October
26
2011
By Gerri Haynes
(Gerri Haynes, a former president of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, is sending back reports from inside blockaded Gaza. As she did three times before, Gerri organized a team of doctors and other health care providers to work in hospitals and clinics in Gaza in an effort to directly help the people there and to bring attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis that the Israeli blockade has created. Sixth in the series.)
This evening, our group was hosted in the lovely garden of Dr. Eyad Sarraj, president of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme. Dr. Sarraj is respected throughout the world for his work on peace and reconciliation and for his study of refugees and the trauma of war and occupation. His giant spirit has inspired members of WPSR to return again and again to Gaza and to provide information about the situation in Gaza to our medical and nursing colleagues.
As we complete this brief journey, members of our team are preparing to give two presentations on Gaza at the American Public Health Association meeting in Washington DC next weekend. We have had hospital and clinic experiences and listened with open hearts. We hope to return next year with an expanded medical team, prepared to offer services not presently available here.
Kara Mochan (Photo by Bob Haynes).
“These days have been a whirlwind of activity:
• Meetings with the Palestinian Nursing Association to talk about the state of nursing in Gaza and the need for continued nursing education for the 7,000 nurses in Gaza
• Meetings with the only certified child psychiatrist in all of Gaza, my wonderful colleague Dr. Sami… One meeting with Dr. Sami included a tour of the child therapy room – fully equipped and ready for use.
• A tour and meeting with the director of the Qattan Center, a private organization, serving the children of Gaza City with a resource center and full library for children and parents”
• And many more…
Kara has been busy in Gaza. She has taught and learned and consulted with colleagues throughout Gaza. The list is long and full. In many meetings, she has been invited to return to teach, conduct research, and consult.
Kara writes, “I have slept little. Today, as the light starts to wake up Gaza, I look out to the sea to take in the calming waves and this time I only see one Israeli boat watching me as I write this………. maybe that is why I was sleepless in Gaza tonight.”
Dr. Laura Hart (Photo by Bob Haynes).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/14/un-unrwa-report-blockade-gaza-unemployment
Laura Hart, M.D. writes: As the sun set tonight in Gaza, our last evening here, I thought of how privileged we are to travel to this remarkable place. I was struck again by the grace and courage of the people of Gaza. Whether it is a mother worried about her child, a doctor or nurse thirsting for the most current treatment protocols and techniques, or the hotel clerk who wants only to work in the field of his educational degree, I am humbled. I am so grateful for the hospitality of Dr. Eyad Sarraj, Gaza Community Mental Health Programme and the physicians and personnel of the hospitals and clinics who welcomed us.
A special note of thanks goes to Amani, Ashraf and Abu Husam of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme for arranging meetings, teaching opportunities, transportation and hundreds of details to make this journey successful – we are blessed.
Amani (Photo by Bob Haynes).
Abu Husam (Photo by Bob Haynes).
October
25
2011
By Gerri Haynes
(Gerri Haynes, a former president of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, is sending back reports from inside blockaded Gaza. As she did three times before, Gerri organized a team of doctors and other health care providers to work in hospitals and clinics in Gaza in an effort to directly help the people there and to bring attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis that the Israeli blockade has created. Fifth in the series.)
A proud, young artist shows her work (Photo by Bob Haynes).
This morning, I sat with a group of women whose family members have died. A dear friend in Washington state is interested in writing the stories of women in Gaza and I wondered if it would be possible to find women who might be willing to tell of their experience.
In brief, waiting for the fuller expression of their stories, these are the words I heard today:
Reem: My brother was killed in the Fakhoura massacre during the Cast Lead operation of 2008/2009. He had four children and after he was killed, his widow took the children to another part of Gaza and we no longer see them. We lost my brother and his whole family.
Amal: My child was five years old during Cast Lead. He was burned by white phosphorus and one year later, he died of cancer. There are many cases like this – children who were exposed to white phosphorus and who have now died of cancer. One day on the street, I heard other children calling a child by the name of my son – I began to cry, calling out his name again and again, “Hamza, Hamza, Hamza.”
Nahala: My husband and three of my children (two boys and one girl) were killed in the Fakhoura massacre. My daughter-in-law was also injured. Now I live with four sons and two daughters. One of my sons lost his legs – one above the knee and the other below the knee. Doctors have tried to help. He had artificial legs, but they didn’t fit and made him sore. Now he gets around in a wheel chair (note: there are very few handicapped-access places in Gaza) and needs more care. So much has happened. I find that I am very forgetful.
A young girl wanders in the rubble (Photo by Bob Haynes).
Asma: My husband died during the civil war in Gaza. We have one son who was one-year-old when my husband died. He is six now and has trouble with speech and he is hyperactive. I don’t know how to help him.
Khifa: My husband was 37 years old in 2006. He was standing in front of our house. Someone fired rockets into Israel and Israel fired back – my husband was killed. My two daughters are married and live with their husbands. My son is 16 and we live in a room in my father’s house. Soon, I will have to leave this house and I don’t know where we will go. I am physically and psychologically tired. My son is also very tired. We don’t know what will happen to us.
Eman: Two of my sons and my brother-in-law died in the massacre. At 3 AM, the Israelis called and told us to evacuate our home. When we were leaving the house the next day, we were attacked. Now my husband and I live with our four young children. One of my sons who was killed was older – he had been married for twenty days. I’m OK, but this is hard. My children have a hard time – they witnessed the killing. My husband doesn’t express his grief, but when he sees the children of my one son, he does cry. In one family I know, eleven people were killed.
Linda: My husband and fourteen-year-old son died in the massacre. I lost my home and now live in the home of my brother-in-law with my son and daughter – my brother-in-law lives abroad.
Nihad: Two of my sons died. I saw one of them die. I stay in my house with my family. My daughter-in-law lives with me.
The recent prisoner swap brought many feelings to these women. Together they told me that when they saw the released prisoners they were happy for the families, but wanted the same thing for those who died. As these women told their stories, a social worker from the agency where we met, listened and at the end of our time together, she spoke of having them meet together again to try to do some healing work.
October
24
2011
Shipping containers re-used to make a school for Gaza students (Photo by Bob Haynes).
By Gerri Haynes
(Gerri Haynes, a former president of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, is sending back reports from inside blockaded Gaza. As she did three times before, Gerri organized a team of doctors and other health care providers to work in hospitals and clinics in Gaza in an effort to directly help the people there and to bring attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis that the Israeli blockade has created. Fourth in the series.)
While medicines and medical equipment are not technically prohibited for importation to Gaza, the reality here is that medicines and equipment are difficult to obtain:
1. There is only one crossing between Israel and Gaza that allows passage of goods and this crossing is open for a limited number of hours/day.
2. Transport of materials is onerous – goods brought to the crossing must pass through a secure set of doors, one door closing before another opens, with all doors to Israel fully secured before Palestinians can open doors on the Gaza side. UN personnel refer to this as materials passing through “sterilized zones” – high security clearance is required for each person who touches the goods and only UN personnel may make contact with the goods.
3. No goods are transported between Israel and Gaza on trucks. Materials are off-loaded from Israel and then must be palletized prior to entering Gaza to be re-loaded on trucks. The result is a minimal amount of material can be received – the delivery time is short and the process is long.
4. Requests for materials must be cleared by Israel and this can take weeks/months
5. The economy of Gaza is markedly depressed. UNRWA announced today that the unemployment rate is 45%. Funds to purchase materials are extremely limited.
Rich Grady (Photo by Bob Haynes).
Bob Haynes, cardiologist, is consulting and providing direct care for cardiology patients in several clinics. He is doing most of his work in the evenings and is seeing patients of all ages, including one 10-month-old child! The expertise of cardiologists in Gaza is high, but association with international colleagues is rare and one physician commented to Bob today, “It’s just nice to know that we haven’t been forgotten.”
Maxine Fookson (Photo by Bob Haynes).
