alleviate the pains for the Palestinian people.
"Israel's inhumane border blockade continues and the situation has deteriorated beyond imagination. Medical and food resources are scarce; drinkable water is in short supply; electricity is rarely available; waste and sewage has spilled onto the streets. Overall the conditions are unsanitary and unlivable. We are suffering tremendously, but we have not lost hope. Our spirits are down, but our soles are intact and we still pray for a better life, we yearn for a lasting peace, and we hope for a life void of torture and pain.
"I will continue to do my best in pursuit of an everlasting peace and a better life for the Palestinians."
June 2007
(From the Episcopal News Service)
The Rt. Rev. Suheil Dawani, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, has issued an emergency appeal for humanitarian aid to Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, still reeling from fallout of recent violence and shortages of medical supplies.
"June 14 was one of the worst days ever, the hospital had to open an extra ward to receive all the patients," Dawani wrote in a letter to the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem (AFEDJ), referring to clashes between the Islamic group Hamas' takeover of the Gaza Strip and the Fatah Party of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Hospital director Suhaila Tarazi said staff worked round the clock treating the wounded, many of whom were civilians. "It was very scary for us; I consider it the most bloody week we've had in the past five years," she said in a telephone interview from Gaza.
"We received about 80 cases, military from both parties and there were huge numbers of civilians injured. We are a small hospital but I am really proud of the commitment of our staff," she said. "It is a place where you find Muslims working side by side with Christians to save the life of a Muslim or a Christian. We are the only Christian hospital here and we are working to make changes in the lives of many in need."
The hospital, founded as a mission of the Anglican Church in 1882, has been a service ministry of the diocese since 1982. It is considered a beacon of hope in predominantly–Muslim Gaza where about 80 percent of the 1.2 million residents are living below the World Health Organization poverty line, many in refugee camps. About 60 percent are unemployed, Tarazi said. There are about 3,000 Christians in Gaza.
In addition to dispensing free medical treatment and services to everyone, the hospital also provides food and other necessities to the needy.
But services are in jeopardy; the hospital's future a question. "No one is allowed to leave Gaza or to come in," Tarazi said. Medicine is in short supply. "The stock we have will last only for a couple of weeks. There are shortages in dairy products and fuel. The worst thing is that we are uncertain about the future of this area, how we will continue to do our job and to give medication."
Impending 'major humanitarian crisis,' aid agencies warn: A "major humanitarian crisis" is looming in the Hamas–held Gaza Strip, according to Simon Pluess of the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP). Pluess told a Friday, June 22, press briefing that food supplies could be exhausted in two weeks unless an Israeli cargo blockade is halted.
The UNWFP was attempting to move 400 tons of food to Gaza on Friday. "The needs are growing ... Therefore food and other humanitarian supplies have to continue to enter Gaza if a major humanitarian crisis is to be averted," he said.
Israeli officials have said they will release medical equipment, food and other vital goods if importers prove they were relief items.
UNICEF's website also reported delivering medical supplies and vaccines to help prevent outbreaks of disease among children in Gaza, noting that "with little access in or out of the Gaza Strip, stocks of essential medicines are at critical levels."
Tarazi said the hospital's supplies are dangerously low, especially anesthesia."Our stock will just cover 15 days operations. After that, God knows what we will do, possibly stop our operations and surgeries," she said.
A free mobile medical service that has treated as many as 100 patients daily is also in jeopardy. Daily, about 140 patients are treated at the hospital. Last year, Al Ahli treated 30,000 outpatients and about 4,500 in–patients, she said.
Offering humanitarian support is absolutely the right thing to do, said Dennis Hensley, AFEDJ's current president. It sends a strong message that Al Ahli "is a beacon of moderation and mutual respect and of tolerance in a part of the world where those principles are in very short supply."
He said AFEDJ transferred about $223,000 in private donations to the hospital in 2006, an effort which inspired Sue Smock to join the organization's board. AFEDJ is a nonprofit, nonpolitical organization which supports the work of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.
"I got involved with them because it's the most effective institution I know of that delivers donations effectively," Smock said. "There is no middle man. The money goes directly to the diocese. Every year we ask the bishop what his priorities are and we work around those."
Smock, a parishioner at Church of Our Saviour in San Gabriel, California, said she began a love affair with the Middle East after visiting in 1999. "I realized that Episcopalians were doing heroic work there," she recalled. Consequently, her parish began a sister relationship with St. Paul's Church in Shefa Amr.
It led to creation of a diocesan Middle East Task Force and eventually, to a companion diocese relationship between Los Angeles and Jerusalem, which adds a "tremendous dimension and richness to the whole experience of being faithful," said Smock, who has traveled to the region seven times in the last three years. "They need us very badly to witness for them. They feel very much forgotten by the world."
Tarazi agreed. "I thank God that this hospital is a good witness for Christians and a good example of the love of Jesus Christ. We just ask for the prayers of our brothers and sisters in the United States. It is a very stressful time for us all, but we shall not lose hope."
