Palestinian granted posthumous entry to Israel

[Scurrilous]

Death of 58-year-old cancer patient who was denied access to treatment in Israeli hospital blamed on Shin Bet, IDF bureaucracy. Family outraged as security clearance arrives days after man's death

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3610504,00.html

<snip>

"The family members of Gaza Strip resident Mahmoud abu-Amro claimed Sunday that the military's procrastination in giving the 58-year-old cancer patient the necessary clearance to receive treatment in Israel was the direct cause of his death.

Abu-Amro had been a patient of the Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv for the past two years, undergoing his last session in February of 2008. According to his family, when he tried to enter Israel for treatment through Erez crossing in March, he was refused passage due to security concerns.

Abu-Amro reportedly arrived at the crossing with two medical briefs, written by Dr. Michal Lotem, an oncologist at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem and Dr. Ella Evron an oncologist at Assaf Harofeh Medical Center, citing he was in need of urgent medical care.

"The patient is suffering from a terminal disease. The treatment can both prolong his life and ease his suffering… it has a basic humanitarian purpose," wrote Dr. Lotem.

The family petitioned the Israeli authorities several times, via the Physicians for Human Rights association, requesting their patriarch be allowed entry to Israel for treatment.

Abu-Amro even met with a Shin Bet officer at Erez crossing, where he was told – according to his son, Dr. Salman abu-Amro – that one of his sons "was growing a beard and praying in a mosque, and that he should stand up against Hamas."

[pop goes the weasel]

1. the comments following the story are sick

Israel's own freepers, with a black hole where their hearts should be.

[Shaktimaan]

2. This is an awful shame.

It is truly terrible that the people who least deserve it are so often the ones who suffer the most as a result of war. That said, it pays to keep these individual stories in perspective. Gaza is under the control of an organization sworn to Israel's destruction, Hamas. Hamas and IJ have opposed reasonable peace deals in the past and are heavily responsible for the failure of Oslo... causing this failure was their stated goal, after all. Currently Hamas is holding an Israeli hostage and they are responsible for the hundreds, (thousands?) of rockets launched against Israel, during peace treaties, during times of Israeli concessions, essentially all the time. They have repeatedly gone on the record opposing any permanent peace with Israel; their actions back up their word. They are Israel's mortal enemy, and they are the elected government of Gaza. (Ironically brought to power by elections that were enacted as part of the Oslo Accords, which they fought against tooth and nail using any possible means.)

It is a shame that this man died as a result of an inefficient bureaucracy, but it is to Israel's credit that they allow this sort of program to exist at all. Gaza's Palestinians are not Israeli citizens nor is Gaza under occupation; Israel is not responsible for ensuring that they all receive medical care. Especially in light of the fact that Hamas has used this program as an entry to launch attacks in the past.

I challenge anyone to find an example of two nations who have a similar antagonistic relationship yet still allow for the level of humanitarian support that Israel offers many Gazans.

[shira]

3. Israeli Approvals for Medical Entry in the Shadow of Terror Attacks at the Erez Crossing

For several years, the Rapporteur to the UN Commission on Human Rights (now the UN Human Rights Council) and human rights groups have criticized the Israeli government and health care system for denying access to Gazans seeking to receive permits for care in hospitals in Israel, the PA and Jordan. Yet the data shows that the number of patients receiving permits for referrals to hospitals in Israel - or the PA or Jordan - increased by 45 percent from 4,932 in 2006 to 7,176 in 2007, and continued to increase in the first six months of 2008. These trends occurred despite a decline in entry approval rates, mostly because of security reasons.

The facts are that Israel has provided ever increasing numbers of approvals of permits since the Hamas takeover of Gaza, despite increasing rocket attacks on Israel's civilian population, including mortar and terror attacks directed at the
Erez crossing used by patients.

At the same time, there have been at least 20 incidents where Palestinians used medical missions to attempt terror attacks.

<snip>

http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=2&...

[bemildred]

4. At last a solution to the "right of return".

:sarcasm: