** Mailing-List Indonesia Nasional Milis PPI-India www.ppi-india.da.ru ** A Jerusalem hospital embodies spirit of cooperation By Steven Erlanger The New York Times Friday, April 1, 2005 JERUSALEM The elegant stonework, arched bell tower, vast courtyard and crusader crosses of the Augusta Victoria Hospital in east Jerusalem stem from an earlier time, when imperial Germany wanted a foothold in the Middle East. Now the hospital is about to open the first pediatric oncology unit for Palestinians, a small step toward a more modern future and better health. . This should be a simple story. But it is about Palestinians and Israelis, so it is intricate. Even "nice" stories, like this one, are so shaded with emotional and national sensitivities that goodness can become hard work. . Augusta Victoria, with 161 beds, is the second-largest hospital in east Jerusalem, and is largely underwritten by the Lutheran World Federation and by the United Nations Refugee Works Administration. . The new clinic, which opens Friday, is a project of the hospital, the Israeli Peres Center for Peace, a variety of Italian foundations and the Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem, which provided training, for a fee, for the oncologist, Dr. Yusri Saifi, and four nursing staff. The project is an outgrowth of a complicated nexus of aid, training and political nuance provided by the Italians, the Israelis and the Palestinians themselves. . Hadassah sees it as a good work, helping the Palestinians, through the agency of Dr. Michael Weintraub, the director of the hospital's Pediatric Hemato-Oncology unit. The group has been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and is carefully publicizing projects like this one, which can get under the skin of its Palestinian partners. . Dr. Tawfiq Nasser, the first Palestinian director of Augusta Victoria, which largely serves Palestinian refugees and the poor with the help of the Lutheran World Federation, is as passionate about maintaining Palestinian equity and pride in the project as he is about the building itself, parts of which he has had carefully restored. . The man in the middle, Dr. Dan Shanit, director of the Peres Center's medical and health care department, has coordinated the project. . His effort to open a Palestinian pediatric cancer center has been the work of more than five years. It already foundered once because of the Palestinian Authority's reluctance to allow a large hospital in Gaza, where it was originally to be located, to be a partner with a hospital in Tel Aviv. Now the clinic is a nongovernmental project, funded mostly by Italians. . Hadassah "is just one of many hospitals that take part in such projects, and Palestinian partners are terribly sensitive and don't want to be used as propaganda," Shanit said. He credits Nasser and Augusta Victoria for understanding the need for such a center "and grabbing it with both hands." . About 70 percent of children diagnosed with cancer can be cured, and there are about 150 Palestinian children diagnosed with cancer every year from the West Bank alone. Given the $50,000 to $100,000 cost of treatment in Israel, "most of those children won't be treated or will be misdiagnosed, and then it's too late," Weintraub said. Hadassah, which provides Palestinian children a discount, cannot cover all the costs or handle the whole caseload. "Opening a pediatric oncology center in Palestine is the best answer." . East Jerusalem was annexed by Israel after the 1967 war. In a peace settlement, east Jerusalem, in whole or in part, may or may not end up in a new Palestinian state. Still, the Israeli separation barrier against suicide bombers, a large concrete wall, cuts off the hospital from most of its clientele, which is poor, not covered by Israeli health insurance. . Nasser, 40, is a Christian and a Palestinian nationalist, who says he sees projects like this one as "peace through health - trying to address fear on the Israeli side and anger on the Palestinian side." He lives in Ramallah, on the West Bank, and commutes through Israeli military checkpoints every day, like most of his staff. . So the hospital has arranged a bus service for both staff and patients, coordinated with the army, that cuts the time they spend at Israel's many checkpoints at, near and around the barrier. . "It's tiring," he said. "I have to run a hospital and a bus company, too." . Nasser's own sensitivities about the Israeli involvement are echoed in his staff. "We refuse any relationship of occupied and occupier," he said. "Our doctors feel equal, so there you don't have negativity and partiality. And I'm very comfortable with my national ambitions, and I'm not compromising them by dealing with the Israelis this way." In fact, he said, "it's good for the Israelis to see the professional and caring side of Palestinians, and for Palestinians to see that not all Israelis are at checkpoints." . Asked if he protested too much, he laughed and said: "It's more difficult for us than for the Israelis. We have the anger. We have the lack of resources. I have to convince my doctors that partnership doesn't mean that the Israelis are taking over the hospital." . Saifi, the oncologist, a quiet and thoughtful man, says he is worried about the ability of the Palestinian Authority to keep its financial commitments, about the need for better pathology and intensive-care departments and the lack of radiated and filtered blood for his patients. . "I'll go to work April 1," he said softly. "But I have a lot of questions in my mind about how to manage." . In some ways this is also a simple story - or a simpler one - of two doctors, Weintraub and Saifi, one Israeli and one Palestinian, who worked closely together to save the lives of children who would otherwise die. Weintraub, 47, and Saifi, 40, have a strong relationship, of mutual admiration and care. And there is love here, too. . "He brings a lot of commitment to this and a lot of courage," Weintraub said of Saifi. "I work in a great academic institution with every resource. But he's starting something, and by himself. He's an experienced pediatrician, but this is a very difficult profession, emotionally and physically. It's a major challenge, and he's up to it." . Saifi, showing visitors the area for the new clinic, said of Weintraub: "He's a real man. He doesn't just make advertisements. He told me he'd be with me all the time, for consultations and help." He stopped, and his voice broke a little. "He's inspiring to me: He's a good manager and a good man. I love him." . [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Give the gift of life to a sick child. Support St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's 'Thanks & Giving.' http://us.click.yahoo.com/lGEjbB/6WnJAA/E2hLAA/BRUplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> *************************************************************************** Berdikusi dg Santun & Elegan, dg Semangat Persahabatan. Menuju Indonesia yg Lebih Baik, in Commonality & Shared Destiny. www.ppi-india.org *************************************************************************** __________________________________________________________________________ Mohon Perhatian: 1. Harap tdk. memposting/reply yg menyinggung SARA (kecuali sbg otokritik) 2. Pesan yg akan direply harap dihapus, kecuali yg akan dikomentari. 3. Lihat arsip sebelumnya, www.ppi-india.da.ru; 4. Satu email perhari: ppiindia-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 5. No-email/web only: ppiindia-nomail@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 6. kembali menerima email: ppiindia-normal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ppiindia/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: ppiindia-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ ** Mailing-List Indonesia Nasional Milis PPI-India www.ppi-india.uni.cc **