A three–month's supply of medicine and medical supplies costs an estimated $30,000 in U.S. currency. Extra emergency staffing and food aid and commodities cost another $15,000 each. Donations may be made via the AFEDJ website at: http://www.americanfriends–jerusalem.org/ or by mailing them to: American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, PO Box 2040, Orange, CA 92859.
The Diocese of Jerusalem includes 31 parishes in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Palestine and Israel, within the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East. The diocese supports 35 institutions, including hospitals, clinics, kindergartens and schools, vocational training programs, as well as institutions for the deaf, the disabled and the elderly.
April 2006
(From the newsletter of the Diocese of Jerusalem)
Suhaila Tarazi, Director of Ahli Arab Hospital: "The situation in Gaza is truly worrying. It has gone from bad to worse. It is an awful life in Gaza. Every ten minutes there is bombing. Sometimes I shout: What about our children!"
Ahli Arab Hospital is known and respected as a provider of the highest quality health care for all the people of Gaza. A significant portion of their care is charitable as they minister to many of the poorest, in a community where over 60% of the residents live in refugee camps.
During recent years Ahli Arab Hospital has responded to the needs of the people as they occur, in particular during times of crises that relate to the Palestinian Israeli Conflict. Through its emergency programs the hospital has continued to provide medical treatment to victims of the current crises.
The hospital is also involved in organizing free medical outreach clinics to the most needy areas to bring primary care and home care services to villages and individuals who cannot accesss health services from any other sources. The hospital coordinates with the community to host the free medical missions and provides free health care for the patients.
On September 12, 2005, the Israeli Occupying Forces were redeployed around the Gaza Strip after they had evacuated settlements earlier in the year. Less than one month following their redeployment in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli Occupying Forces escalated their attacks against Palestinian civilians and property in the Gaza Strip and still do so today.
At the same time the Israelis launched several aerial attacks against Palestinian civilian targets throughout the Gaza Strip. They aslo launched a series of mock aerial raids, which made Palestinian civilians, especially children, extremely terrified, and damaged their property.
The true impact of this violence on the lives of ordinary people becomes clear. There is not a single family who has not been affected by the loss or injury of family members, the loss of work and income, and more commonly both. The humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and West Bank has dramatically deteriorated.
More than ever the people of Ahli Arab Hospital and Gaza in general need your prayers, action and support. There are no words to the ongoing suffering and injustice. Every day the Christians of Gaza and their neighbors experience the hardship of fasting in the desert, the hardship of Good Friday. Please, pray for us as we do for you and remember that you have the power to change, if only your heart is filled with the love of Christ.
December 2004
(Interview with Ms. Suhaila Tarazi, Director, Ahli Arab Hospital, Gaza)
Today the situation is critical. There is so much uncertainty about the upcoming elections, and the siege continues to take place. There are concerns about personal security and we are living in a chaotic situation. We need to push for negotiations to continue, and for peace. We need this push for peace because there is too much suffering here and most people have lost hope. We are afraid of the continuation of such suffering, that it will lead to violence, and that Gaza will explode again – and this time it will not end.
Nevertheless, Ahli Arab Hospital is still active and doing our best to reach those in need. We have outreach clinics nearly every week, and are targeting new areas with new missions. There are still hundreds that we are unable to reach due to a shortage of funds. We are grateful to all who have support this project, and have participated in putting a smile on the face of so many ill Gazans. We have expanded the surgical services in the hospital, especially in the area of urology, and we hope to expand this work even more in 2005.
During the October incursion of the Israeli military into north Gaza, one of our hospital members lost her home. Ezzia and her family are refugees, and had just moved into a new home in Jabaliya, only moved in six months before. They are still paying on their debts for their home and had done nothing. This home, along with ten others, was in the way of the route the tanks decided to follow, abandoning the roads in the process. They were unable to get anything out; no personal papers, jewelry, or anything. The bulldozer began to demolish the balcony while they were still inside, and one daughter was in the shower. Ezzia and her husband escaped with only their six children. Her husband has been ill with a brain tumor as well, and does not move quickly. Ezzia works as a nursing assistant at the hospital and is the only one to support the family. One of her children was shot in the neck during the incursion and was treated at Ahli Arab Hospital, and fortunately does not have any permanent damage. Prior to the demolition of their home, her nephew had been killed a few days before.
The adolescent child of another staff member went to go help his friend, who has been shot by an Israeli sniper during the October incursion, and was killed himself. He was seventeen. His father has experienced such psychological trauma, that he has not been able to return to work. He works to save the lives of others, but was not able to save the life of his child.
Ahli Arab Hospital is a small family, and we have suffered so much, just from the October invasion of Jabaliya Camp. Imagine how many others have suffered? Please ask all peace lovers to pray for the people of Palestine. Jesus come to give us peace. Palestine is the hometown of Jesus, and he talked about peace. He was crucified for this. We ask you to pray, and to talk about our suffering, and to work to help us achieve peace.
