Looking for Trouble

Thursday in Gaza by Gerri Haynes

Children sing for the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility delegation.

(For a few more days, I will be running a guest blog by Gerri Haynes, a former president of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility. Gerri, a nurse from Kirkland, Wash., is in Gaza with 11 other people in an effort to help the people there and also to better understand the situation.)

Elliott Adams, a member of Veterans For Peace wrote this:

“Walking near the beaches of Gaza, dangling from the wires, are some sun bleached sticks, the remains of a kite. Once it caught the Mediterranean winds and darted across the sky in a streak of color playing in the blue. Then, caught by the wires, held fast, it flipped and flopped with flashes of the same colors, but no longer wild arcs across the sky. Its color growing weaker, tattered paper flapping, the sun bleaching the color even from the remaining sticks.

So, too, we watch as Gaza, caught by the inaction of the world, hangs on a wire, its color fading. Its people determined to fly free again, keep struggling to make it through just to morning or to have some piece of life just today. But the world stands by and watches as they are tattering and their colors are fading under the strangling force of the blockade – a blockade that is in violation of international law and moral principles.”

Tomorrow we will leave Gaza. We’ve taught, visited, served and learned. All of the physicians have been teaching and learning in clinical settings and in journal clubs. In the final class that I will teach during this visit, the women gave me more statements they would like the world to read. The words from one statement: “First, it was nice for us to meet you. We want from Israel and America: stopped war, stopped killing our children, stopped violence, stopped siege, stopped suffering. Yes for peace, yes for life. We haven’t anything except we want to protect our children. Thanks.”

The press of Gaza gathered with us for a conference at noon today. We read a statement of
gratitude and commitment – telling the people of Gaza that we will take to the world outside Gaza the message of their communal plight. This afternoon, Dr. David Hall and I visited a family in Beit Hanoun. Their home is close to the border with Israel and over the last five years, two sons of this family have been killed by fire from Israel. The destruction of Gaza near the northern border with Israel has left many dead and all traumatized.

We met briefly with the Samouni family – a clan of 400-plus people. Reports say 48 members of
this family were killed when Israel invaded Gaza last winter.

The Staff of Gaza Community Mental Health continues to provide services for this family – but there is much to do. The destroyed homes are difficult to replace – building materials are not allowed to be brought into Gaza. The lives of the surviving family members remain traumatized.

This evening we were treated to songs and traditional dances in the Cultural Center of Jabalyia Refugee Camp. One group of solemn-faced children sang this song – which was written as part of their therapy following the winter attacks:

Don’t cover the sunshine
We want to speak loudly
Don’t make childhood die

The Feast Day is coming
Nothing new
No playing
No sleeping

Wednesday in Gaza by Gerri Haynes

(For a few more days, I will be running a guest blog by Gerri Haynes, a former president of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility. Gerri, a nurse from Kirkland, Wash., is in Gaza with 11 other people in an effort to help the people there and also to better understand the situation.)

As our activities of service and learning continue, we become more and more aware of the crippling effects of the brutal siege on Gaza. And we become more and more aware of the incredible fortitude of the people in this land. Children’s services are emphasized – services that will promote the cultural and spiritual development of the next generation.

This afternoon our delegation met with the Prime Minister of Gaza, Ismail Haniyeh. With great care, he spoke of the need for the people of Gaza to be free of occupation and the hope that the American administration will live up to the promises made by President Obama in his speeches in Egypt and Turkey. The Prime Minister spoke of peace and justice and love and offered direct communication with world leaders.

The social workers and psychologists in the class I taught today echoed his comments. Several wrote notes so that the people of the United States might read their words. One of the notes: “I’m a Palestinian human being. I don’t care about politics. I don’t care about Israel, Fatah or Hamas agendas. I’m not looking for money or authority. I just want to live in peace in my home and with my family, my society, my neighbors, my colleagues. All I want is to feel safe.” Six mental health workers signed this statement.

Cherie Eichholz, Executive Director of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility wrote: “If you plant a cucumber (from seed), when the plant grows it does not yield tomatoes. Similarly, if you plant violence, you will not end up with peace (the quote comes from Reem, 38, director of the Children’s Cultural Centre in Gaza).