“Since this is my first trip to Gaza, I find my eyes and heart wide open. I could use many more days or weeks here to see all that I want to see. I am shocked at the abject poverty and suffering from the siege on all of Gaza’s borders (air, land and water). And yet, I am so totally impressed with the talent, ingenuity, warmth, humor and total determination of the Gaza people. At an amazing technology fair we visited today showcasing students’ projects and designs at the Islamic University, as we were in awe at an optical invention that a student invented to correct childhood amblyopia (poor vision), the Dean of Nursing exclaimed, ‘See, that’s Gaza under siege!’ He is so right! What would Gaza be if it were free?
“I have visited a few health care sites providing maternal child health care. The first was a hospital and clinic called Al Awdah, which is funded by NGOs. The first impression is that the actual environment, including their instruments, looks to be about 30-40 years behind that which we have in the U.S. However, the environment was spotless. The pediatrician who showed me around explained that due to the difficulties in global economics, their funds are greatly reduced. As a result their intensive care units are closed completely. They have had to cut staff by about 30% and their pharmacy is almost bare of many essential drugs.
“I also visited the UNRWA Clinic in Nuserat, in the Central Gaza Strip. I was greeted with such warmth and hospitality. Again, I heard about the incredible manpower shortage. Nurses working in pairs see 60 to 70 well child visits in a day. The doctors average over 120 patients per day. Despite the shortages, they have a specialized clinic for children having school difficulties consisting of a pediatrician, a mental health provider and a nurse. It has been so rewarding to talk to these medical practitioners as colleagues. I am so totally impressed with the quality of the care they deliver under such incredible stress and conditions of scarcity.
“Other highlights for us have included visiting the fabulous programs of Qattan Centre and an UNRWA school located in converted shipping containers. It is estimated that UNRWA needs to build 100 schools to provide education for all the refugee children at this time, but they have funds to complete only 7 of the schools. Again, the structure of the school was so depressing, but the passion and dedication of the principal and teachers is amazing.”
The UNRWA container school is a facility of 15 boxes without air conditioning. We met representatives of a dedicated parent committee and were impressed with the passion of faculty and parents in assuring that the high priority on Palestinian education is respected. Set in a bare sandy lot, this facility will be replaced by a new school as soon as Israeli authorities allow the necessary building materials to enter Gaza.
October
24
2011
By Mark Trahant
Mark Trahant is a writer, speaker and Twitter poet. He is a member of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes and lives in Fort Hall, Idaho. Trahant’s recent book, “The Last Great Battle of the Indian Wars,” is the story of Sen. Henry Jackson and Forrest Gerard, now available at www.lastgreatbattle.com Follow him on Twitter @trahantreports and daily “news” poems @newsrimes4lines
Mark Trahant
While Republicans pretend they can instantly repeal the complicated law, the actual implementation continues to moves forward. Sort of.
One provision that is not going to happen is the long-term care program known as CLASS (Community Living Assistance Services and Supports). This program was the brainchild of the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced on October 14 that she did not see a “viable path forward” for CLASS. “… the law passed by Congress required me to design a plan that would be actuarially sound and financially solvent for at least 75 years,” Sebelius said. “The provision protected both taxpayers and beneficiaries. After all, if CLASS failed, no one would be hurt more than those who would pay into it and would be counting on it the most.”
The problem is, of course, demographic. The baby boom generation is huge, much larger than the generation of workers and taxpayers that must pay for such a program.
But, as Sebelius pointed out in her news release, the problem is not going away. “By 2020,” she said, “we know that an estimated 15 million Americans will need some kind of long-term care and fewer than three percent have a long-term care policy.”
Long-term care is a complicated issue for Indian Country. There are only a little more than a dozen nursing homes serving American Indians or Alaska Natives. There are also several initiatives promoting care for tribal members either in their homes or in facilities. Unlike the CLASS program, many argue that because of Medicaid funding, there is a “business model” for long-term care in Indian Country. Medicaid is an entitlement program, so if people are eligible, the money is there. At least for now.
