InFocus News Reports on Ahmed Kasem and Dr. Ismail Mehr

Physicians, lawyer on relief mission to Gaza

Mona Shadia of InfocusNews (Anaheim CA) reports

GAZA STRIP, Gaza City — Dr. Ismail Mehr’s Gaza relief trip wasn’t his first. He has been on relief missions to places like Indonesia after the 2004 tsunami and Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake that shook the country’s capital.

But there was something especially disturbing about the anesthesiologist’s recent Gaza trip.

"You can answer the questions about the Tsunami or the earthquake, it’s an act of nature," Mehr said. "But when a kid asks you in Gaza, you can’t answer this question, because this shouldn’t be happening, because it’s a man-made conflict. And it was difficult to accept as a physician."

Mehr was one of nine doctors who traveled to the hard-hit Gaza after the last Israeli strike that ended the lives of many innocent men, women and children.

On this relief mission was Ahmed Kasem, a Costa Mesa lawyer, who traveled along with the doctors to interpret for them.

The trip was sponsored by the Islamic Medical Association of North America, a nonprofit organization with members who travel to war-torn and disastrous areas to assist with relief efforts.

Mehr, who’s a member of IMANA, was asked to coordinate the trip. At the time Israel invaded Gaza, Kasem was visiting Egypt. From there, he worked to get through the Egyptian border and to get authorizations for him and the rest of the doctors to enter into Gaza, which was very difficult, he said.

"To get through the Egyptian border, you had to be persistent," he said. "There was a Turkish group there, and it took them five days to get there. It took us one day."

The doctors and the lawyer began planning their trip before the ceasefire went into effect. But the team made it there a few days after. Once there, they spent a week in January performing surgeries and helping those who were affected by the war and others who suffered from chronic illness. About 75 surgeries were performed on patients during their visit, Mehr said.

Along with those who were affected by the war and needed immediate help, there were hundreds who suffered from chronic diseases that went without treatment because of the embargo that has been imposed on Gaza for more than two years.

The Israeli-imposed embargo keeps the Palestinians in Gaza isolated by land, sea and air.

Kasem recalled the story of a child with a tumor that grew to the size of a ball due to lack of medical equipment and treatment in Gaza.

"The medical infrastructure is almost nonexistent, not because of the war but because of the embargo," Mehr said. "People are dying every day because of things that can be prevented."

For Kasem, whose trip was the first-ever to a war-torn area, being there was also especially striking. "It was kind of surreal going in," he said. "The Palestinian issue is central to international politics and to the U.S. foreign politics. When I got there, I felt like we were at the center of the conflict. It was surreal. But there was also so much life there. When you strip away all the man-made things, there’s life."

And with all of their troubles, Kasem said, the people in Gaza were not bitter, even though he had not met anyone who had not lost a loved one. This, he said, was the good part of his trip.

But the sad part for Kasem extended beyond seeing the lost lives and the damage the war caused.

"It was going into a place where these people are demonized. I felt really heartbroken," Kasem said.

And although they stayed for one week, the doctors and IMANA have committed to further helping the medical situation in Gaza.

Mehr said they have three goals to reach: Relax the borders to help humanitarian teams enter into Gaza, help build the medical infrastructure and train the doctors.

Kasem said everyone knows the United States is the biggest financial supporter to Israel. So, at the end of the day, "as a U.S. citizen, you should have the right to know what’s going on. Especially at a time when the entire economy is struggling, why shouldn’t people care about what’s being done with their money?"