The human rights group met yesterday with Ahmed Somouni and after hearing this 9-year-old’s story of his family devastation, Reem’s phrase rings out in my mind. Ahmed’s family was massacred; dozens were killed. This boy began his story telling of how last winter his father was asked to come out of his house and as his whole family watched, was executed on the front sidewalk.

What exactly is being sown in Gaza today? So far I have seen rubble and sadness and bombed out buildings. Driving from north to south, almost border to border, there is little in between in terms of standing buildings and make no mistake, there once were buildings. I/we have talked to government leaders, educators, NGOs, and children. We have seen the tunnels. And we have seen many tears.

Oddly enough, the other amazing thing I have seen is an unquenchable spirit of hope. Life is stubborn. That is how one of our new friends put it. And that same sentiment has been expressed repeatedly. This family of 1.6 million people is invested and is simply trying to do the same things as people do all over the world and indeed, they are no different from you or me.

The question though is pesky; what is being sown? Are Palestinians today living lives nurturing their families, their culture and their future? Or are they running fearful to the next day, wondering when the next bomb will explode, the next tank roll in or the next relative be killed?

If peace is planted, peace will prevail.

Reem, the director of the Children’s Culturtal Centre talks with Ahmed Somouni, who lost his family to the violence in Gaza.

Tuesday in Gaza by Gerri Haynes

(For the next week or so, I will be running a guest blog by Gerri Haynes, a former president of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility. Gerri, a nurse from Kirkland, Wash., is in Gaza with 11 other people in an effort to help the people there and also to better understand the situation.)

Our humanitarian/human rights group met with human rights experts in Gaza this morning, then visited an elegant activity center for children. The director of this center is an inspiring young woman who was educated in and beyond Gaza. She has chosen to serve the children of her homeland in the most loving way she can imagine – with creativity and safety.

The physicians in our group continue to serve patients in Al Awda Hospital, in clinics and in our hotel. A radio announcement telling of our presence in Gaza resulted in many more patients seeking care.

The sister of the wonderful man who is organizing our itinerary runs a neighborhood school – teaching children who are able (because of extreme crowding in classes) to attend regular school for only half of the day. I visited her and witnessed the overwhelming courage of a young woman whose husband is no longer able to work; the wounds he received in an Israeli attack have permanently disabled him. With teachers specializing in such areas as English and mathematics, this bright and cheerful woman is making extended education available to children in her neighborhood for a minimum fee (less than $20/month) – and working in an environment of many needs and great resourcefulness.

In the classes I am teaching, I heard today from a treating psychologist the story of a six-year-old boy who witnessed his neighbor being “cut to pieces” by shrapnel from an Israeli bomb. The child, horrified by what he witnessed, picked up the pieces of his neighbor and placed them in a nearby car. Solemn and purposeful as he retrieved each part, he said little to his parents about what he had done – but the fears that have since directed some of his behaviors signify a persistent trauma. He is one among many, many thousands of the citizens of Gaza who suffer from the psychological injuries of being attacked in the prison that is their homeland.

Again and again, I am humbled by the courage of mental health professionals in this land – each one knows personal trauma and still they continue to offer care to their fellow citizens.

Soha, a Palestinian friend who knows we are in Gaza sent this poem by Rainer Maria Rilke to me today…

Only in our doing can we grasp you.
Only with our hands can we illumine you.
The mind is but a visitor:
It thinks us out of our world.
Each mind fabricates itself.
We sense its limits for we have made them.
And just when we would flee them, you come
and make of yourself an offering.
I don’t want to think a place for you.
Speak to me from everywhere.
Your Gospel can be comprehended
without looking for its source.
When I go toward you
it is with my whole life.

One of many demolished homes in Gaza.

Day Two in Gaza by Gerri Haynes

(For the next week or so, I will be running a guest blog by Gerri Haynes, a former president of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility. Gerri, a nurse from Kirkland, Wash., is in Gaza with 11 other people in an effort to help the people there and also to better understand the situation.)

The sun shines brightly – destruction from the attacks this past winter become more apparent. Bombed shells of buildings await repair – importing concrete is forbidden. Some single story buildings are being constructed of mud bricks readily available from the earth of this country. Injured bodies appear in clinics. Injured hearts and minds are universal – everyone has a close experience to the latest war on the people of Gaza.

