Dr. Ismail Mehr
Talks about his experience with the American Medical Mission to Gaza
Brian Lenzo
Talks about American responsibility for and support of the violence in Palestine
Ryan Acuff
Talks about University of Rochester students efforts to stop University funding of war and occupation
March 6 2009
7PM
First Unitarian Church of Rochester
220 Winton Rd S
Rochester, NY 14610
Map It
Sponsored by Rochester Against War
info@rochesteragainstwar.org
Facilitated by Judith Bello
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Friday, February 27, 2009
Doctor to Describe Aiding Palestinians in Gaza
Maki Becker of the Buffalo News reports:
Dr. Ismail Mehr, an anesthesiologist at St. James Mercy Hospital in Hornell, led a team of American doctors into Gaza following Israel’s incursion into the Palestinian territory late last year.
Tonight, he is scheduled to speak at an event in Salvatore’s Italian Gardens in the Town of Lancaster to raise money for the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, which is aiding the children of Gaza.
The fundraiser is sponsored by University at Buffalo Arab Students, the UB Muslim Student Association and the Western New York Peace Center.
Mehr said his team of 11 doctors and two nonmedical personnel, many of them members of Islamic Medical Association of America, were the only Americans allowed into Gaza following Israel’s three-week offensive, which began after militants in Gaza fired rockets into southern Israel.
A veteran of treating mass casualties in major disasters, Mehr said being in Gaza was especially disturbing, not because he is a Muslim but because “the whole situation there is a man-made situation, on both sides,” referring to both Israel and the Palestinian territories.
“I’ve gone to Banda Aceh [following the 2004 tsunami], to Kashmir; those are all acts of God or acts of nature,” he said. “But when it’s a man-made conflict, as a human being, a physician, it’s really disturbing.”
Mehr, like other members of the American Medical Mission to Gaza, is adamant about keeping politics out of the work.
“We were purely apolitical— humanitarian,” he said. “We didn’t care who our patients were. You ended up consumed by the situation. We just did our work.”
Mehr’s team was in Gaza from Jan. 21 until Jan. 31.
“Most of our team dealt with trauma and infection of trauma injuries that weren’t taken care of right away,” Mehr said.
He wasn’t faulting the doctors who had been trying to care for the patients.
“When you’re having 200 people an hour coming to your emergency room — there isn’t a hospital in the U. S. that can handle that kind of volume. The injuries included burns and wounds that required amputations,” Mehr said.
Mehr said he couldn’t help but notice what he believed were the consequences of the two-year blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt on Gaza.
“What really caught us by surprise were the effects of the embargo,” he said. “We ended up taking care of people who were not just injured from the war, but were dying of cancer and chronic illnesses who couldn’t be treated because they didn’t have the medicines and didn’t have the medical expertise.”
mbecker@buffnews.com
Dr. Ismail Mehr, an anesthesiologist at St. James Mercy Hospital in Hornell, led a team of American doctors into Gaza following Israel’s incursion into the Palestinian territory late last year.
Tonight, he is scheduled to speak at an event in Salvatore’s Italian Gardens in the Town of Lancaster to raise money for the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund, which is aiding the children of Gaza.
The fundraiser is sponsored by University at Buffalo Arab Students, the UB Muslim Student Association and the Western New York Peace Center.
Mehr said his team of 11 doctors and two nonmedical personnel, many of them members of Islamic Medical Association of America, were the only Americans allowed into Gaza following Israel’s three-week offensive, which began after militants in Gaza fired rockets into southern Israel.
A veteran of treating mass casualties in major disasters, Mehr said being in Gaza was especially disturbing, not because he is a Muslim but because “the whole situation there is a man-made situation, on both sides,” referring to both Israel and the Palestinian territories.
“I’ve gone to Banda Aceh [following the 2004 tsunami], to Kashmir; those are all acts of God or acts of nature,” he said. “But when it’s a man-made conflict, as a human being, a physician, it’s really disturbing.”
Mehr, like other members of the American Medical Mission to Gaza, is adamant about keeping politics out of the work.
“We were purely apolitical— humanitarian,” he said. “We didn’t care who our patients were. You ended up consumed by the situation. We just did our work.”
Mehr’s team was in Gaza from Jan. 21 until Jan. 31.
“Most of our team dealt with trauma and infection of trauma injuries that weren’t taken care of right away,” Mehr said.
He wasn’t faulting the doctors who had been trying to care for the patients.
“When you’re having 200 people an hour coming to your emergency room — there isn’t a hospital in the U. S. that can handle that kind of volume. The injuries included burns and wounds that required amputations,” Mehr said.
Mehr said he couldn’t help but notice what he believed were the consequences of the two-year blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt on Gaza.
“What really caught us by surprise were the effects of the embargo,” he said. “We ended up taking care of people who were not just injured from the war, but were dying of cancer and chronic illnesses who couldn’t be treated because they didn’t have the medicines and didn’t have the medical expertise.”
mbecker@buffnews.com
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Where's My Daddy?
Hiba Saloum, a 4 year old Palestinian girl has been asking her mother this question since the day her father was killed. Her father, Mohammad, was a hero so to speak. It was afternoon, and the call for prayers had been made. As per his daily routine, Mohammad went to offer afternoon prayers. Few had been brave enough or dared to come out of their homes and offer prayers in a congregation during the recent conflict. I suppose it is very likely that he would have been asking God to help end the endless days of attacks. Little did he know what fate had in store for him.
Those who survived the upcoming deadly afternoon explained that as they were offering their prayers the loud supersonic sounds of approaching F-16 fighter jets were heard overhead. Following a large explosion that had jolted everyone to the ground, the jets unloaded an arsenal of missiles upon the local police station. The police station was completely decimated. Hiba
’s uncle, Gibran, who also was in the mosque, described the carnage. I can only picture it in my mind, like a seen from a Hollywood movie. He said there were body parts strewn across the rubble, some people were simply gasping for their last breaths, while others could be heard screaming for help. A scene of utter and total chaos along with despair beyond belief. Hiba's father and the others who were nearby ran to help their fellow brothers and sisters. As they were scouring through the wreckage helping and searching for survivors, an attack helicopter soon appeared and showered a hail of bullets and rocket fire on the small crowd beneath. Mohammad died helping others that day. I found a tear rolling down my cheek, as Hiba’s mother Fatima and Gibran told me the story. Hopefully one day Hiba can understand that her father died helping fellow man--a hero in my book.
History tends to only record the number of dead, seriously wounded, and the children who are hurt or killed during war. What I noticed, were the ones who are unspoken for. The children, like Hiba, The orphans--regardless i
f they lost one or both parents. Life is never the same for any child who has lost a parent, but imagine the uphill battle to survive in a war torn region like Gaza. Life is hard enough for the ones who survive year after year, despite the embargo and all its effects. Operation "Cast Lead" left over 2000 new orphans who ask the same questions. These children experience nightmares, bedwetting, and even the loss of control of their bowels--Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an understatement, to say the least.
f they lost one or both parents. Life is never the same for any child who has lost a parent, but imagine the uphill battle to survive in a war torn region like Gaza. Life is hard enough for the ones who survive year after year, despite the embargo and all its effects. Operation "Cast Lead" left over 2000 new orphans who ask the same questions. These children experience nightmares, bedwetting, and even the loss of control of their bowels--Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an understatement, to say the least. As physicians we are trained to handle all situations and all types of patients. But I could not find the words to console the children who told stories of seeing their parent’s bodies under the rubble, or bullet-ridden torsos lying in the front yard. The effects of 23 days of bombings and planes flying overhead have taken their toll on many, but it is the children who must live on with such memories, that need us most now.
It is heartening to see surgeons, trauma doctors, pediatricians and critical care specialists volunteer their time but we must not lose sight of the most important part of the body that has taken the greatest blow--the beautiful mind. I applaud my colleagues in the mental health professions that traveled to Gaza and can only hope that the borders are eased so that these heroes of medicine can continue to come, listen, and treat the children. Hopefully they can better serve to help answer questions that many physicians cannot—like that of Hiba: "Where's my daddy?"
Dr. Ismail Mehr is an anesthesiologist from Hornell, NY. He was the team leader for the American medical mission.
Wednesday, February 25, 2009
Dr Imran Qureshi Selected as CAIR Courage Awardee
CAIR to honor Hamza Yusuf, Roland Martin, Ahlam Jabra, Dr. Imran Qureshi
Dr. Imran Qureshi is an Interventional Radiologist practicing in Aurora, IL. He completed his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Rochester near his hometown of Dansville, NY. After spending an internship year in Chicago, he completed his Radiology residency at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Qureshi returned to Chicago for a fellowship in Interventional Radiology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He has been in Aurora for 4 years. Dr. Qureshi joined a group of 9 physicians who traveled to Gaza to on a humanitarian medical mission sponsored by the Islamic Medical Association. While there he performed procedures on multiple patients, including a five year old with cancer and a 9 day old with renal failure. He is currently working with the team to push for a congressional hearing regarding the aftermath of war in Gaza to allow continued medical aid in the region. He has also been a regular contributor to a website put up by the team--the American Medical Mission to Gaza
Dr. Imran Qureshi is an Interventional Radiologist practicing in Aurora, IL. He completed his undergraduate and medical degrees from the University of Rochester near his hometown of Dansville, NY. After spending an internship year in Chicago, he completed his Radiology residency at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. Dr. Qureshi returned to Chicago for a fellowship in Interventional Radiology at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. He has been in Aurora for 4 years. Dr. Qureshi joined a group of 9 physicians who traveled to Gaza to on a humanitarian medical mission sponsored by the Islamic Medical Association. While there he performed procedures on multiple patients, including a five year old with cancer and a 9 day old with renal failure. He is currently working with the team to push for a congressional hearing regarding the aftermath of war in Gaza to allow continued medical aid in the region. He has also been a regular contributor to a website put up by the team--the American Medical Mission to Gaza
Chicago Tribune Prints Correction
Corrections and clarifications, Feb. 25, 2009
February 25, 2009
•An article Friday in the Chicagoland Extra edition gave an incorrect nationality for Dr. Imran Qureshi, a Naperville radiologist who was part of a medical relief team made up of Muslim physicians and surgeons from across the U.S. who traveled to the Gaza Strip. Qureshi is an American-born citizen and the son of Pakistani immigrants. Also, the article incorrectly said Qureshi had never been to the Middle East before. He had never been to Gaza before.The Tribune regrets the errors.
February 25, 2009
•An article Friday in the Chicagoland Extra edition gave an incorrect nationality for Dr. Imran Qureshi, a Naperville radiologist who was part of a medical relief team made up of Muslim physicians and surgeons from across the U.S. who traveled to the Gaza Strip. Qureshi is an American-born citizen and the son of Pakistani immigrants. Also, the article incorrectly said Qureshi had never been to the Middle East before. He had never been to Gaza before.The Tribune regrets the errors.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
2/24/09 Coverage
Report: US to give $900M in Gaza aid
Children afraid to return to school
Rehab for amputees a long road, at Al Wafa
MSF teams provide follow up surgery
Children afraid to return to school
Rehab for amputees a long road, at Al Wafa
MSF teams provide follow up surgery
Monday, February 23, 2009
University of Chicago to Host Gaza Event
Humanitarian Crisis in Gaza: An Eyewitness Account
Thursday, February 26th
5:30 PM
Ida Noyes Cloister Club
1212 East 59th Street
Chicago 60637
*Hummus and pita from Cedars will be served.
A Panel Discussion with:
Steve Sosebee , Dr. Imran Qureshi, Dr. Ra-id Abdulla, and Dr. Scott Eggener
Steve Sosebee is the President & CEO of Palestine Children Relief Fund.
The Palestine Children's Relief Fund is a non-governmental organization that was established concerned people in the U.S. to address the medical and humanitarian crisis facing Palestinian youths in the Middle East. See www.pcrf.net
Dr. Imran Qureshi, a doctor at Rush-Copley Medical Center, was one 9 American doctors to go to Gaza after the December/January assault on Gaza.
Team Website
Dr. Qureshi's Personal Travelogue
Dr. Ra-id Abdulla, a doctor from Rush Hospital in Chicago, has led several missions to Palestine over the past several years as a volunteer; screening hundreds of children, many who later had life-saving surgery
Dr. Scott Eggener, a doctor and assistant professor at the University of Chicago, is an active member of IVUMed (International Volunteers in Urology). He has participated in volunteer educational and surgical missions to Cuba, Honduras, Morocco, Myanmar, Rwanda, and Palestine.
Sponsored by: Human Rights Program of the University of Chicago, Amnesty, Students for Justice in Palestine
Contact: afshan1@uchicago.edu
Thursday, February 26th
5:30 PM
Ida Noyes Cloister Club
1212 East 59th Street
Chicago 60637
*Hummus and pita from Cedars will be served.
A Panel Discussion with:
Steve Sosebee , Dr. Imran Qureshi, Dr. Ra-id Abdulla, and Dr. Scott Eggener
Steve Sosebee is the President & CEO of Palestine Children Relief Fund.
The Palestine Children's Relief Fund is a non-governmental organization that was established concerned people in the U.S. to address the medical and humanitarian crisis facing Palestinian youths in the Middle East. See www.pcrf.net
Dr. Imran Qureshi, a doctor at Rush-Copley Medical Center, was one 9 American doctors to go to Gaza after the December/January assault on Gaza.
Team Website
Dr. Qureshi's Personal Travelogue
Dr. Ra-id Abdulla, a doctor from Rush Hospital in Chicago, has led several missions to Palestine over the past several years as a volunteer; screening hundreds of children, many who later had life-saving surgery
Dr. Scott Eggener, a doctor and assistant professor at the University of Chicago, is an active member of IVUMed (International Volunteers in Urology). He has participated in volunteer educational and surgical missions to Cuba, Honduras, Morocco, Myanmar, Rwanda, and Palestine.
Sponsored by: Human Rights Program of the University of Chicago, Amnesty, Students for Justice in Palestine
Contact: afshan1@uchicago.edu
Sunday, February 22, 2009
Event for Gaza in Downers Grove IL
Islamic Medical Association of North America Dinner Meeting Medical Report on Gaza Health Care Catastrophe Post Ceasefire
Date: 3/4/2009
Time: 6:30 pm to 8 pm
Speakers: Dr. Muhyaldeen Dia, Associate Professor of Medicine at UIC
Dr. Imran Qureshi, Member of IMANA Medical Team to Gaza
Registration: $20/person (free for medical students. Seating limited to 50 attendees - Please RSVP before 2/25/09 to Dr. Naveed Akhtar at nnakhtar@aol.com)
Contact Info: Dr. Naveed Akhtar, President
Chicago Chapter of IMANA
T: 630-932-0000 630-915-3531
E: nnakhtar@aol.com
Ashiyana Banquets
1620 7th Street
Downers Grove, IL
This dinner will feature a medical report on the Gaza Health Care Catastrophe Post Ceasefire (IMANA had sent a team of doctors to Gaza. You can read more about Imran Qureshi's experience at AMMGaza) There will also be discussion of the latest trends in the treatment of hyperlipidemia.
Date: 3/4/2009
Time: 6:30 pm to 8 pm
Speakers: Dr. Muhyaldeen Dia, Associate Professor of Medicine at UIC
Dr. Imran Qureshi, Member of IMANA Medical Team to Gaza
Registration: $20/person (free for medical students. Seating limited to 50 attendees - Please RSVP before 2/25/09 to Dr. Naveed Akhtar at nnakhtar@aol.com)
Contact Info: Dr. Naveed Akhtar, President
Chicago Chapter of IMANA
T: 630-932-0000 630-915-3531
E: nnakhtar@aol.com
Ashiyana Banquets
1620 7th Street
Downers Grove, IL
This dinner will feature a medical report on the Gaza Health Care Catastrophe Post Ceasefire (IMANA had sent a team of doctors to Gaza. You can read more about Imran Qureshi's experience at AMMGaza) There will also be discussion of the latest trends in the treatment of hyperlipidemia.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Gaza Awareness Event in Bath NY
Bath group plans dinner, Gaza trip presentation
Staff report • February 20, 2009
The Bath Peace and Justice Group will hold a potluck dinner at 6:30 p.m. March 4, followed by a slide presentation at 7 p.m. by Dr. Ismail Mehr, in the Empire Room of the Dormann Library, 101 West Morris St. in Bath.Mehr will describe his recent humanitarian trip to Gaza in the aftermath of the Israeli attacks on that territory.
Mehr, who is an anesthesiologist at St. James Mercy Hospital in Hornell, recently led a 10-day medical mission to Gaza sponsored by the Islamic Medical Association of North America.
For more information about Mehr's trip, visit the American Medical Mission to Gaza blog. The event is free and open to the public. Call (607) 569-3564 for more information.
Staff report • February 20, 2009
The Bath Peace and Justice Group will hold a potluck dinner at 6:30 p.m. March 4, followed by a slide presentation at 7 p.m. by Dr. Ismail Mehr, in the Empire Room of the Dormann Library, 101 West Morris St. in Bath.Mehr will describe his recent humanitarian trip to Gaza in the aftermath of the Israeli attacks on that territory.
Mehr, who is an anesthesiologist at St. James Mercy Hospital in Hornell, recently led a 10-day medical mission to Gaza sponsored by the Islamic Medical Association of North America.
For more information about Mehr's trip, visit the American Medical Mission to Gaza blog. The event is free and open to the public. Call (607) 569-3564 for more information.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Naperville Radiologist Shocked by Conditions in Gaza
Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah of the Chicago Tribune reports:
February 20, 2009
As a radiologist in the western suburbs, Dr. Imran Qureshi won't do procedures such as angiograms without the latest technology, monitoring devices and sterile equipment. But those medical standards seemed like luxuries when he spent a week in war-torn Gaza late last month.
The Naperville resident was part of a medical relief team made up of Muslim physicians and surgeons from across the U.S. who traveled to Gaza on the heels of a three-week Israeli offensive that Israel said was meant to halt rocket attacks by Hamas. About 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the conflict.
Qureshi, who is Palestinian but had never been to the Middle East, spent seven days in Gaza with 10 other U.S. doctors organized by the Lombard-based Islamic Medical Association of North America.
"It was a broken-down medical care system," said Qureshi, 35, who practices at Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora. "Compared to what we have here, it was very primitive."
When they crossed from Egypt into Gaza, a cease-fire between Israel and the ruling Hamas party had been in place for just five days. Buildings were scarred with bullet holes and missing walls, and mosques had lost their minarets. Inside Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa, doctors were putting in 20-hour days treating people injured during airstrikes and fighting, or lacking proper care for long-term ailments.
The visiting doctors reset bones, treated people for gunshot wounds and changed dressings for burn patients, sometimes seeing burns all the way to the bones—a possible sign of white phosphorous, Qureshi said.
The physicians did other work that was not directly related to the latest conflict. They did reconstructive surgery, removed kidney tumors, surgically created access portals for dialysis patients—complex procedures that few, if any, physicians in Gaza were able to perform, Qureshi said.
He put his interventional radiology skills to use, demonstrating procedures for local doctors and working on patients.
Qureshi was shocked by the lack of medical resources created by years of fighting and border closings. "The system has not evolved," he said. "There's been no influx or out-flux of doctors to train in these types of procedures."
Qureshi brought with him three boxes with $75,000 worth of expired catheters, needles and surgical equipment, and free samples of painkillers and antibiotics given to him by sales representatives for medical supply companies.
Qureshi said most of the Palestinians he met showed no anger toward Israel or Hamas in the fighting's aftermath. The only person he met who expressed frustration was the head of an orphanage. A 17-year-old boy who lived there had been killed in an airstrike while walking from school, and younger kids who looked up to him were having nightmares and wetting their beds, the man told Qureshi.
The man also had lost his brother-in-law, "and he was venting a bit," Qureshi recalled. "He said, 'This is the life we live. We had 150 kids in the orphanage, and we were building a school for them. But we now have 2,000 orphans, and we can't build the school.' "
nahmed@tribune.com
**ERRORS: Please note that Dr. Qureshi is not Palestinian, he is an American and has no Palestinian heritarge. He has also frequently visited the Middle East, having been to Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other nations.
February 20, 2009
As a radiologist in the western suburbs, Dr. Imran Qureshi won't do procedures such as angiograms without the latest technology, monitoring devices and sterile equipment. But those medical standards seemed like luxuries when he spent a week in war-torn Gaza late last month.
The Naperville resident was part of a medical relief team made up of Muslim physicians and surgeons from across the U.S. who traveled to Gaza on the heels of a three-week Israeli offensive that Israel said was meant to halt rocket attacks by Hamas. About 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the conflict.
Qureshi, who is Palestinian but had never been to the Middle East, spent seven days in Gaza with 10 other U.S. doctors organized by the Lombard-based Islamic Medical Association of North America.
"It was a broken-down medical care system," said Qureshi, 35, who practices at Rush-Copley Medical Center in Aurora. "Compared to what we have here, it was very primitive."
When they crossed from Egypt into Gaza, a cease-fire between Israel and the ruling Hamas party had been in place for just five days. Buildings were scarred with bullet holes and missing walls, and mosques had lost their minarets. Inside Gaza's largest hospital, Al-Shifa, doctors were putting in 20-hour days treating people injured during airstrikes and fighting, or lacking proper care for long-term ailments.
The visiting doctors reset bones, treated people for gunshot wounds and changed dressings for burn patients, sometimes seeing burns all the way to the bones—a possible sign of white phosphorous, Qureshi said.
The physicians did other work that was not directly related to the latest conflict. They did reconstructive surgery, removed kidney tumors, surgically created access portals for dialysis patients—complex procedures that few, if any, physicians in Gaza were able to perform, Qureshi said.
He put his interventional radiology skills to use, demonstrating procedures for local doctors and working on patients.
Qureshi was shocked by the lack of medical resources created by years of fighting and border closings. "The system has not evolved," he said. "There's been no influx or out-flux of doctors to train in these types of procedures."
Qureshi brought with him three boxes with $75,000 worth of expired catheters, needles and surgical equipment, and free samples of painkillers and antibiotics given to him by sales representatives for medical supply companies.
Qureshi said most of the Palestinians he met showed no anger toward Israel or Hamas in the fighting's aftermath. The only person he met who expressed frustration was the head of an orphanage. A 17-year-old boy who lived there had been killed in an airstrike while walking from school, and younger kids who looked up to him were having nightmares and wetting their beds, the man told Qureshi.
The man also had lost his brother-in-law, "and he was venting a bit," Qureshi recalled. "He said, 'This is the life we live. We had 150 kids in the orphanage, and we were building a school for them. But we now have 2,000 orphans, and we can't build the school.' "
nahmed@tribune.com
**ERRORS: Please note that Dr. Qureshi is not Palestinian, he is an American and has no Palestinian heritarge. He has also frequently visited the Middle East, having been to Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other nations.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Drs. Shariq Sayeed and Saeed Akthar on Free Speech News
Free Speech Radio's Aya Batrawy reports
The recent 23-day long Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip left an already strangled health care system struggling to survive. Doctors in the Gaza Strip are fraught with outdated equipment and are running dangerously low on medicine – as patients fight just to stay alive. In the second part of a series on Gaza's medical infrastructure, FSRN's Aya Batrawy reports.
The recent 23-day long Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip left an already strangled health care system struggling to survive. Doctors in the Gaza Strip are fraught with outdated equipment and are running dangerously low on medicine – as patients fight just to stay alive. In the second part of a series on Gaza's medical infrastructure, FSRN's Aya Batrawy reports.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Two Hornell Doctors 8 Miles Apart in a War Zone
Justin Head of the Evening Tribune (Hornell NY) reports:
Hornell, N.Y. - Eight miles apart and a world of difference.
The Tribune reported on Dr. Ismail Mehr’s 10-day humanitarian trip to Gaza City on Feb. 4, and what revelations he had from his experiences, but a look into the perspective of someone on the other side of the conflict shows a different point of view.
A few days after Mehr’s story was published, Dr. Stephan Greenberg of Hornell — an opthalmologist and also a staff member of St. James Mercy Hospital — revealed he was only a few miles from Mehr on the Israeli side during the conflict.
“We are not talking places that are a million miles away from each other. I can be sitting down at the beach and looking at Gaza. We are talking about a war between Hornell and Dansville or even closer, probably between five to eight miles. On a clear day you can see everything going on at the other side,” said Greenberg.
Greenberg was in Israel from Jan. 16 to Feb. 2, visiting his mother-in-law after a hip replacement. He was in Ashkelon when Palestinian rockets battered areas as close to a half of a mile from a home he owns there.
“On the first Saturday that we were there we were rocketed twice and I had to take cover. I slept in the basement that night,” said Greenberg. He said streets were abandoned, business were closed and people changed their routines, staying closer to home and curtailing their normal routines.
Greenberg has owned a home in Ashkelon for about 30 years and visits there frequently. His daughter, Galit Greenberg, is a Israeli lawyer and graduate of Hornell High School.
Mehr, an anesthesiologist, and also a Hornell High graduate, was surprised when he found out Greenberg was so close to him.
“He was in Ashkelon, really, from where I was I could see the Israeli drones flying over there,” said Mehr when he was told of his colleague’s whereabouts.
Greenberg was a member of the United States Navy for 20 years and retired a captain. He was a liaison to the Israeli Navy and has several connections in Israel. Greenberg started a residency program in the Tel Hashomer Sheba Medical Center and visited colleagues during his trip. He wants people to understand that during the latest military conflict Israel was provoked.
“I pose this question: how would the United States respond to a rocket sent over to Buffalo from Canada?” said Greenberg, adding, “No one reports how the Israeli troops hit houses with bombs that were not armed to warn the people to run.”
He thinks the media is biased and that reporting in the area is bad. On this view Mehr is in agreement, but that is probably one of the few. The doctors both said they respect each other but conversations with them reveal they have different accounts of the circumstances in the area. Greenberg insisted that Israel opens up its border frequently to care for patients.Mehr took a differing stance.
“Fortunately, I was present in Gaza and spoke with many physicians and had the opportunity to treat many patients. A majority of my patients were children with cancer and ware denied entry into both Egypt and Israel. The embargo did not allow for medical supplies to come in and thus these children were dying a slow grueling death. I think on the other side there are a few exceptions of individuals being allowed access for medical care but the numbers just don’t add up. Once again as a doctor my goal is to shed light on the embargo. I hope that this embargo is lifted so that humanitarian teams and medical specialists can help the courageous doctors and nurses of Gaza,” said Mehr in an email.
Gaza is restricted for all the right reasons, according to Greenberg. “Think of the Los Angelos gangs taking over,” said Greenberg, explaining that members of Hamas, the region’s elected government, fire rockets into civilian locations in Israel and use innocent people as shields.
“What do you expect when they put themselves inside a civilian population?” said Greenberg of reports of Gazans horrifically injured during the military operations.
Mehr cared for some of these injured people during his trip and Greenberg appreciated his effort.
“He put aside personal fear as part of the practice of his faith and he went to places that are dangerous and difficult to live in to help people in trouble. This is a guy that went to Pakistan after the earthquake, into seriously dangerous conditions and you can’t help but respect a guy like that, for going and doing what he thinks is the right thing to do,” said Greenberg.
At least they both agree on respect for one another.
“Dr. Greenberg has known me since I was a toddler and I have a great amount of respect for him. He’s a dear colleague. I am sure he knows that,” said Mehr.
Hornell, N.Y. - Eight miles apart and a world of difference.
The Tribune reported on Dr. Ismail Mehr’s 10-day humanitarian trip to Gaza City on Feb. 4, and what revelations he had from his experiences, but a look into the perspective of someone on the other side of the conflict shows a different point of view.
A few days after Mehr’s story was published, Dr. Stephan Greenberg of Hornell — an opthalmologist and also a staff member of St. James Mercy Hospital — revealed he was only a few miles from Mehr on the Israeli side during the conflict.
“We are not talking places that are a million miles away from each other. I can be sitting down at the beach and looking at Gaza. We are talking about a war between Hornell and Dansville or even closer, probably between five to eight miles. On a clear day you can see everything going on at the other side,” said Greenberg.
Greenberg was in Israel from Jan. 16 to Feb. 2, visiting his mother-in-law after a hip replacement. He was in Ashkelon when Palestinian rockets battered areas as close to a half of a mile from a home he owns there.
“On the first Saturday that we were there we were rocketed twice and I had to take cover. I slept in the basement that night,” said Greenberg. He said streets were abandoned, business were closed and people changed their routines, staying closer to home and curtailing their normal routines.
Greenberg has owned a home in Ashkelon for about 30 years and visits there frequently. His daughter, Galit Greenberg, is a Israeli lawyer and graduate of Hornell High School.
Mehr, an anesthesiologist, and also a Hornell High graduate, was surprised when he found out Greenberg was so close to him.
“He was in Ashkelon, really, from where I was I could see the Israeli drones flying over there,” said Mehr when he was told of his colleague’s whereabouts.
Greenberg was a member of the United States Navy for 20 years and retired a captain. He was a liaison to the Israeli Navy and has several connections in Israel. Greenberg started a residency program in the Tel Hashomer Sheba Medical Center and visited colleagues during his trip. He wants people to understand that during the latest military conflict Israel was provoked.
“I pose this question: how would the United States respond to a rocket sent over to Buffalo from Canada?” said Greenberg, adding, “No one reports how the Israeli troops hit houses with bombs that were not armed to warn the people to run.”
He thinks the media is biased and that reporting in the area is bad. On this view Mehr is in agreement, but that is probably one of the few. The doctors both said they respect each other but conversations with them reveal they have different accounts of the circumstances in the area. Greenberg insisted that Israel opens up its border frequently to care for patients.Mehr took a differing stance.
“Fortunately, I was present in Gaza and spoke with many physicians and had the opportunity to treat many patients. A majority of my patients were children with cancer and ware denied entry into both Egypt and Israel. The embargo did not allow for medical supplies to come in and thus these children were dying a slow grueling death. I think on the other side there are a few exceptions of individuals being allowed access for medical care but the numbers just don’t add up. Once again as a doctor my goal is to shed light on the embargo. I hope that this embargo is lifted so that humanitarian teams and medical specialists can help the courageous doctors and nurses of Gaza,” said Mehr in an email.
Gaza is restricted for all the right reasons, according to Greenberg. “Think of the Los Angelos gangs taking over,” said Greenberg, explaining that members of Hamas, the region’s elected government, fire rockets into civilian locations in Israel and use innocent people as shields.
“What do you expect when they put themselves inside a civilian population?” said Greenberg of reports of Gazans horrifically injured during the military operations.
Mehr cared for some of these injured people during his trip and Greenberg appreciated his effort.
“He put aside personal fear as part of the practice of his faith and he went to places that are dangerous and difficult to live in to help people in trouble. This is a guy that went to Pakistan after the earthquake, into seriously dangerous conditions and you can’t help but respect a guy like that, for going and doing what he thinks is the right thing to do,” said Greenberg.
At least they both agree on respect for one another.
“Dr. Greenberg has known me since I was a toddler and I have a great amount of respect for him. He’s a dear colleague. I am sure he knows that,” said Mehr.
2/18/09 Coverage
Mercy Corps aid worker describes situation in Gaza
UAE launches donation campaign to support victims of conflict
The National (Abu Dhabi) reports on Al Wafa Rehab Hospital. To read first-hand experiences of our medical team regarding this hospital click here.
UAE launches donation campaign to support victims of conflict
The National (Abu Dhabi) reports on Al Wafa Rehab Hospital. To read first-hand experiences of our medical team regarding this hospital click here.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Gaza Fundraiser in Philadelphia PA
A Fabulous Fundraiser for the Courageous People of Gaza
Enjoy presentations by Dr. Labiq Syed and Dr. Labib Syed, brothers out of Johns Hopkins and members of the Islamic Medical Association of North America/American Medical Mission to Gaza, who recently traveled to the war-torn Gaza and will share information about their trip.
*Lovely Middle Eastern food
*Spoken word: Poets Aysha El Shamayleh & Ashraf Osman
*Music: Paddy Corcoran (of Paddy and the Hostages)
*Informational Loop Presentation created by Aine Fox
Saturday February 28
5PM-8PM
Calvary Church (basement)
48th Street and Baltimore Avenue
Philadelphia PA
Ticket prices
$25 and above - solidarity
$10 - general admission
$5 - unemployed and students
All proceeds to United Palestinian Appeal
For more information contact: PhillyIAC@action-mail.org or call 215 724-1618
Sponsors: Philly International Action Center
EON (End Oppression Now)
PRAWN (Philadelphia Regional Anti War Network)
FIST (Fight Imperialism Stand Together)
Enjoy presentations by Dr. Labiq Syed and Dr. Labib Syed, brothers out of Johns Hopkins and members of the Islamic Medical Association of North America/American Medical Mission to Gaza, who recently traveled to the war-torn Gaza and will share information about their trip.
*Lovely Middle Eastern food
*Spoken word: Poets Aysha El Shamayleh & Ashraf Osman
*Music: Paddy Corcoran (of Paddy and the Hostages)
*Informational Loop Presentation created by Aine Fox
Saturday February 28
5PM-8PM
Calvary Church (basement)
48th Street and Baltimore Avenue
Philadelphia PA
Ticket prices
$25 and above - solidarity
$10 - general admission
$5 - unemployed and students
All proceeds to United Palestinian Appeal
For more information contact: PhillyIAC@action-mail.org or call 215 724-1618
Sponsors: Philly International Action Center
EON (End Oppression Now)
PRAWN (Philadelphia Regional Anti War Network)
FIST (Fight Imperialism Stand Together)
Saturday, February 14, 2009
The First Time I Was Scared
One of my favorite quotes is from FDR and his first inaugural speech “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself”. This truly described how as a team we all felt about being in a war torn region. The Gazan people themselves lived these words and showed such resilience that for any of us to be fearful seemed as if it were an insult to these brave people.
The sound of fighter jets overhead dropping bombs, the sight of Israeli patrol boats in the deep blue Mediterranean, or IDF soldiers along the border wall would make most people feel overwhelmed to say the least. Thankfully such incidents did not result in any feelings of anxiety nor overwhelming fear. We all soon became immune to these daily sights and sounds and went about our routine just as the Palestinian people went about life on a day-to-day basis.
Ironically, it was my last night in Gaza when I truly felt fear—but not fear for myself or my teammates. It was fear for a precious nine day old baby, Basem, whose life was in my hands. Routinely as an anesthesiologist, I deal with life and death every day, but this case was like no other. Basem had been born with a bladder abnormality resulting in the failure of both his kidneys. He needed an immediate life-saving intervention. A relatively common procedure back home in the USA was anything but routine in Gaza. Baby Basem required nephrostomy tubes, or in plain English, drainage tubes to be placed in each kidney. This was a temporizing measure until he could undergo corrective surgery for his bladder. The irony was there was no one in all of Gaza trained in either placing the drains or to do the surgery. It was a blessing for this family that our team had two highly-skilled interventional radiologists—Imran Qureshi and Labib Syed.
Taking care of a nine day old child in Al-Shifa's operating room would be no easy task. I asked Shazia Chaudhry, a highly-trained doctor in both pediatrics and emergency medicine to join me for this procedure. I soon discovered the operating room did not have anesthesia equipment small enough for Basem. My worst fear was now a reality; I would have to provide a general anesthetic to this deathly ill baby without any monitoring whatsoever and use a substandard anesthesia machine. Shazia was truly instrumental--as Imran and Labib were a blessing for the baby, Shazia was for me.
I can still vividly remember the feeling of my heart racing with anxiety, as I put this beautiful little baby to sleep, seeking reassurances from Shazia--who had one finger on Basem’s pulse while listening to him breathe through her stethoscope. The nightmare scenario worsened as we lost intravenous (IV) access and could not find a catheter small enough to start another one. No monitors, no IV and a nine day old baby whose life was in my hands. On the outside I may have been calm and cool, but on the inside it was shear fear running through my veins with each successive tick of the clock.
Imran and Labib rushed to improvise as they too were challenged by the embargo and its effects on Gaza’s healthcare system. They soon were also able to improvise and successfully place both tubes. I let out a sigh of relief as we took this tiny bundle of life to the recovery area.
My heart was no longer pounding, and as I sat down it dawned on me that what we did was only a temporary procedure. Corrective reconstructive bladder surgery would soon be required—and there was no one in all of Gaza that could do it. I prayed that night as I was leaving for home with mixed emotions. A sense of joy that Basem had the chance of living a normal life, and a sense of emptiness that all we did, might have been in vain. I still remained scared for Baby Basem.
Dr. Ismail Mehr is an anesthesiologist from Hornell, NY. He was the team leader for the American medical mission.
The sound of fighter jets overhead dropping bombs, the sight of Israeli patrol boats in the deep blue Mediterranean, or IDF soldiers along the border wall would make most people feel overwhelmed to say the least. Thankfully such incidents did not result in any feelings of anxiety nor overwhelming fear. We all soon became immune to these daily sights and sounds and went about our routine just as the Palestinian people went about life on a day-to-day basis.
Ironically, it was my last night in Gaza when I truly felt fear—but not fear for myself or my teammates. It was fear for a precious nine day old baby, Basem, whose life was in my hands. Routinely as an anesthesiologist, I deal with life and death every day, but this case was like no other. Basem had been born with a bladder abnormality resulting in the failure of both his kidneys. He needed an immediate life-saving intervention. A relatively common procedure back home in the USA was anything but routine in Gaza. Baby Basem required nephrostomy tubes, or in plain English, drainage tubes to be placed in each kidney. This was a temporizing measure until he could undergo corrective surgery for his bladder. The irony was there was no one in all of Gaza trained in either placing the drains or to do the surgery. It was a blessing for this family that our team had two highly-skilled interventional radiologists—Imran Qureshi and Labib Syed.
Taking care of a nine day old child in Al-Shifa's operating room would be no easy task. I asked Shazia Chaudhry, a highly-trained doctor in both pediatrics and emergency medicine to join me for this procedure. I soon discovered the operating room did not have anesthesia equipment small enough for Basem. My worst fear was now a reality; I would have to provide a general anesthetic to this deathly ill baby without any monitoring whatsoever and use a substandard anesthesia machine. Shazia was truly instrumental--as Imran and Labib were a blessing for the baby, Shazia was for me.
I can still vividly remember the feeling of my heart racing with anxiety, as I put this beautiful little baby to sleep, seeking reassurances from Shazia--who had one finger on Basem’s pulse while listening to him breathe through her stethoscope. The nightmare scenario worsened as we lost intravenous (IV) access and could not find a catheter small enough to start another one. No monitors, no IV and a nine day old baby whose life was in my hands. On the outside I may have been calm and cool, but on the inside it was shear fear running through my veins with each successive tick of the clock.
Imran and Labib rushed to improvise as they too were challenged by the embargo and its effects on Gaza’s healthcare system. They soon were also able to improvise and successfully place both tubes. I let out a sigh of relief as we took this tiny bundle of life to the recovery area.
My heart was no longer pounding, and as I sat down it dawned on me that what we did was only a temporary procedure. Corrective reconstructive bladder surgery would soon be required—and there was no one in all of Gaza that could do it. I prayed that night as I was leaving for home with mixed emotions. A sense of joy that Basem had the chance of living a normal life, and a sense of emptiness that all we did, might have been in vain. I still remained scared for Baby Basem.
Dr. Ismail Mehr is an anesthesiologist from Hornell, NY. He was the team leader for the American medical mission.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Gaza and the Aftermath Part 2
Kevin Doran of WLEA 1480 AM interviews Dr. Ismail Mehr
** Please note the views of the host do not represent those of AMMGClick here to listen to Gaza and the Aftermath Part 1
Gaza Event in Villa Park IL
Gaza: An Eyewitness Account
Featuring Dr. Imran Qureshi of IMANA/American Medical Mission to Gaza
Host: Islamic Foundation, Villa Park
Date: Sunday, February 22, 2009
Time: 1:30pm - 3:00pm
Location: Islamic Foundation
300 W. Highridge Road
Villa Park, IL
Phone: 6302042790
Email: nad0k@aol.com
The American Medical Mission to Gaza was the only group of American doctors to enter Gaza after the recent fighting to provide medical assistance and to witness the humanitarian crisis first-hand.
Dr. Imran Qureshi will be on hand to speak about his experiences in Gaza. Dr. Qureshi is a Radiologist at Rush Copely Medical Center in Aurora IL.
Featuring Dr. Imran Qureshi of IMANA/American Medical Mission to Gaza
Host: Islamic Foundation, Villa Park
Date: Sunday, February 22, 2009
Time: 1:30pm - 3:00pm
Location: Islamic Foundation
300 W. Highridge Road
Villa Park, IL
Phone: 6302042790
Email: nad0k@aol.com
The American Medical Mission to Gaza was the only group of American doctors to enter Gaza after the recent fighting to provide medical assistance and to witness the humanitarian crisis first-hand.
Dr. Imran Qureshi will be on hand to speak about his experiences in Gaza. Dr. Qureshi is a Radiologist at Rush Copely Medical Center in Aurora IL.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Event in Worcester MA for Gaza
WORCESTER, MA
Gaza: From the Inside Looking Out
Raising Awareness and Funds
Featuring
Dr. Ismail Mehr of IMANA/American Medical Mission to Gaza
Saturday, February 28th, 2009
1 PM
Worcester Islamic Center
248 East Mountain St
Worcester, MA 01606
The American Medical Mission to Gaza was the only group of American doctors to enter Gaza after the recent fighting to provide medical assistance and to witness the humanitarian crisis first-hand. Dr. Mehr led the group of doctors to the Gaza strip in January 2009 and now will be at the Worcester Islamic Center to share his personal experiences.
Event open to Public. Please Forward Widely
Hosted by the Worcester Islamic Center
RSVP to WICevent@gmail.com
Questions? Contact: WICevent@gmail.com
Facebook Event
Gaza: From the Inside Looking Out
Raising Awareness and Funds
Featuring
Dr. Ismail Mehr of IMANA/American Medical Mission to Gaza
Saturday, February 28th, 2009
1 PM
Worcester Islamic Center
248 East Mountain St
Worcester, MA 01606
The American Medical Mission to Gaza was the only group of American doctors to enter Gaza after the recent fighting to provide medical assistance and to witness the humanitarian crisis first-hand. Dr. Mehr led the group of doctors to the Gaza strip in January 2009 and now will be at the Worcester Islamic Center to share his personal experiences.
Event open to Public. Please Forward Widely
Hosted by the Worcester Islamic Center
RSVP to WICevent@gmail.com
Questions? Contact: WICevent@gmail.com
Facebook Event
American Doctors Return to US after Gaza Mission
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Lombard IL (February 11, 2009) -- The physicians who returned from the 10 day humanitarian medical mission to the Gaza Strip - have resumed their daily practices. The group of eleven doctors - were the only American and Canadian physicians to travel to Gaza to provide humanitarian aid to the war-torn region.
“Going there really enlightened me and opened my eyes.” said Dr. Ismail Mehr, an anesthesiologist from Hornell New York - who led the group of specialists. “The situation was worse that we had ever imagined.” Along with Mehr, other doctors from American Medical Mission to Gaza treated patients with an assortment of injuries—burns, shrapnel wounds, and amputations.
“I was surprised and shocked to see the extent and degree of civilian casualties,” said Dr. Irfan Galaria a Salt Lake City plastic surgeon who treated several burn patients, some presumably from white phosphorus-related injuries. Galaria operated extensively on a facial injury of a 1-year old girl without the use of local anesthetic – a reoccurring problem in area desperately needing medical supplies.
“Every time I stuck her with the needle she could feel it.”
In a case that received international attention, Texas urologist Saeed Akhtar and Mehr removed a watermelon-sized tumor from the kidney of Abdullah Shawwa – a four year child. The tumor was attributed to untreated chronic disease that many in Gaza Strip are afflicted with because of the embargo posed on the region. Furthermore, Mehr noted “Due to travel restrictions and the embargo, kids like Shawwa may not be able to receive appropriate follow-up care due to lack of medical expertise and equipment.”
Dr. Rick Colwell, an emergency room doctor from Sioux City, Iowa who was part of the mission said, “Something has to be done about this embargo...it’s inhumane.”
“We were the only Americans to go to Gaza and we will probably be the only ones to go as far as a relief team that is strictly defined under the charter of an American charitable organization,” Mehr said. With the announcement that Egypt will reseal the Rafah border crossing with Gaza and Israel continuing its embargo on the region – Mehr and his team might be the last group of American physicians to provide any humanitarian aid to a area inflicted with high number of causalities and fatalities due to Israeli strikes and poor medical resources.
The team of volunteers also included Dr. Imran Qureshi, a radiologist from Naperville, Illionis, Dr. Kanwal Shazia Chaudhry a pediatric and emergency room specialist from New York City, Dr. Labiq Syed, a research fellow at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Labib Syed an interventional radiologist from Baltimore, and Dr. Shariq Sayeed a vascular surgeon from Atlanta. Ahmed Kasem, an attorney with the California firm, Kasem, Ko & Ahmed assisted the team with logistics.
Lombard IL (February 11, 2009) -- The physicians who returned from the 10 day humanitarian medical mission to the Gaza Strip - have resumed their daily practices. The group of eleven doctors - were the only American and Canadian physicians to travel to Gaza to provide humanitarian aid to the war-torn region.
“Going there really enlightened me and opened my eyes.” said Dr. Ismail Mehr, an anesthesiologist from Hornell New York - who led the group of specialists. “The situation was worse that we had ever imagined.” Along with Mehr, other doctors from American Medical Mission to Gaza treated patients with an assortment of injuries—burns, shrapnel wounds, and amputations.
“I was surprised and shocked to see the extent and degree of civilian casualties,” said Dr. Irfan Galaria a Salt Lake City plastic surgeon who treated several burn patients, some presumably from white phosphorus-related injuries. Galaria operated extensively on a facial injury of a 1-year old girl without the use of local anesthetic – a reoccurring problem in area desperately needing medical supplies.
“Every time I stuck her with the needle she could feel it.”
In a case that received international attention, Texas urologist Saeed Akhtar and Mehr removed a watermelon-sized tumor from the kidney of Abdullah Shawwa – a four year child. The tumor was attributed to untreated chronic disease that many in Gaza Strip are afflicted with because of the embargo posed on the region. Furthermore, Mehr noted “Due to travel restrictions and the embargo, kids like Shawwa may not be able to receive appropriate follow-up care due to lack of medical expertise and equipment.”
Dr. Rick Colwell, an emergency room doctor from Sioux City, Iowa who was part of the mission said, “Something has to be done about this embargo...it’s inhumane.”
“We were the only Americans to go to Gaza and we will probably be the only ones to go as far as a relief team that is strictly defined under the charter of an American charitable organization,” Mehr said. With the announcement that Egypt will reseal the Rafah border crossing with Gaza and Israel continuing its embargo on the region – Mehr and his team might be the last group of American physicians to provide any humanitarian aid to a area inflicted with high number of causalities and fatalities due to Israeli strikes and poor medical resources.
The team of volunteers also included Dr. Imran Qureshi, a radiologist from Naperville, Illionis, Dr. Kanwal Shazia Chaudhry a pediatric and emergency room specialist from New York City, Dr. Labiq Syed, a research fellow at Johns Hopkins, Dr. Labib Syed an interventional radiologist from Baltimore, and Dr. Shariq Sayeed a vascular surgeon from Atlanta. Ahmed Kasem, an attorney with the California firm, Kasem, Ko & Ahmed assisted the team with logistics.
Gaza and the Aftermath Part 1
Kevin Doran of WLEA 1480 AM interviews Dr. Ismail Mehr
** Please note the views of the host do not represent those of AMMG
Gaza Fundraiser in Buffalo NY
Organization of Arab Students, Muslim Student Association, and Western New York Peace Center are presenting a Charity Banquet (a fundraising event for Gaza)
February 27th,2009 from 6pm-11pm
*Dinner served at 7pm (Halal Meat)
Salvatore's Italian Gardens Restaurant,
6461 Transit Road Depew, NY 14043
Speaker Laila El-Haddad (Past Al Jazeera Correspondent)
Speaker Dr. Ismail Mehr (IMANA Relief/American Medical Mission to Gaza)
Auctions
**Donations to the Palestinian Children Relief Fund
**Tickets are on sale! You may purchase them from eboard members or
SBI Ticket Office 221 Student Union
$20 Students
$30 non-students
For further information feel free to contact Tamera Akarah (716) 400-3741
February 27th,2009 from 6pm-11pm
*Dinner served at 7pm (Halal Meat)
Salvatore's Italian Gardens Restaurant,
6461 Transit Road Depew, NY 14043
Speaker Laila El-Haddad (Past Al Jazeera Correspondent)
Speaker Dr. Ismail Mehr (IMANA Relief/American Medical Mission to Gaza)
Auctions
**Donations to the Palestinian Children Relief Fund
**Tickets are on sale! You may purchase them from eboard members or
SBI Ticket Office 221 Student Union
$20 Students
$30 non-students
For further information feel free to contact Tamera Akarah (716) 400-3741
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Gaza Fundraiser in Wayland MA
Gaza: An Eyewitness Account
Raising Awareness and Funds
Featuring
Dr. Ismail Mehr of IMANA/American Medical Mission to Gaza
Saturday, February 28th, 2009
6:30 PM
Islamic Center of Boston
126 Boston Post Road
Wayland, MA 01778
The American Medical Mission to Gaza was the only group of American doctors to enter Gaza after the recent fighting to provide medical assistance and to witness the humanitarian crisis first-hand. Dr. Mehr led the group of doctors to the Gaza strip in January 2009.
Donations will be collected at the door and throughout the evening for Islamic Relief USA.
Student $10/Non-Student $15
Event open to Public. Please Forward Widely,
Hosted by Islamic Center of Boston Youth Group
Co-sponsored by Islamic Center of Boston and Muslim Public Affairs Council-Boston
RSVP to wayland.yg@icbwayland.org
Questions? Contact: Wayland.yg@icbwayland.org
Facebook Event
Raising Awareness and Funds
Featuring
Dr. Ismail Mehr of IMANA/American Medical Mission to Gaza
Saturday, February 28th, 2009
6:30 PM
Islamic Center of Boston
126 Boston Post Road
Wayland, MA 01778
The American Medical Mission to Gaza was the only group of American doctors to enter Gaza after the recent fighting to provide medical assistance and to witness the humanitarian crisis first-hand. Dr. Mehr led the group of doctors to the Gaza strip in January 2009.
Donations will be collected at the door and throughout the evening for Islamic Relief USA.
Student $10/Non-Student $15
Event open to Public. Please Forward Widely,
Hosted by Islamic Center of Boston Youth Group
Co-sponsored by Islamic Center of Boston and Muslim Public Affairs Council-Boston
RSVP to wayland.yg@icbwayland.org
Questions? Contact: Wayland.yg@icbwayland.org
Facebook Event
Local Doctor Describes Chaos in Gaza
Dolly A Butz of the Sioux City Journal reports:
St. Luke's physician treated conflict's injured
SIOUX CITY -- You hear machine gunfire in the distance. F-16s break the sound barrier overhead. Patients are suffering from chronic illnesses all around you, but you don't have the necessary drugs to treat them. The patient you treated a few days before for a gunshot wound is found smothered in his hospital bed.
Working in the emergency room at a hospital in Gaza City is "a little different" than working in the emergency room at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center-Sioux City, Dr. Rick Colwell learned during a recent 10-day humanitarian and medical mission to the war-torn area.
The World Health Organization reports that more than 5,200 Palestinians, including 1,552 children, 652 women and 22 health-care professionals, have been wounded in the recent fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
On Jan. 21, Colwell was one of nine American and four Canadian doctors who left for Gaza on a trip sponsored by the Islamic Medical Association of North America.
From Cairo, Egypt, the American Medical Mission to Gaza made a six-hour drive to the Gaza-Egypt border. They were able to cross the border on the second day with the help of an attorney. When they arrived in Gaza City, a cease fire had been called and Israeli troops were pulling out.
Colwell described the scene at the hospital in Gaza City where he put in 10-12-hour days as "controlled chaos." It contained no triage unit and people were milling around outside, making it difficult to determine who was a patient and who was not. The hospital's doctors were working 20 hour-days, for nearly four weeks straight with few supplies, equipment and medications to treat patients, Colwell said.
Colwell went to work immediately treating patients with gunshot wounds, fractures and lacerations.
A tumor on a 3-year-old boy's liver had grown to the size of a football when the child came to the hospital for surgery. Colwell said the boy, who needs chemotherapy, could have easily been treated in the United States, but due to the embargo and border closings medicine is not available.
"Something has to be done about this embargo," he said. "It's inhumane to lock people in an outdoor prison, basically."
Colwell, who returned to Sioux City Sunday, said he intends to go back to Gaza and bring medical equipment with him, but he has no definite plans at this time.
Witness to war
Dr. Barbara-Anne Huculak, instructor of the physical therapist assistant program at Western Iowa Tech Community College, was staying at a hotel five blocks from the Old City in Jerusalem, when Israel launched missile attacks against Gaza on Dec. 27.Huculak, who was in Jerusalem on a historical and archeological tour of Israel and Jordan, said her group took alternate routes to sites in Jerusalem, and wasn't allowed to venture out within the city of Amman, Jordan, because of protesting."I guess I just go with the flow and don't let those things bother me, but I keep alert and I'm aware of my surroundings," she said. "It is unusual because it's not an everyday experience."
St. Luke's physician treated conflict's injured
SIOUX CITY -- You hear machine gunfire in the distance. F-16s break the sound barrier overhead. Patients are suffering from chronic illnesses all around you, but you don't have the necessary drugs to treat them. The patient you treated a few days before for a gunshot wound is found smothered in his hospital bed.
Working in the emergency room at a hospital in Gaza City is "a little different" than working in the emergency room at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center-Sioux City, Dr. Rick Colwell learned during a recent 10-day humanitarian and medical mission to the war-torn area.
The World Health Organization reports that more than 5,200 Palestinians, including 1,552 children, 652 women and 22 health-care professionals, have been wounded in the recent fighting between Israelis and Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
On Jan. 21, Colwell was one of nine American and four Canadian doctors who left for Gaza on a trip sponsored by the Islamic Medical Association of North America.
From Cairo, Egypt, the American Medical Mission to Gaza made a six-hour drive to the Gaza-Egypt border. They were able to cross the border on the second day with the help of an attorney. When they arrived in Gaza City, a cease fire had been called and Israeli troops were pulling out.
Colwell described the scene at the hospital in Gaza City where he put in 10-12-hour days as "controlled chaos." It contained no triage unit and people were milling around outside, making it difficult to determine who was a patient and who was not. The hospital's doctors were working 20 hour-days, for nearly four weeks straight with few supplies, equipment and medications to treat patients, Colwell said.
Colwell went to work immediately treating patients with gunshot wounds, fractures and lacerations.
A tumor on a 3-year-old boy's liver had grown to the size of a football when the child came to the hospital for surgery. Colwell said the boy, who needs chemotherapy, could have easily been treated in the United States, but due to the embargo and border closings medicine is not available.
"Something has to be done about this embargo," he said. "It's inhumane to lock people in an outdoor prison, basically."
Colwell, who returned to Sioux City Sunday, said he intends to go back to Gaza and bring medical equipment with him, but he has no definite plans at this time.
Witness to war
Dr. Barbara-Anne Huculak, instructor of the physical therapist assistant program at Western Iowa Tech Community College, was staying at a hotel five blocks from the Old City in Jerusalem, when Israel launched missile attacks against Gaza on Dec. 27.Huculak, who was in Jerusalem on a historical and archeological tour of Israel and Jordan, said her group took alternate routes to sites in Jerusalem, and wasn't allowed to venture out within the city of Amman, Jordan, because of protesting."I guess I just go with the flow and don't let those things bother me, but I keep alert and I'm aware of my surroundings," she said. "It is unusual because it's not an everyday experience."
Sunday, February 8, 2009
CBS Affiliate WJZ-TV in Baltimore interviews Dr. Labiq and Labib Syed
Jessica Kartalija of WJZ-TV Reports:
As bloodshed continues in the Gaza strip, a team of doctors including two brothers out of Johns Hopkins, travel overseas to provide medical care.
Humanitarian aid supplies intended for some 5,000 wounded Palestinians has repeatedly been confiscated. The Israeli offensive has killed 1,300 Palestinians and left thousands homeless. Doctors Labiq and Labib Syed are part of a team of doctors with the Islamic Medical Association of North America that traveled to the war-torn region.
"Basically the medical system is in despair. It's in collapse. There's no medicines going in, going out," Dr. Labib Syed said.
Syed is an assistant professor of radiology and surgery at Johns Hopkins Hospital. As a father, he says working with the children hit very close to home.
"There aren't supplies coming in or out, so all the children--any procedure we had to do, we had to do without local anesthetic, even putting sutures in without anesthesia," he said.
When they arrived in Gaza, the team of doctors was divided based on their specialties.
"Only when you are standing at ground zero and you look around can you sort of get the depth of this whole situation," he said. "Even the locals had never witnessed this type of destruction before."
Labiq has hundreds of photos, many from his time spent with orphaned children.
"Speaking and communicating with the children...the stories that were coming out were stories that I could barely make up with my imagination and they're talking about their realities," Labiq said.
The doctors say, politics aside, something needs to be done quickly to save the thousands of children.
"The most important thing that we would like to bring out is that there's a humanitarian crisis," Labib said.
The doctors had also assisted with hurricane relief efforts in the Dominican Republic.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Where's the Beef?
In the 80's, "Where's the Beef?" was a catch phrase for a popular Wendy's commercial. Unfortunately in Gaza, this is no laughing matter. On the 29th of January, the team took a break from the demands of Al-Shifa Hospital to meet with the local Gazans who were trying to make a new sta
rt once again, following the Israeli strikes. As we were driving through Jabaliyah, passing the UNICEF refugee camp, we suddenly came upon a gut-wrenching smell. The stench was so strong many of us began to gag and feared for the worst. I looked out the window and towards the right I saw scattered throughout an open field—what appeared to be over 100 dead cow carcasses. I asked one of my friends if this was collateral damage, as I covered my mouth holding back what I thought inevitably was going to be my lunch coming back up.I guess in war, nothing is safe. We had already seen numerous children, women and elderly as patients—those who had been wounded and maimed during the 22 days of conflict in this war-torn territory. We had no idea how these animals were killed or for what reason, but their death remains incomprehensible to me.
In addition, we were informed that the Gaza Zoo was also attacked, with most of the animals killed in their cages. We will most likely never know the answer or understand why these animals were killed. It's a shame that the children of Gaza, who escaped and survived the attacks will no longer have the simple pleasure of visiting a Zoo. In the Gaza Strip there are not many reasons for the children to smile. And the one place that children universally respond to with curiosity and a smile, is no longer.Read more about Zoo Animals
Dr. Ismail Mehr is an anesthesiologist from Hornell, NY. He was the team leader for the American medical mission.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Thursday, February 5, 2009
CW Affiliate WENY-TV interviews Dr. Ismail Mehr
Ted Fioraliso of WENY-TV reports:
A Southern Tier doctor is back from a medical mission to Gaza. “Going there really enlightened me and opened my eyes,” said Dr. Ismail Mehr.
Mehr is happy to be home at St. James Hospital in Hornell after a weeklong trip to Gaza with other American doctors.
“It’s sort of addictive work. After you've done it once, I think anyone who goes and has any human sense to them --it affects you in a different way,” said Mehr.
Dr. Mehr, an anesthesiologist, performed a handful of surgeries each day at Gaza City's Shiffah Hospital.
Some of his patients had war-related injuries, but others were suffering from substandard medical treatment. Since Israel imposed an embargo on Gaza, nothing comes in and nothing goes out -- including medicine and equipment.
“Everyone is focusing on the 1,300 people who were killed in these strikes and the 6,000 or so wounded. But, there's a number that's unspoken for that is going to continue if this embargo stays in effect,” said Mehr.
Mehr and the others spent their down time at a local orphanage. He says being with the kids was rewarding, but what they told him was horrifying.
“That was something really overwhelming. They told stories of their parents in the rubble, or their house blown away,” he said.
Mehr says he really didn't know much about the conflict before his trip, and says you have to see it yourself to see what it's done to the people of Gaza.
“Despite them losing everything, and basically not having anything left to live for anymore, they went out of their way to host us. And we made some very strong bonds, and we all felt we left some family members behind,” said Mehr.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Mercy in a War Zone
Justin Head of the Hornell Evening Tribune reports:
Hornell, N.Y. - It’s a trip he will never forget.
When St. James Mercy Hospital’s Dr. Ismail Mehr headed out to Gaza for the third humanitarian relief effort of his life, he thought he knew how bad conditions were going to be in the war ravaged region. But he soon found out nothing could have prepared him for the conditions he would experience.
“The first thing that we saw was the destruction and the tank tracks through fields, houses blown up ... One vivid thing that I caught was a children’s playground that had been torn a part because the tanks had driven through it. There was a zoo in Gaza and the animals had been killed. We got a sense of war. I’ve never been to battle grounds and I got to see what it looked like,” said Mehr.
Mehr, an anesthesiologist at St. James, was the leader of a 10-day medical mission receiving national recognition. The trip was sponsored by the Islamic Medical Association of North America and has had stories about it done in the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune.
“We were the only Americans to go to Gaza and we will probably be the only ones to go as far as a relief team that is strictly under the charter of an American charitable organization. The other Americans there were journalists or people who worked for the United Nations,” said Mehr. He crossed the border with 36 South Africans.
“I think that is a shame that we pride ourselves in the United States on wanting to help others and in the end we were the only ones that went, from the Islamic Medical Association,” said Mehr.
The trip almost became impossible as Mehr and his team were hassled at the Egyptian border where they crossed as they ventured to the El Shifa Hospital in Gaza city.
Gaza has a large, military-patrolled wall erected around the entire densely populated urban city. No one is allowed to travel in or out. Israel and the Hamas government have battled each other for years, causing sporadic and sometimes long periods of devastating violence.
On the first day of his trip Mehr had to go to the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to sign a waiver to be allowed to cross into Gaza because the borders to Gaza are completely sealed from anyone going in or anyone coming out. Representatives at the embassy told the team that they would be offered no help if any fighting broke out. Mehr stayed in a hotel that was running on generators and frequently heard bombings.
“The guts and the trauma and the severed limbs and you know the gory stuff everyone from the media and people when I return to the states always want to know ‘What did you see? Was it bad?,’ had sort of passed. Either people had already died or been treated by local doctors. We missed that by a couple of days. But what we did see was a lot of wounds, infections, amputations, or people that needed to be amputated, shrapnel wounds and what not,” said Mehr.
He said the media is biased and fails to report how the area has been crippled by an embargo that is slowly killing the people there.
“We saw war crimes there, we saw kids burnt with white phosphorous, on the same side we haven’t seen the suicide bombings and what happens over in Israel because we haven’t been over there, but I think both sides are wrong,” said Mehr.
During his trip he took photos of horrific scenes, dead children covered with rubble, animals that had been executed, gaping wounds from shrapnel that civilians were hit with, bombed buildings and other images that paint a horrific picture of the conditions there.
“Most of my procedures were cancer-related surgerys and most of them were on children ... The local doctors had these patients with cancer and they didn’t know how to treat it because they didn’t have chemotherapy. Their tumors had grown so large they just didn’t have the skills or instruments to use them.” said Mehr.
He talked about this as he discussed the case of a 5-year-old child that had a kidney tumor about the size of a watermelon that he had been living with for several months. Doctors in Gaza have no way to obtain new medical materials or fix broken equipment in the hospitals so they use dated instruments or are unable to treated certain ailments entirely.
“They have to improvise and make due. There are only two CT scanners for a population for 1.5 million. If you look at Rochester they service a population of about a million and they have probably about 50 scanners running all the time ... People need to realize there is a humanitarian side to it and the people that are hurting are the civilians and the public. It’s not the politicians and we need to stress that with our politicians and the effects of the embargo,” said Mehr.
Mehr plans on going back to Gaza in the future if it is possible.
Hornell, N.Y. - It’s a trip he will never forget.
When St. James Mercy Hospital’s Dr. Ismail Mehr headed out to Gaza for the third humanitarian relief effort of his life, he thought he knew how bad conditions were going to be in the war ravaged region. But he soon found out nothing could have prepared him for the conditions he would experience.
“The first thing that we saw was the destruction and the tank tracks through fields, houses blown up ... One vivid thing that I caught was a children’s playground that had been torn a part because the tanks had driven through it. There was a zoo in Gaza and the animals had been killed. We got a sense of war. I’ve never been to battle grounds and I got to see what it looked like,” said Mehr.
Mehr, an anesthesiologist at St. James, was the leader of a 10-day medical mission receiving national recognition. The trip was sponsored by the Islamic Medical Association of North America and has had stories about it done in the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune.
“We were the only Americans to go to Gaza and we will probably be the only ones to go as far as a relief team that is strictly under the charter of an American charitable organization. The other Americans there were journalists or people who worked for the United Nations,” said Mehr. He crossed the border with 36 South Africans.
“I think that is a shame that we pride ourselves in the United States on wanting to help others and in the end we were the only ones that went, from the Islamic Medical Association,” said Mehr.
The trip almost became impossible as Mehr and his team were hassled at the Egyptian border where they crossed as they ventured to the El Shifa Hospital in Gaza city.
Gaza has a large, military-patrolled wall erected around the entire densely populated urban city. No one is allowed to travel in or out. Israel and the Hamas government have battled each other for years, causing sporadic and sometimes long periods of devastating violence.
On the first day of his trip Mehr had to go to the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to sign a waiver to be allowed to cross into Gaza because the borders to Gaza are completely sealed from anyone going in or anyone coming out. Representatives at the embassy told the team that they would be offered no help if any fighting broke out. Mehr stayed in a hotel that was running on generators and frequently heard bombings.
“The guts and the trauma and the severed limbs and you know the gory stuff everyone from the media and people when I return to the states always want to know ‘What did you see? Was it bad?,’ had sort of passed. Either people had already died or been treated by local doctors. We missed that by a couple of days. But what we did see was a lot of wounds, infections, amputations, or people that needed to be amputated, shrapnel wounds and what not,” said Mehr.
He said the media is biased and fails to report how the area has been crippled by an embargo that is slowly killing the people there.
“We saw war crimes there, we saw kids burnt with white phosphorous, on the same side we haven’t seen the suicide bombings and what happens over in Israel because we haven’t been over there, but I think both sides are wrong,” said Mehr.
During his trip he took photos of horrific scenes, dead children covered with rubble, animals that had been executed, gaping wounds from shrapnel that civilians were hit with, bombed buildings and other images that paint a horrific picture of the conditions there.
“Most of my procedures were cancer-related surgerys and most of them were on children ... The local doctors had these patients with cancer and they didn’t know how to treat it because they didn’t have chemotherapy. Their tumors had grown so large they just didn’t have the skills or instruments to use them.” said Mehr.