We convey our Christmas greetings to all our friends, all over the world. May the blessing of Christmas be with you now and forever.
July 2004
GAZA – The Ahli Arab Hospital Outreach Clinic on July 7th was focused on the residents of two villages from the Middle Camps area of the Gaza Strip. Many weeks of planning goes into these clinics. The Ahli social service department works in conjunction with community leadership of the village and draws up a listing of those most urgently in need of health care services.
The residents of one village were able to come to Ahli for the clinic, as planned, on one bus early in the morning. The residents of the second village were prohibited from leaving as the Israeli military forces had entered the village during the night and were preventing any movement. This group was able to arrive to Ahli at about 12:30 pm.
The family shown in these photos are from the second village. Both boys have begun to wet the bed at night. They tell their mother that they are afraid at night and that they don't sleep well. They are being evaluated by the pediatrician. They both have experienced many many military incursions and bombings by the Israeli military in their village.
July 2004
GAZA – Aseel is a young Palestinian girl who is receiving physiotherapy at Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza.
She was playing with matches when her clothing caught on fire. She sustained serious burns on her right arm and chest.
When she first came to Ahli she was told that she needed four skin grafts, but with care and whirlpool treatments, she has not needed these.
February 2004
(The following is a letter from Nancy Dinsmore.)
Salaam and greetings to you from Jerusalem.
A few days ago I went to Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, and attended one of the Outreach Clinics. This is also one of the projects that the American Friends has chosen to support in our first quarter of 2004 fund raising.
The Ahli Arab Hospital Community Outreach Program is running weekly clinics, each targeting a community in need. In the last 16 months, these clinics have been held in schools for the disabled, areas of recent incursions and villages that are surrounded by Israeli settlements, as well as other groups of the ill, injured and impoverished. As the program has become more well known, more communities have contacted Ahli and asked for outreach services. Each clinic is organized in conjunction with a counterpart in the community, and tailored to suit the specific needs of the participants. Most often participants are bused to Ahli for the clinic; however, in some instances a mobile outreach team goes to the community. During the health assessment, those who are most at risk are identified and admitted to the hospital, flagged for follow–up, given emergency food packets, and/or assessed by the social worker; in addition to receiving treatment for their presenting complaint.
Health care provided to outreach clinic participants includes services in outpatient clinics and inpatient units, physical therapy and rehabilitation, surgery, diagnostic evaluation and medications. All treatments and the medical care provided are free to the recipient.
The details of today's clinic were provided by Amna and her daughter, Mona, who attended the clinic; as well as by Mrs. Zordiah, who helped to organize the clinic. Mohammed Al Naqa, the Ahli Arab Hospital social worker, did the translation. I have tried to keep to their own words as much as possible.
The clinic on February 18th was from a village called Johrla Deak. It is located in a very deprived area and is a small village of about 3500 people. It is located between Borej refugee camp and the Gaza Valley (Wadi Gaza), along the eastern border. The residents are a mixture of citizens and refugees.
Today's outreach clinic was organized in conjunction with the Women's Association inside the village, lead by Mrs. Zordiah. Today everyone is happy and many people have come for the health care services. This is the first time this area has received an outreach clinic and people are very happy for the care. There are so many in need.
Most of those who came to Outreach Clinic today are children under 15 years old. There are 155 people who have registered to receive health care. Most of the complaints are from environmental diseases, such as diarrhea and amoebas, which cause stomach pain. There are also a lot who have complaints of skin disease, and want to see the dermatologist. Johrla Deak is an agricultural area, with many animals, and it is not always clean. There is minimal infrastructure in the village, and not all people have electricity. There is no municipal water hook up, and people obtain their water from private wells. Much of the water is contaminated. There are many needs for medical services and it is not easy to reach Ahli Arab Hospital. People feel like this is a holiday.
There is no clinic in the area of Johrla Deak, and no health center. It is a hot area (in terms of fighting), and so close to the border. If someone is injured, no ambulance is allowed to enter the area. They try to get the injured person out on a donkey cart, to reach health care. People work together and take care of each other.
I am speaking with the family of Amna. Her daughter, Mona, is 27, and has come to the clinic with a complaint of abdominal pain. Mona's husband is 26, and is unable to work because of the severity of his diabetes. Amna is 65 years old. Mona and her husband have one boy and three girls. They live in Johrla Deak, between the settlement of Netzarim and the road that leads to it. They are forbidden to use the main street, and have to go around, passing through the Gaza Valley. This makes the trip to Gaza City an extra two hours. No one in their family is working. Mona says that the smiles of our children have been stolen from them. We are scared.
Mona tells me that there are many homes in Johrla Deak that have been demolished, and much agricultural land around the village that had been razed. The village is intermittently invaded by the Israeli Military. Anytime there is a problem anywhere in Israel, such as a bombing, the area is invaded. The family turns off their electricity (lights) and hides. They are afraid of the Apache helicopters, and they make their children be quiet. Mona or Amna tell them stories to take their attention away from the invasion, and they talk about encouraging things.