The physicians in our group, Bill Dienst, Dave Hall, Laura Hart, Bob Haynes, Don Mellman and Bryan Saario are meeting with colleagues and seeing patients. Some surgeries have been completed and many cardiology patients have been served. Consultations by Dave Hall, psychiatrist, reveal the ongoing trauma of living in this pain-filled environment.

A group of mental health professionals participated in the first day of a two-day conference on grief and mourning – facilitated by me. Elliott Adams, Will Covert, Cherie Eichholz, Anne Hall and Jack Smith, members of our delegation designated as the human rights group, traveled the length of Gaza. Their observations of the effects of the four years of siege and repetitive attacks will be documented here in the next days.

Jack Smith wrote today: “I’ve seen the bombed-out buildings, the tunnels that are used to bring basic supplies – food, clothing, fuel, medicine – into Gaza from Egypt, saw where Rachel Corrie was murdered, talked with a farmer who could not ship his strawberries outside the border of Gaza, talked with people who, like the strawberries, could not leave Gaza, learned that structures cannot be rebuilt or replaced because building supplies are not allowed by Israel to enter Gaza. I saw the destroyed juice-processing plant, the industrial facility destroyed by white phosphorus, talked with workers who did not speak English (I don’t speak Arabic), but somehow connected. I am learning to love the Palestinian people – people who state they do not know why they are imprisoned and attacked. My goal for the coming days is to keep caring and to show it – to learn more and commit to sharing in the US what I learn here.”

Between 400 and 600 tunnels exist at the southern border between Gaza and Egypt. These tunnels are routinely targeted by Israel, but new tunnels are continuously dug – they are a lifeline for the people of Gaza. And they are dangerous. Tunnel collapses have taken an estimated 200 lives. Goods coming through the tunnel are taxed. A tunnel-digging industry now exists. Egyptians reportedly await those who enter Egypt, stamping entry visas on passports (for a fee). The tunnels are a physical statement about human need and desperation.

Human relationships are essential to survival. The Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the Islamic University of Gaza visits his mother every day. He finishes his work and, before continuing with his evening, stops to visit his octogenarian mother. She kisses his hands and feeds him whenever there is time or need – he is her child and they know love and security in these daily visits.

One of the tunnels linking Gaza and Egypt.

A Guest Blog by Gerri Haynes: Journey to Gaza, The Beginning

(For the next week or so, I will be running a guest blog by Gerri Haynes, a former president of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility. Gerri, a nurse from Kirkland, Wash., is in Gaza with 11 other people in an effort to help the people there and also to better understand the situation.)

This journey has been months in the planning and today we were able to cross into Gaza through the Erez checkpoint from Israel. We are a thankful group! The Gaza Community Mental Health Programme and associated health care providers are giving us this week in service.
There are 12 of us. Six physicians will see patients in cardiology, maxillo-facial surgery, family practice/emergency medicine, neurosurgery, urology, and psychiatry. Our nurse/grief consultant will teach classes in grief and bereavement. Five of our delegation – a pastor, an attorney and three human rights professionals will talk with families and listen to people throughout the area – all in service to this land that is trying to recover from the war of last winter.

WPSR made a first journey to Gaza in 1993. Here, we met Dr. Eyad El Sarraj, Director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme. Dr. Sarraj has published important articles and papers on the health situation in Gaza, the mental health of the population, the effects of war and living as a refugee on children and critiques of the political situation in his country.

In 1993, entry to Gaza was accomplished through a small checkpoint. At that time, Israel physically occupied Gaza. There were Israeli guard towers visible at frequent intervals and Israeli soldiers appeared on every street. Now, there is an imposing warehouse-like checkpoint building on the Israel side of the crossing. Security is tight.

We applied for permission to enter Gaza several months in advance of today’s crossing and were assisted by an Israeli lieutenant in gaining that permission. Israel no longer physically occupies Gaza – the settlements were vacated and destroyed by Israel in 2005 – but remote occupation continues. By various means, Israel controls all movement at the borders of Gaza. There is no free movement of goods or services and complete closure of the Gaza Strip is a constant threat.