The other big “sort of” for health care reform is money. Most of the Indian health system does not have an adequate funding stream. Even with the enactment of the Affordable Care Act, the system remains seriously underfunded. The current congressional budgeting process through a Continuing Resolution (a short-term spending bill) only makes that problem worse.
One measure of that problem is the money appropriated for Contract Health Services. Nearly anyone who’s ever used the Indian Health Service (or a contracted, tribal program) understands the shortage of money for contract services (those outside of IHS).
A study last month by the U.S. General Accountability Office put this in perspective: “Sixty of the 66 federal and 73 of the 103 tribal CHS programs that responded to GAO’s survey reported that in fiscal year 2009 they did not have CHS funds available to pay for all services for which patients otherwise met requirements.”
Moreover 11 of 60 CHS programs reported running out of money before the end of fiscal year (the source of the “don’t get sick after June” narrative).
Some health facilities told the GAO that they found a way to pay after the money ran out. “For example,” the GAO said, “some federal CHS programs reported helping patients locate free or low-cost health care. Tribal CHS programs reported using a variety of strategies not available to federal CHS programs. For example, 46 of 103 tribal CHS programs that responded to GAO’s survey reported supplementing their CHS programs’ funding with tribal funds, which are earned from tribal businesses or enterprises.”
So what does GAO think IHS should do about this? Get better data to more accurately reflect the needs of Indian people. I can’t argue with that, but the government investigators also ought to tell Congress to do its damn job and appropriate enough money.
But there is a bigger issue here. Namely: What is the business model for the Indian Health Service and the Indian health system?
The IHS is a federal agency that directly operates clinics and hospitals; the Indian health system is broader, using money from IHS (and other sources) to fund tribal and other health providers. In some ways that means IHS, the funder, almost has to act like an insurance company instead acting like a government agency.
It’s that diffusion of mission — IHS as funder, operator and insurance company — that makes it far more complicated to be clear about the meaning of health care reform to American Indians and Alaska Natives. Especially when the health care reform law and the funding for the Indian health system remain on separate (and unequal) tracks.
October
23
2011
By Gerri Haynes
(Gerri Haynes, a former president of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, is sending back reports from inside blockaded Gaza. As she did three times before, Gerri organized a team of doctors and other health care providers to work in hospitals and clinics in Gaza in an effort to directly help the people there and to bring attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis that the Israeli blockade has created. Third in the series.)
Reem Abu Jaber (Photo by Bob Haynes).
The huge garbage dump across the street and the dumpster dump next to the primary Qattan seem to disappear when the lights and books and activities of the Center open to children and families. The energy and hope of Reem buoy up all who encounter her.
A re-use worker gives us a friendly greeting (Photo by Bob Haynes).
Yesterday afternoon, we visited a young man from Bethlehem who was released from prison in the recent prisoner exchange. He is not allowed to return to his home, but speaks frequently on the phone to his Bethlehem friends. For now, he must stay in Gaza. There was a gathering of family members whose loved ones remain in Israeli prisons. Several women spoke to us of their loved ones who have not come to trial and yet remain incarcerated. One woman told us with great sorrow that her son has been in prison for many years – he was jailed at age 11. http://www.parliament.uk/edm/2010-12/2274?mid=50
Gazans gather chunks of concrete from bombed buildings to re-use in construction (Photo by Bob Haynes).
Rebar is straightened to be used again (Photo by Bob Haynes).
The mental health of Gaza suffers from constant threat and continuous deprivation caused by recurrent military attacks and the siege. Mental health providers we talked with today spoke of “learned helplessness” – and the ways that providers can continue to provide care: group meetings, close supervision, continuing education and family time. The spirit of the people of Gaza is tremendous.
October
23
2011
By Gerri Haynes
(Gerri Haynes, a former president of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, is sending back reports from inside blockaded Gaza. As she did three times before, Gerri organized a team of doctors and other health care providers to work in hospitals and clinics in Gaza in an effort to directly help the people there and to bring attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis that the Israeli blockade has created. Second in the series.)