January 2004
(The following article is taken from the January 2004 newsletter of the American Friends of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.)
GAZA – Ahli Hospital is a visible expression of our concern for the more than one million people who live in the Gaza Strip area of Palestine. Less than 2,500 of them are Christians, yet Ahli Hospital is known and respected as a provider of the highest quality health care. They provide care to Muslims and Christians alike.
A significant portion of the care is charitable, as they minister to the poorest people in a community where over 60% of the residents live in refugee camps. Unemployment figures range from 60% to 80%. Ahli tries, as best they can, to play a major role in prevention of illness and disability. However, the daily demands for basic hospital and emergency services consume most of their capacity.
In the past year, over 5,000 patients were seen for free - inpatient, outpatient, medications, laboratory exams, physical therapy – all included.
The hospital operates at well over a million dollar annual shortfall. Financial support comes from the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, and a worldwide family of donors, including the American Friends, who have been a major supporter for more than a decade. Two years ago we supplied a new ambulance for the hospital.
Ahli Hospital survives under the most crushing of conditions: repeated nighttime helicopter and tank bombardments, electricity and telephone lines destroyed, orchards uprooted, homes and businesses torched or demolished and roads excavated to block movements. For more than a year, the Israeli military has periodically refused to allow even United Nations vehicles to enter Gaza with medical and humanitarian supplies. The hospital, itself, has been hit by missiles and adjacent St. Philip's Anglican Church sustained $25,000 in damage to the roof. To date the American Friends have raised $5,000 towards the repair, which has not yet been done.
Acute malnutrition is growing in Gaza to the point where UNICEF says that children in Gaza are now as malnourished as children in the Congo and Zimbabwe, and it is getting worse. Problems of damage to the water supply, lack of human waste disposal and buildup of solid waste contribute to the deterioration of life and health. 770 Gazan homes have been destroyed in the past two years and 7,025 people have been made homeless. Many more homes have been severely damaged, leaving tens of thousands living in barely habitable structures.
The Ahli Arab Hospital Community Outreach Program is running weekly clinics, each targeting a community in need in Gaza. In the past 16 months, clinics have been held in schools for the disabled, areas of recent military incursions and villages that are surrounded by Israeli settlements. As the program expands, more communities have asked to be visited. Some patients are bussed to Ahli Hospital for the clinic, however, in some instances the mobile outreach team goes to the community. Those at most risk are admitted to the hospital and flagged for follow-up, given emergency food packets and visited by the social worker, in addition to receiving medical treatment.
Health care provided to outreach clinic participants includes physical therapy and rehabilitation, surgery, diagnostic evaluation, medications, food and transport from the clinic to the hospital. The cost of one clinic, serving approximately 150 people is $3.632.
A food support program is part of the mobile clinic outreach. Families with six or more members, with no source of income, whose property has been damaged or demolished and are living under siege, and are unable to leave their homes, qualify for a food parcel. Each parcel costs $74.60, and the American Friends have been supporting this endeavor since it began.
April 2003
GAZA – St. Philip's Chapel remains in shambles more than two months after Israeli soldiers bombed the church in the Al Ahli Arab Hospital complex, with repairs estimated at some $25,000. However, hospital officials already have repaired windows of surrounding hospital buildings, and donations for church repairs keep coming.
It's all a matter of picking up the pieces – a process that the hospital, a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, knows only too well in this war-torn region.
"We are grateful to all our friends who keep praying for us and who also give us a hand of help," hospital director Suhaila Tarazi said. "Hand in hand, we will continue to do God's work in this area."
Every day, the hospital contends with Intifada–related violence and military checkpoints as it aims to serve Gaza residents, Tarazi said. Fears of a full–scale Israeli invasion on the Gaza Strip have not been realized, but neither has the situation improved, according to hospital officials.
Invasions in specific parts of Gaza regularly continue to cause problems for hospital staff. An invasion in the southern part of the Gaza Strip last week caused some workers to be three hours late for work, as they had to drive through increased military checkpoints. Even social worker Mohammed Al Naqa, who leaves his home every morning at 4:30, arrived at work one hour late at 8 a.m.
"To go to Tel Aviv to Rome, you will arrive earlier, believe me," Tarazi said with a laugh.
The conflict also has affected the hospital's mobile outreach clinics, which serve outlying villages. Some villages, such as Al Mawasi, are bordered by Israeli settlements, so Israeli soldiers have particularly tight restrictions. Many times, people cannot leave their villages for several days even to buy food, so residents must live on tomatoes that grow in their area.
Soldiers will not allow Al Ahli Arab Hospital to drive ambulances into these places, so hospital staff members have started picking up patients outside the villages instead for its mobile outreach clinics. The clinics mainly help women because most men are not allowed to leave their villages. These medical missions have helped hundreds of patients, and the hospital conducted three missions in February alone.
This month, the hospital hopes to conduct two missions for camps near Beit Hanoun, a north Gaza village that has suffered major damages from recent Israeli attacks.