The cardiologist in our delegation worked with a fellow cardiologist from Gaza today. They examined a woman whose congenital heart defect was expertly repaired several months ago by a Palestinian surgeon. The woman was despondent. Healed vertical scars were present on her back. The Palestinian cardiologist explained that the wounds had been caused by shrapnel fragments during the attack in the winter war that killed the woman’s husband. “Some wounds heal,” the physician explained, “some never do.”

One hospital in Gaza has a lovely new wing. On the upper floors of this wing, there are operating rooms and intensive care beds. These areas are furnished but stand empty, ready to receive patients, but unable to accommodate the admission of those needing care here. The elevator that is essential for safe transport to this area has not been installed. For months, permission from external authorities has barred installation of the needed elevator. In the entire area of Gaza, there are 60 intensive care beds for a population of more than 1.5 million people. During the December/January attacks there was a daily need for 120 intensive care beds. At that time, heroic hospital staff moved wounded patients up to the intensive care facility on stretchers through steep stairways. Patient safety requires access to an elevator though, and so the wait – no one knows for how long – for permission to install the elevator.

On this first day in Gaza, we have seen the spirit and courage of the Palestinian people. The threat of more attacks, the lack of access to potable water and adequate food, the continuing grief over the death and destruction of life and environment, and the sense of living in an open-air prison are evident in every encounter. We are grateful to be here and look forward to learning from our hosts in the days ahead.

Disappeared Pakistani woman to go on trial in New York

On Monday, Nov. 2, Dr. Aafia Siddiqui, a Pakistani woman who studied at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Brandeis University, is scheduled to go on trial in New York for allegedly trying to kill FBI agents in Afghanistan.

Siddiqui, according to the official U.S. version of events, was arrested in Afghanistan on July 17, 2008, for “suspicious behavior.” On July 18, while still in custody, so that version goes, the 90-pound neuroscientist grabbed an unattended rifle and attempted to shoot the agents before she was wounded by gunfire.

Before news of her arrest in Afghanistan, no one, at least publicly, had heard of Siddiqui since she was disappeared by Pakistani intelligence forces in 2003 (She likely was picked up because U.S. intelligence agencies were saying she had terrorist links). A report in the Pakistani press said that Siddiqui and her kids, then 7, 5, and 6 months old, had been seen being detained by Pakistani authorities. Days later, a spokesman for Pakistan’s interior ministry and two unnamed U.S. officials confirmed that she was in custody and being interrogated. Several days later, however, Pakistani and American officials apparently changed their minds, saying it was unlikely she was being held.

Siddiqui’s mother, Ismet, has said that a few days after Siddiqui’s disappearance, a man on a motorcycle arrived at her house and told her Aafia was being held and that she should keep quiet if she ever wanted to see her daughter and grandchildren again.

The treatment and fate of Siddiqui’s children, who are all U.S. citizens, is one of many troubling aspects of this case. The oldest, 11-year-old Ahmed, who had been detained with his mother in Afghanistan, was recently released from Afghan custody into his aunt’s care. Siddiqui has said that her younger son died in custody; her 5-year-old daughter remains unaccounted for.

Interestingly enough, on July 7, 2008, only a few weeks before Siddiqui’s arrest, Yvonne Ridley, a British journalist and patron of Cage Prisoners, a human rights organization, had sparked an uproar by calling a press conference in Islamabad to demand that the United States hand over an unidentified female prisoner being held at the U.S.-run Bagram prison in Afghanistan.

Ridley said the woman, whom she called the “Gray Lady of Bagram,” had been held in solitary confinement for years. And while no one knew for sure the identity of that prisoner, Ridley said she thought it was Siddiqui. Several former U.S. captives have also reported that a female prisoner, known only as prisoner 650, was being held in Bagram. And according to news reports, the former captives said she had lost her sanity, and cried all the time.

Ridley had written previously about “Prisoner 650″ and her four-year ordeal of torture and repeated rapes, saying that her cries had prompted the male prisoners to go on a hunger strike. And, at the Islamabad press conference, Ridley said she called her a “Gray Lady” because she was almost a “ghost, a specter whose cries and screams continue to haunt those who heard her.”