The three physicians in our group spent today in clinics and operating rooms – teaching and consulting. We are busy working on the schedule prepared for us by Amani at the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme. Maxine Fookson, nurse practitioner from Portland, gave a lengthy training and facilitated a discussion for nurses on postpartum depression. In Gaza, where the threat of attack by Israel is constant, women report that giving birth is accompanied by the additional stress of insecurity – will life continue or will it be suddenly ended by another attack from the air?
Bob Haynes making friends with his photography.
But the trauma of living in the world’s largest open-air prison continues. In a meeting tonight with a child and adolescent psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist from the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, we heard the term, “Learned helplessness” – the reality that people living under siege learn that even if they are educated and eager to work, the lack of jobs and lack of ability to change the external control on their lives gives them a deep sense of helplessness. Hope lies in the possibility that Gaza will be opened to the world – that politicians will realize the absolute need to free Gaza and allow Gaza’s people to heal. For now, the lack of access to clean water (the water of Gaza is 95% polluted), clean air, safe soil, adequate classrooms for education (children are double and triple-shifted in schools), jobs, adequate housing – the list is long – makes living difficult for these courageous people.
Israel restricts fishing to shallow, non-productive areas along the coast of Gaza (Photo by Bob Haynes).
From the director of the nursing association, we learned that there are many more nurses in Gaza than there are available jobs. More hospital beds are needed (unable to be built because building materials are forbidden). These beds could mean increased placement for nurses and more access to care for the population. Kara Mochan, nurse practitioner, is working on plans to assist with specialist education for nurses here. There are answers to the public health needs of Gaza, but until the power of freedom is granted, the awakening of our conscience regarding their plight compels us to continue asking for help for this land.
October
22
2011
By Gerri Haynes
(Gerri Haynes, a former president of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, will be sending back reports from inside blockaded Gaza. As she did three times before, Gerri organized a team of doctors and other health care providers to work in hospitals and clinics in Gaza in an effort to directly help the people there and to bring attention to the ongoing humanitarian crisis that the Israeli blockade has created. First in the series.)
Five members of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility and one intrepid member of Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility arrived in Gaza yesterday – hoping to provide medical care and consultation to this besieged population. This is the fourth WPSR delegation to travel to Gaza in the last two years.
The 1.6 (or more) million people of this small strip of land are captives of a situation that offers them no free access to the rest of the world. Once, they were able to move relatively freely through Palestinian and Israeli lands. Many Gazans worked daily in Israel. Many visited their families in the West Bank. For nearly five years, the only “free” movement has been through the dangerous tunnels that connect southern Gaza with Egypt. More on that below!
We made our way to Gaza through Israel, Jerusalem and Bethlehem, meeting interesting people along the way.
Amos Givertz, an Israeli working to help the Bedouin population of the Negev Desert (Photo by Bob Haynes).
Laura Wharton is a member of the left-wing Meretz Party in Israel and was elected to serve (without pay) on the Jerusalem City Council. She met with our group at the Notre Dame Hotel to talk about actions to increase services to Palestinians living in East Jerusalem. She says Arabs are rapidly immigrating to East Jerusalem and the cost of housing is sky-rocketing. Issues of water and infrastructure such as schools in East Jerusalem remain challenging for the City Council. One complicating factor for management of City finances is the presence of a large number of ultra-orthodox Jews in West Jerusalem. The ultra-orthodox do not have to work, serve in the military or pay taxes, yet receive social services and stipends for studying in the Yeshiva.
We were to cross (by permit) into Gaza on Thursday but the border was closed for a holiday. Friday morning, we crossed through to the Gaza side with no difficulties and were joyfully greeted by our hosts from the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme. Gaza has experienced many attacks by the Israeli military since our last visit here and we witnessed some of the building destruction as we traveled.
Our group is comprised of three physicians and three nurses and following a brief tour, Rich Grady and Laura Hart began their work by screening more than 30 urology patients.