Tarazi said she offered to give toys to children at the clinics, but the mothers would hear nothing of it. It is not a major priority on their list of needs, she explained. Still, the clinics provide children with sandwiches, and they provide families with rice and other dry goods.
"We try our best to put a smile on a kid in a very dark place," Tarazi said.
Doctors deal with dark realities on a daily basis, often treating people with conflict–related wounds. Like the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, officials at Al Ahli Arab Hospital condemn violence on all sides and seek peace and justice for all Holy Land residents.
Regional violence has kept the hospital from using international volunteers as it has in the past. However, Tarazi said she hopes to start using volunteers again by the middle of this year. A plastic surgeon already has made plans to come before the year's end.
Other needs include orthopedics equipment, surgical equipment for emergency procedures and more midwives on staff. Tarazi said she hopes to train 12 staff nurses in midwifery, offering a three–month course that would accommodate three staff nurses at a time. The midwives are greatly in need in Gaza, Tarazi said. However, the hospital needs $10,000 to $12,000 per year to run such a program.
The hospital also wants to start a course that would train staff to adopt the hospital's treatment methods. Tarazi noted that the hospital's multinational staff has learned a variety of methods of treatment, but Al Ahli Arab Hospital uses American methods.
In addition, the hospital must raise at least $25,000 for repairs to St. Philip's Church and $160,000 to purchase a new X–ray machine after the church bombing in January destroyed an X–ray machine they used in a nearby hospital room.
During the early morning hours of Jan. 24, Israeli soldiers fired an American–made, remote–controlled, guided Tau missile at the church. The missile damaged the chapel's roof and put a hole in the ground next to the altar. It also shattered the church's stained glass, dating back to the turn of the century, and broke glass in several buildings throughout the hospital.
Though no one suffered direct injuries from the bombing, one elderly female hospital patient died of a heart attack because of a fear of the nearby explosions. Israeli military officials have not issued an apology for the incident.
The church has not had a full–time priest in recent years because no Anglican priest has been able to get an Israeli permit required to serve there. However, the 13 Christians out of the 103 full-time staff members used to meet in the chapel every morning for prayer times. St. Philip's had undergone renovations only seven years ago.
"You can't imagine how much time it took to collect money to repair this church – mostly from individual donors," Tarazi said.
Despite such frustrations, the hospital carries on. The Christians now meet in the administration offices for prayers. And hospital employees continue to persevere, hoping for a day when better things will come for the Gaza Strip.
"This is the situation, but we believe and pray that one day there will be peace in all this area and in the Middle East," Tarazi said.
January 2003
GAZA – St. Philip's Church and Ahli Arab Hospital sustain a direct hit by a guided missile.
There is broken glass everywhere; on the floors, covering the tables, covering papers, on beds. The Christian leaders of Gaza have gathered to offer their support and condemn the bombing of St. Philip's Episcopal Church, located within the Ahli Arab Hospital compound. The Church is in the center of the hospital complex, and surrounded by buildings flying the Red Cross and Anglican flags. All day a steady flow of friends and visitors came to say 'ILLHAMDILLAH SALAMEH', 'thank God you are safe.'
At about 2:15 last night, Dr. Salah, Ahli Arab Hospital's physician on call, awoke to the sound of an explosion in the distance. The next explosion was nearer and louder, and the electricity failed. Within the next few minutes he saw the distinctive light of a missile approaching. As he lay in his third floor bed, he watched as the missile passed within 10 meters of his head and hit St. Philip's Church. It came slowly, and he describes 'the storm of wind and glass passing like a train through his bedroom'. There was glass everywhere; in his bed, in his hair, covering the floor.
An elderly woman had arrived at the emergency room, just prior to the attack. She came because she was terrified, and was suffering from high blood pressure. The doctor began to examine her and just then the missile hit next door, and throwing him to the ground. It took a few minutes for the electrical generator to come on, and by the time he was able to get to her, she had died. 'She died of fear.'
Built at the turn of the last century, St. Philip's Episcopal Church was reconsecrated in 1996, by Bishops Samir Kafity and Riah Abu El–Assal, in the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. George Carey; The Presiding Bishop of the US, Edmund Browning, and thirty–four other Primates of the Anglican Communion, along with President Arafat. Its century old stained class windows were shattered, and crystal from its chandeliers littered the floor. The missile entered through the roof, and left a meter wide hole in the floor. The altar was covered with plaster and a nearby hymnal pierced with shrapnel. Suhaila Tarazi, Ahli director, said 'We collected money from so many individuals who supported the renovation of the Church, and in a minute it is gone.' The building was structurally reinforced with the remodeling, but it is an old building, and the walls showed numerous deep cracks.
The destruction did not stop with the Church. The Pediatric Clinics were damaged as well, with the collapse of the false ceiling and ventilation system. Throughout the hospital; the physical therapy building, the staff accommodations, the laboratory, medical records, the morgue, the library – glass littered the floors, windows were broken, doors separated from their frames by the force of the blast. The damage to the hospital is extensive, and many more old buildings showed structural cracks. Boys from the neighborhood collected shrapnel.