He talked about this as he discussed the case of a 5-year-old child that had a kidney tumor about the size of a watermelon that he had been living with for several months. Doctors in Gaza have no way to obtain new medical materials or fix broken equipment in the hospitals so they use dated instruments or are unable to treated certain ailments entirely.
“They have to improvise and make due. There are only two CT scanners for a population for 1.5 million. If you look at Rochester they service a population of about a million and they have probably about 50 scanners running all the time ... People need to realize there is a humanitarian side to it and the people that are hurting are the civilians and the public. It’s not the politicians and we need to stress that with our politicians and the effects of the embargo,” said Mehr.
Mehr plans on going back to Gaza in the future if it is possible.
Trip to Gaza Heartbreaking for Utah Doctor
Matthew D. LaPlante of The Salt Lake Tribune reports:
Humanitarian mission » Irfan Galaria traveled with 13 other doctors to treat wounded in recent conflict
The mother wrapped her arms around her 1-year-old daughter's body. The nurse held the child's head. And the doctor worked, stitch by stitch, to repair a laceration that stretched from the little girl's cheek to her lip.
There was no anesthetic to ease the child's pain.
"So this little girl, you know, she could feel it," said Irfan Galaria, a Salt Lake City plastic surgeon who returned Sunday from a 10-day humanitarian mission to Gaza. "Every time I stuck her with the needle she could feel it."
Galaria was among 14 doctors from the Islamic Medical Association of North America who traveled to Gaza in the wake of an Israeli military assault there that left more than 1,000 dead and several thousand more wounded, according to both Israeli and Palestinian casualty estimates. Although the two sides dispute the number of casualties that were civilians, Galaria said it was clear from his perspective at Gaza City's al-Shifa Hospital that noncombatants -- including children -- suffered greatly in the fighting.
And among the wounded he treated were many suffering from what appeared to be white phosphorus burns. U.S. manufacturers, among others, produce phosphorus shells for use in lighting up nighttime battlefields and creating smoke screens, but international law bans the use of the hot-burning shells in densely populated areas like Gaza.
It is Gaza's density -- the small stretch of land is similar in size and population to Philadelphia
-- that makes it a difficult place to conduct military operations without a large degree of collateral damage. "I was surprised and shocked to see the extent and the degree of civilian casualties," Galaria said.
Making matters far worse, he said, was the utter lack of medical supplies, everything from towels for surgeons to dry their hands after scrubbing to anesthetics for use in minor surgeries like the one Galaria performed on the young Gazan girl.
Galaria said the recent fighting aggravated a situation that was already dire. "They lack medical supplies, food, clothing -- anything that you can imagine," he said.
California lawyer Ahmed Kasem, who helped arrange transportation, lodging and served as a translator for the doctors, said he fears that the world has been given an incomplete picture about the situation in Gaza.
"It's heartbreaking," he said, "because from my personal vantage point, these people have no future. There are no jobs. There is nothing coming in or out. They've been locked up, isolated and forgotten."
Many of the doctors on the trip have agreed to look into further opportunities to return to Gaza to continue to care for those in need.
Iowa surgeon Rick Colwell said he is sadly certain that there will be plenty to do when the doctors return. "There was so much to do, you could stay there for years and never finish," Colwell told Sioux City's KPTH-TV, "but you do what you can."
Humanitarian mission » Irfan Galaria traveled with 13 other doctors to treat wounded in recent conflict
The mother wrapped her arms around her 1-year-old daughter's body. The nurse held the child's head. And the doctor worked, stitch by stitch, to repair a laceration that stretched from the little girl's cheek to her lip.
There was no anesthetic to ease the child's pain.
"So this little girl, you know, she could feel it," said Irfan Galaria, a Salt Lake City plastic surgeon who returned Sunday from a 10-day humanitarian mission to Gaza. "Every time I stuck her with the needle she could feel it."
Galaria was among 14 doctors from the Islamic Medical Association of North America who traveled to Gaza in the wake of an Israeli military assault there that left more than 1,000 dead and several thousand more wounded, according to both Israeli and Palestinian casualty estimates. Although the two sides dispute the number of casualties that were civilians, Galaria said it was clear from his perspective at Gaza City's al-Shifa Hospital that noncombatants -- including children -- suffered greatly in the fighting.
And among the wounded he treated were many suffering from what appeared to be white phosphorus burns. U.S. manufacturers, among others, produce phosphorus shells for use in lighting up nighttime battlefields and creating smoke screens, but international law bans the use of the hot-burning shells in densely populated areas like Gaza.
It is Gaza's density -- the small stretch of land is similar in size and population to Philadelphia
-- that makes it a difficult place to conduct military operations without a large degree of collateral damage. "I was surprised and shocked to see the extent and the degree of civilian casualties," Galaria said.
Making matters far worse, he said, was the utter lack of medical supplies, everything from towels for surgeons to dry their hands after scrubbing to anesthetics for use in minor surgeries like the one Galaria performed on the young Gazan girl.
Galaria said the recent fighting aggravated a situation that was already dire. "They lack medical supplies, food, clothing -- anything that you can imagine," he said.
California lawyer Ahmed Kasem, who helped arrange transportation, lodging and served as a translator for the doctors, said he fears that the world has been given an incomplete picture about the situation in Gaza.
"It's heartbreaking," he said, "because from my personal vantage point, these people have no future. There are no jobs. There is nothing coming in or out. They've been locked up, isolated and forgotten."
Many of the doctors on the trip have agreed to look into further opportunities to return to Gaza to continue to care for those in need.
Iowa surgeon Rick Colwell said he is sadly certain that there will be plenty to do when the doctors return. "There was so much to do, you could stay there for years and never finish," Colwell told Sioux City's KPTH-TV, "but you do what you can."
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
A Thank You From the Orphanage
31 January 2009
Dear Ahmed:
It was a pleasure having you at Al-Amal Institute for Orphans in Gaza. Your sincere concern about our kids was really appreciated by all of us. We wish you all a safe trip back and God willing you will be rewarded for your efforts.
It is true we have been through a very tough period during the war on Gaza. We have lost many beloved ones. In the Institute, we have lost one of our most beloved children (Mohammed Al Ewadi), who was killed by the very first bombing of the police station nearby his school. I just read the article in your blog about Mohammed Al-Ewadi.
On the other hand this tragedy has united all the good people around the world. Justice must prevail at the end.
Dear Ahmed, please convey our best regards to all the members in your group.
Yours truly,
Al-Amal instit
ution for Orphans
Surgeon Returns from Helping Patients in Gaza
NBC Affiliate KSL-5's Nicole Gonzales Roports
A Utah plastic surgeon just came back home today after spending a week in Gaza. He was part of an American team sent to help war wound victims.
The sound of war is something you don't hear every day here in Utah, but Dr. Irfan Galaria wanted to leave his practice at University Hospital to help the wounded in Gaza.
"Going there, I was aware of the risks. The opportunity to help these people outweighed any of these concerns," he said.
He was one of 14 physicians from the United States. He represented Utah. The group spent five days in Gaza working at the main trauma hospital.
Galaria said, "I would say almost all the people I worked on were children, except for one patient."
By the time their team arrived, most acute injuries had been cared for, so their job was to reconstruct wounds that were cared for incorrectly.
"The second day I was there I was called to the emergency room to repair a laceration, a cut on a 1-year-old child, pretty extensive across the lip and cheek," he said.
Galaria says in Gaza they had few resources and staff, and supplies were limited. "There was no sedation, there was no local anesthesia, and the nurse was used to hold the child down. So usually one parent and one nurse were holding the child down," he said.
The Utah surgeon says he saw so many disturbing injuries resulting from bombs, shrapnel and a chemical called white phosphorous. It burns victims, leaving them with second- and third-degree burns.
"That was difficult to deal with and try to understand why a 5-year-old child, why half her body is burned or why we're repairing cuts on little kids' faces without anesthesia," Galaria said.
He says he'd do it again, though, especially since the Palestinians were so grateful, kind and generous to him at a time when their lives were falling apart.
Galaria says he is actively trying to plan another trip in the coming months. He wants to take supplies, new equipment and other doctors to help teach the staff in Gaza
A Utah plastic surgeon just came back home today after spending a week in Gaza. He was part of an American team sent to help war wound victims.
The sound of war is something you don't hear every day here in Utah, but Dr. Irfan Galaria wanted to leave his practice at University Hospital to help the wounded in Gaza.
"Going there, I was aware of the risks. The opportunity to help these people outweighed any of these concerns," he said.
He was one of 14 physicians from the United States. He represented Utah. The group spent five days in Gaza working at the main trauma hospital.
Galaria said, "I would say almost all the people I worked on were children, except for one patient."
By the time their team arrived, most acute injuries had been cared for, so their job was to reconstruct wounds that were cared for incorrectly.
"The second day I was there I was called to the emergency room to repair a laceration, a cut on a 1-year-old child, pretty extensive across the lip and cheek," he said.
Galaria says in Gaza they had few resources and staff, and supplies were limited. "There was no sedation, there was no local anesthesia, and the nurse was used to hold the child down. So usually one parent and one nurse were holding the child down," he said.
The Utah surgeon says he saw so many disturbing injuries resulting from bombs, shrapnel and a chemical called white phosphorous. It burns victims, leaving them with second- and third-degree burns.
"That was difficult to deal with and try to understand why a 5-year-old child, why half her body is burned or why we're repairing cuts on little kids' faces without anesthesia," Galaria said.
He says he'd do it again, though, especially since the Palestinians were so grateful, kind and generous to him at a time when their lives were falling apart.
Galaria says he is actively trying to plan another trip in the coming months. He wants to take supplies, new equipment and other doctors to help teach the staff in Gaza
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