Ridley is an award-winning journalist who was detained for 11 days by the Taliban in 2001 while on an assignment in Afghanistan. Months after her release she converted to Islam.

Siddiqui supporters plan a rally for the opening day of her trial in front of the U.S. District Court in New York City.

Philippines faces more than just natural calamities

The Philippines is frequently in the news these days, primarily because of two recent typhoons – Ketsana and Parma – which killed more than 850 people and displaced hundreds of thousands.

Today reports say Typhoon Lupit is expected to make landfall around the far northern tip of the main island of Luzon by Thursday and it may be even stronger than the earlier storms.

Natural calamities always seem to get a lot of coverage. Those created by people often don’t.

The Philippines has been dealing with two armed conflicts that have been a major drain on its economic and political life, not to mention the deaths and destruction these conflicts have brought to the people.

The first is a rebellion throughout the islands led by the New People’s Army, the military wing of the Philippines’ Communist Party. The NPA, formed in 1969, has undergone a lot of changes, politically and materially since then – reportedly shrinking from a maximum of 25,000 guerrillas to about 4,000 now – but it continues to fight for what it calls a more democratic form of government. The Philippine government has been intermittently (and sometimes half-heartedly) attempting to negotiate a peace treaty with the NPA for years.

The second conflict is with Muslim guerrillas, primarily in the southern islands of the Philippines. Muslims have been struggling for their independence for several centuries, dating back to the first colonization of the islands by Spain, which called them “Moros” after the Moors of Northern Africa. The name stuck.

The United States battled Filipino rebels, including Moros, during our colonization of the Philippines after the Spanish-American War of 1898. We didn’t give up control until July 4, 1946. And then it was in name only. The U.S. continues to play a major role there politically, militarily and economically.

Today, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front is continuing the struggle, although a small region in the south has attained autonomy – the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi. For the moment a truce between the guerrillas and government troops is holding, but only a few months ago the two sides clashed in battles that killed hundreds.

Recently the MILF asked the United States for help in ending the conflict. Ghazali Jaafar, MILF vice-chairman for political affairs, said in a statement they are asking the U.S. government to help resolve the root cause of the Moro conflict, which, he claimed, began after the U.S. government – during the colonial years – failed to recognize the Moro people’s aspirations for self-rule.

I met Ghazali Jaafar in the jungles of Mindanao in 1979, describing him as an “affable and eloquent politician” for a story I wrote on the Moros and the NPA for Mother Jones. It never occurred to me that he would still be at it 30 years later or that both conflicts would still be unresolved.

Maybe the Philippines would be a great place for President Obama to start living up to his Nobel Peace Prize.

More reaction from overseas on Nobel Peace Prize for Obama

Responses to President Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize are still coming in from friends and colleagues in other countries. Just a little more food for thought:

From Shahid Shah, a journalist in Pakistan, “I think it is too early to give him the Nobel Prize. We will see the results of his policies in coming years…”

From Ghanashyam Ojha, a journalist in Nepal, “I think the prize for peace contradicts the situation the U.S. is facing in Afghanistan. However, it could help Obama bring peace in the Mideast as the situation, seemingly, has improved since he entered the White House…”

From Maha Al-Azar, a former journalist and now media relations officer at the American University of Beirut, “It’s definitely premature to give Obama a peace prize even though his intentions may be good. Just as we should not penalize people for violent intentions but actions, the same should apply for peaceful intentions. Plus, I read somewhere that he was nominated two weeks after assuming office, since that was the deadline this year. In that case, it’s quite ludicrous, and it undermines the Nobel Prize committee. By extension, all those deserving people who have won the NP are also being harmed by such a seemingly political nomination, as people will likely start questioning the credibility of all Nobel prizes and will start wondering if the whole institution is politicized – allegations that some/many already maintain.”

A little perspective on hard times for journalists in the United States

These are hard times for journalists in the United States. Newspapers are losing money and trimming staff. Some papers have gone out of business – the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, for example, where I worked as the National/Foreign editor. Across the country, roughly 20,000 journalists have lost their jobs since the beginning of 2008. Few of my 160 or so colleagues at the P-I have found work at all, not to mention work as journalists.