Everyone at the Hospital today spoke about why this happened. No one could imagine it was an accident. The area surrounding the Church was covered with the wire filaments that come from guided missiles. Hospital employees pointed out that they are nowhere near other apartment buildings, government or military facilities. Consensus was that this was a precisely targeted attack, how could it be otherwise? Apache helicopters had not only fired the missile, they had returned to film the results of their attack. These were shown on early morning Israeli television.
Dr. Salah continued, 'Ahli Arab Hospital is like a small family, we all feel connected. I have been through so many attacks, but never imagined our hospital would be hit, or the Church. It is a holy place. We are strong, we will survive. The hospital is running and it is going to continue to run for a long time.'
Dr. Nabila, an internist, is Ahli's only female physician. Last night tanks surrounded her family's four story apartment building. They were given five minutes to evacuate, leaving with only the nightclothes they wore. The entire neighborhood was evacuated. Those who specialize in destruction then entered to plant vacuum bombs, which destroyed the building with such force that cement blocks are scattered over a kilometer. Today the streets are filled with neighbors and friends who are staring at the destruction, while children gather to look.
Suhaila Tarazi moved through the different buildings of the hospital, shaking hands, accepting words of support from the steady stream of visitors, staff and neighbors. 'God forgive them they do not know what they are doing. I will repeat the words of Jesus on the day he was crucified. Despite this we will continue our mission of love and peace to all people. I call upon our friends, all over the world, to keep us in your prayers and help us to overcome this tragedy. To work hard with us, because I am sure that one day peace will prevail.'
November 2002
GAZA – Sitting cross–legged on her bed in her white shawl and black dress, a faint smile showing across her weathered face, Hadba looked quite at home while recovering from uncontrolled hypertension at the Ahli Arab Hospital earlier this week. Yet it's rare to find a patient who lives in her region at any hospital these days. Hadba's village near the Jewish settlement of Kfar Darom has no hospital of its own, and nearby military checkpoints prevent fellow villagers from receiving health care in nearby communities.
Enter the Mobile Outreach Clinic. The new service offered at Ahli Arab Hospital, a ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, is allowing villagers like Hadba to receive desperately needed medical treatment for the first time in months.
"Every time I see them here, I think, 'God bless them,'" hospital director Suhaila Tarazi said Wednesday, as she watched clinic patients line up for the buses that would take them back to their home villages.
The monthly clinics, which started this fall, offer buses to pick up patients outside their villages and take them to Ahli Arab. Patients receive access to pediatric, dermatology, gynecology, urology, cardiology, surgical and medical care. All services are free, including laboratory tests, radiology exams and medications. The clinic also provides patients with food supplies.
Each clinic attracts some 170 families – or more than 500 people. The mobile outreach service aims to help people from the villages of Al Mawasi, Um Al Dohair and Mogharakia and surrounding areas, which suffer an estimated 95 percent unemployment rate.
Villages targeted by the clinic are virtual islands surrounded by Jewish settlements, military encampments, and Israeli military checkpoints. These checkpoints prevent most residents from traveling to nearby locales, such as Gaza City, for medical care. Those people who do happen to make it through the checkpoints are not allowed to take any metal objects with them.
Fatima, one of the patients at Wednesday's clinic, said soldiers would not even allow her to take hair clips, coins or clothes with zippers through the checkpoint. She said she was separated from her husband and two of her three children because soldiers would not allow her to return to her village during the past month.
"Why, in Al Mawasi, do we always have to suffer?" she asked in Arabic. "We are asking for human rights people to come and help us."
Despite the difficult situation facing these villagers, most are not refugees, so they do not have access to help from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency and other refugee assistance groups. As a result, they are virtual prisoners in their own towns, with no access to food, supplies or medical care.
Ahli Arab Hospital cannot obtain the permits from the Israeli military needed to bring doctors or medical supplies into these villages, so residents must walk past local checkpoints, where a bus waits for them. The majority of people who come are women because soldiers will not allow boys older than 8 or men younger than 45 through the checkpoints.
Still, a handful of elderly men made the trek over last week. One man, Adel, said that a French humanitarian agency (Doctors without Borders) tried to help his village, but Israeli soldiers would not let them inside. He said he was thankful to have the mobile clinic come to his village.
"We hope to see them more and more."
Patients on Wednesday sat in plastic chairs and conversed under an outside canopy while waiting for hospital staff to call their numbers. The mostly female crowd was dressed in varied attire, ranging from black shawls that covered almost every part of the body to mere dresses with head scarves. Meanwhile, children played near the canopy or contentedly munched on sandwiches.
Doctors say the majority of pediatric patients they see are malnourished. Al Mawasi, a village of 10,000 people, has no hospitals and only one government primary health care clinic with an extremely limited supply of medicine. Other villages offer no medical care at all. Many families in these villages are living on tomatoes if they happen to grow in the region. Others simply starve when military curfews are fully enforced.
A doctor running the dermatology clinic said he has encountered many "environmental problems," including fungal infections, bacterial skin infections, eczema and scabies. Many people have had their hair fall out because of nutritional problems and stress reactions.
Meanwhile, a pediatrician said that many children have chest infections, such as asthma, croup and colds. Several children also have diarrhea linked with contaminated drinking water, pinworms and other parasites.
Dr. Yousef, who ran the medical clinic Wednesday, said he mostly sees cases of diabetes, hypertension, stomach ulcers and various infections, such as tonsillitis. Many of these may be indirectly related to the stress of the regional violence, he said. Many patients go to bed at night to the sounds of bombs and bullets.
Hadba confirmed Dr. Yousef's account as she sat on her hospital bed.
"We ask that God would help us," she said in Arabic, pointing to the sky. "But we are suffering not only in the night, but also in the day. Women and children are scared and stressed all the time. They can't sleep because of the tanks, helicopters and guns."
The situation is difficult for hospital employees, too. Ahli Arab social worker Mohammed Al Naqa looked weary after a sleepless night of listening to Israeli forces bomb the area surrounding his home. He also was hungry because Muslims like himself fast during the day during their holy month of Ramadan.
Still, Al Naqa maintains optimism when talking about the Mobile Outreach clinic, which received help from three volunteer doctors on Wednesday. The clinic appeared to go seamlessly, but that was because of three prior days of preparation, he said.
The hospital must first send a women's committee into the villages to advertise the clinic, determine resident needs and find out how many people want to attend the clinic, Al Naqa said. A few days later, the hospital will send a bus during the wee hours of the morning to pick up patients, he said. The 25–kilometer bus ride to the hospital takes some three hours because of delays at various military checkpoints.
Occasionally, doctors will find a patient who needs special hospital care, and they will schedule them for a follow–up hospital visit. Such patients receive free medical treatment. For example, the hospital offered to pay for surgery for Fatima on Wednesday after discovering she would need hernia repair, and Hadba received free treatment for her case of uncontrolled hypertension and diabetes.
Such free medical care has taken its financial toll on the hospital, which had a $400,000 deficit for the first six months of this year. However, support from local charities has kept Ahli Arab alive. Financial aid from groups such as the Australia–based AngliCORD, Episcopal Relief and Development (USA), the Church World Service, The United Church of Christ and others have made the Mobile Outreach clinic a reality.
Financial and political constraints make work difficult for the hospital staff, but Tarazi said the work has its rewards, too. She noted a woman on Wednesday who waved and asked for God's blessing on the hospital as she left the clinic.
"After it's all done, and we have put a smile on the face of somebody, it makes it all worth it."
Spotlight
Samira Farah - Assistant Administrative Director
I am from Gaza, and have lived here all my life, as have my parents. We are eleven children, three boys and eight girls. We have two unmarried boys and four unmarried girls, who live at home with our parents, and I am one of them. We are a Greek Orthodox Christian family. We are very close to the work in and of the church. We are not fanatic about which church though, and I think you have to learn about Jesus Christ wherever you can get this education. We go to all the churches.
I studied in Gaza until I took my Tawjihi (high school exams). The system was such that there was one year between the completion of secondary school classes and the beginning of the university. I spent that year doing a certification course in secretarial work at Near East Council of Churches Center (NECC). After this I obtained a job at the Baptist Hospital in October 1972, which later became the Ahli Arab Hospital.
I applied to The Arab University in Beirut and obtained a degree in commerce. During my work at the hospital I had the opportunity to study courses at the School of Nursing in anatomy and English, and worked closely with a surgeon writing medical reports. I spent six months learning about the medical terminology, which still helps me today. I also took a year of computer classes at NECC. Next I went to the USA for a program in hospital management at Boston University, in the Public Health department. I returned to Gaza to be with my family. I began at Ahli when it was the Baptist hospital and has been there for 30+ years. It had a financial crisis and closed some of its services, retaining only 48 staff and I stayed through this time. In 1982 it continued under the Anglican Church.
I began as a secretary in the lab and x–ray department, and then with a university degree, was promoted to the main office as an assistant administrator. I take care of purchasing and personnel matters. I am now a member of the board and the management team.
It means a lot to me to work for a church organization. As I said, I grew up in a Christian family, and was encouraged to learn about Jesus Christ. I believe that with a church hospital we can serve people through healing. This fills something in my heart, and my love for working with people, and helping people. We have a chapel and I was an active member of the hospital chapel.
My future hope is to travel the whole world. I enjoy my family and time with them. I look forward to talking and listening to their experiences, and advice, and listen to their work stories. I also have brothers and sisters outside Gaza, in the Gulf. My mother's family is in Boston, Chicago, Mississippi, though my mother is here in Gaza.