Sometimes, just to keep things in perspective, I look at what’s happening with journalists in other countries, where losing their jobs isn’t the biggest worry.

Here’s part of just one week’s report, from the International Freedom of Expression Exchange, of what journalists face overseas:

In Vietnam, nine Vietnamese bloggers and writers were charged with anti-government propaganda and sentenced to severe prison terms. The bloggers were convicted of demanding greater “political pluralism, democracy and respect for human rights.”

In Yemen, a demonstration in the capital Sana’a – organized by the NGO Women Journalists without Chains – which called for freedom of expression, was broken up by police who injured several of the demonstrators and destroyed several video cameras.

In Nepal, the government intends to use journalists as informants as part of a security plan, a decision that would undermine the role of independent media and increase attacks on journalists.

In Kuwait, a journalist known for his reporting and activism on corruption was attacked and beaten by an unknown assailant while the journalist was at a conference on transparency.

In Israel, Israeli security forces disguised themselves as photojournalists in the midst of a Palestinian demonstration and later arrested protesters.

OK, I know this is little consolation to any journalist in this country who is out of work, with little prospect of a job on the horizon. Still, it helps me to know, as I fill out my unemployment claims for the seventh month in a row, that I can blog about any damned thing I want, and no one is going to come after me for it.

Report links hunger, gender inequalities for first time

I had just settled down to breakfast in front of the computer this morning when I got an emailed press release from the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) with the latest global hunger index. Like any normal person I skipped right past it.

But it’s been a while since I’ve seen anything on global hunger, so, after washing down my bagel with cold, black coffee, I read the email.

As expected, it had good and bad news. The good news is that hunger rates worldwide have shrunk since1990; the bad news is that they have shrunk less than 25 percent despite the greater focus on world hunger by various international organizations as well as the affected nations.

The 2009 Global Hunger Index, for the first time, also shows that high rates of hunger are strongly linked to gender inequalities, especially in terms of literacy and access to education.

The situation is especially serious in Chad, which ranks fifth worst on the Global Hunger Index, second worst in terms of gender inequality, and has a female literacy rate of only 13 percent, compared to 41 percent for men. The report said that IFPRI research shows that equalizing men’s and women’s status would reduce the number of malnourished children by 13.4 million in South Asia and by 1.7 million in Sub-Saharan Africa.

The press statement quoted Agnes Quisumbing, report co-author and IFPRI senior research fellow: “Women’s educational level and status or power relative to men’s in households and communities significantly affect children’s nutrition. In South Asia (especially), women’s low social status and limited access to schooling have dire consequences for the nutrition, health, and wellbeing of both mothers and their children.”

IFPRI Director General Joachim von Braun said, “Knowing that hunger and gender inequality go hand-in-hand, an important step to ending world hunger is empowering women and eradicating gender disparities in education, health, economic participation, and political opportunities.

“After decades of slow progress in the fight against hunger, child malnourishment is now on the rise due to recent economic developments. It is imperative that commitments made at the G20 and other global policy meetings are swiftly transformed into real action in cooperation with developing countries.”

Overall, the report found that 29 countries around the world have “alarming or extremely alarming” levels of hunger, and thirteen countries have actually seen increases in their hunger levels since 1990. The Democratic Republic of Congo scored the worst, followed by Burundi, Eritrea, Sierra Leone, Chad, and Ethiopia.

The situation is also bad in South Asia largely because of widespread child malnutrition. In Bangladesh and India, more than 40 percent of children are underweight. An important exception in the region is Sri Lanka, which has been committed to universal education and reproductive health care, and has been successful at reducing hunger.

Even though there is severe hunger in Afghanistan and Iraq, there wasn’t enough data available to be included in this report.

Most of the progress in the battle against hunger has been made in Southeast Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Global Hunger Index is being released in advance of World Food Day (October 16) for the fourth year by IFPRI, Welthungerhilfe, and Concern Worldwide. The Index ranks countries on three leading indicators—prevalence of child malnutrition, rates of child mortality, and the proportion of people who are calorie deficient—and combines them into one score.

The IFPRI is one of 15 centers supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, an alliance of 64 governments, private foundations, and international and regional organizations.