I wish people in the US, especially the believers, would understand our cause, and understand our problem. We are human beings who want to live as everyone in the world, with freedom and justice, in our land without killing. My message is especially a message to the children of the world to feel with our children. How they suffer when they loose a parent, or a sibling, and live each day in fear. Our children don't know if they and their loved ones will be alive tomorrow. It is very important to pray for us, because only God can release Palestinians from suffering.
Suhaila Tarazi - Executive Director
I am an American born in the Holy Land, to a middle class Christian family in Gaza. Our parents encouraged us to obtain a good education and they dedicated their lives to teaching and giving these opportunities to their children. I have always pursued education in my life, and consider education an important aspect of our ministry at Ahli Arab Hospital.
We were five children, and I am number 3. I grew up in Gaza and went to Egypt to take my first university degree. I was awarded a BS degree in accounting and administration. After this, I worked for a few years in Libya. I then returned to Gaza after my father's death. In 1984, I was offered a scholarship in a postgraduate program in health planning and administration, at Leeds University. After completing this in 1985, I came to Ahli Arab Hospital. Initially, I worked with the accounts and took responsibility for the financial department.
During the first Intifada, I left and stayed in the US for 3-4 years. During this time, I obtained good training in hospital management and a degree in computers, and came back to Gaza to serve the hospital. In 1994, at end of the first Intifada, there was no director at Ahli. In the past, all directors had come from outside our community, and it was difficult for anyone to come to Gaza at this time. Bishop Samir Kafity appointed me Executive Director of the Hospital at this time. I was honored to be the first Palestinian director of the Ahli Arab Hospital. It wasn't easy to assume this position, as a woman in a conservative society where paternalism exists. At the time, it was a long process, to develop the position. Nevertheless, I now have very strong support from the people of Gaza, and all political factions from Gaza; from the staff and from the Board of directors.
The most important thing to me is the fact that as a Christian, I feel that I have to put my beliefs into action. In particular, this hospital is addressing services to those who are in need. Jesus Christ expressed his love to the needy, so Ahli Arab Hospital does the same. Our mission is to give, and to eliminate suffering of all needy people without discrimination of religion, gender, political affiliation and so on. The services from this hospital have reached nearly every home in the Gaza Strip, from Rafah in the south to Beit Hanoun in the north. It is not that easy for anyone to run a humanitarian medical institution like Ahli Arab Hospital during civil unrest and in a war situation, where there are immense amounts of oppression, catastrophes, injuries, bloodshed everywhere and poverty surrounding us due to the political situation taking place in the Holy Land.
In addition, Ahli Arab Hospital is suffering from a shortage of funds. Unemployment in the community is over 60% and people are unable to pay for services. I am taking this opportunity to invite people to come and to witness the love of Jesus Christ in this institution, where many thousands are served. I convey my great thanks and appreciation to those who put Ahli as one place to come and visit, and to our friends who keep us in their prayers, and who support us with funds and materials. Without their assistance, Ahli Arab Hospital is unable to fulfill its one aim – to assist those in need.
The Diocese called upon me, and I heard the call of Jesus Christ to come to Ahli Arab Hospital. Let others come and work with us.
Background
Ahli Arab Hospital is located in the Gaza Strip area of Palestine. Gaza lies on one of the oldest highways in the world, on the Mediterranean coast. It has been a crossroads of the Middle East for centuries, well before the arrival of Christianity or Islam. The hospital is a remarkable place, and was originally built in the 1882 by the Church Missionary Society (CMS), in the center of Gaza City. It became a service ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem in 1982. During the first Intifada it was the only non-Israeli hospital run by Palestinians in Gaza, working with the community. The work of healing continues to the present day.
Of the over one million two hundred thousand residents of the Gaza Strip, fewer than twenty–five hundred are Christian, yet Ahli Hospital is known and respected as a provider of the highest quality health care for all the women, children and men of Gaza. A significant portion of their care is charitable, as they minister to many of the poorest, in a community where over 60% of the residents live in refugee camps.
During recent years Ahli Arab Hospital has responded to the needs of the people as they occur, in particular during the times of crises that related to the Palestinian Israeli conflict. Throughout its emergency program the hospital has continued to provide medical treatment to victims of the current crisis. The emergency team has been deployed to several heavily shelled site to treat the injured, and help transport the wounded to medical facilities. Ahli also tailors its services to those vulnerable women, children and elderly who lack the basic necessities of life.
The hospital is involved in organizing medical outreach clinics to the most needy areas to bring primary care and home care services to villages and individuals who cannot access health services from any other source. These villages are primarily located near the Israeli settlements and have been under a total siege for months. Residents are required to obtain a permit from the Israeli military offices in order to leave their villages. The hospital coordinates with the community leaders to host the free medical missions or help to evacuate patients who are in need for further medical treatment. The hospital provides free health care, including outpatient, diagnostic and inpatient services, transportation and food parcels for each family attending this outreach program.
Contact
Development Office
Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem
Email: devedjer@netvision.net.il
Fax: 972 2 627 2670