During our tour, we witnessed several community celebrations – people gathering in the streets – welcoming home prisoners who were released this week by Israel in the prisoner exchange for the Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit.
The young creator of this artwork was recently slain in an Israeli raid.
Traveling south, we stopped at the Rafah border to witness the preparation of another tunnel from Gaza to Egypt. These tunnels carry goods into Gaza and provide a lifeline around the ongoing siege while the people of Gaza continue to hope for a peaceful resolution to the conflict between Palestine and Israel.
May
7
2011
As of today, journalist Dorothy Parvaz has been detained in Syria for eight days. We need to get the message out that the World community won’t allow journalists to be detained for doing their job! What you can do: Call the Syrian Embassy in D.C.
(202-232-6316, ext. 139) to politely press for Dorothy’s release.
E-mail: as1@syrembassy.net or consular@syrembassy.net
The video below starts out with 10 minutes or so about Dorothy Parvaz done by Enrique Cerna of KCTS with me and Melanie McFarland, a close friend of Dorothy’s and like me a former colleague at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper in Seattle.
Watch the full episode. See more KCTS 9 Connects.
February
17
2011
By Talat Hamdani
“What’s Radicalizing American Muslims?” asks Peter King, (Newsday – December 19, 2010).
Mr. King, the U.S. Representative for New York’s 3rd Congressional district, who will take the reins as chair of the House Homeland Security Committee next year, announced his plans to investigate Muslim Americans last week and to hold hearings on the subject when the House re-convenes in January, 2011. In his Newsday article he alleges that no moderate Muslims have spoken out against terrorists, “no moral outrage or condemnation”. He cites his own record of working with the Muslim community in his district and his support for President Bill Clinton’s military offensives in Bosnia in 1995 and Kosovo in 1998. We do not doubt he is an honorable man.
Mr. King’s planned hearings on Muslim communities are reminiscent of the McCarthy hearings of the 1950′s. His accusations bear no basis in reality. For instance, since 2002, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, (CAIR) has clearly condemned violence with open letters in major newspapers both local and national, announcements on TV and radio and worked with Mosques around the country to develop interfaith forums. In addition to specific campaigns, they have compiled a 68 page document showing all of the condemnations of terrorism after September 11th, 2001. It is unfortunate Mr. King missed all that. But, like Senator McCarthy, Mr. King is a true patriot.
The results of a study done by David Schanzer, Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke U., Charles Kurzman, U of N.C., Chapel Hill and Ebrahim Moosa of Duke U., called AntiTerror Lessons of Muslim Americans, identified characteristics and practices of Muslim American Communities that are preventing radicalization and violence.
Public and private denunciations of terrorism and violence.
• Self policing by confronting individuals, preventing radicals from preaching in mosques, working with law enforcement and developing youth programs to address concerns that might lead to radical behavior.
• Community building to reduce isolation of Muslims.
• Polictical engagement which channels grievances into democratic forums and integrates Muslim Americans into the American mainstream.
The recomendations of the study can be found atthinkprogress.org/2010/08/08/mosques-deterrent.
Mr. King seems to have overlooked it, although he is a knowledgable man.
In February of 2003, Dr. Muqtedar Khan, Director of Inernational Studies at Adrian College, MI, and a member of the Association of Muslim Social Scientists at the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy said, “I would rather live in America under Ashcroft and Bush at their worst, than in any Islamic state established by ignorant, intolerant and murderous punks like you and Mullah Omar at their best.” Mr. King in his claim that moderate Muslims have not spoken out against violence and terrorism seems to have overlooked this statement directed at Osama Bin Laden. Although Mr. King is “immersed in attempting to unravel the radical Islamic threat to our nation and our civilization”, this one got by him. But we know he is an honest and forthright man.
In addition, we know that the so-called “Christmas bomber, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, from Nigeria, was turned in by his own father. His father is a ‘moderate Muslim”. We know that the Times Square bomb was first reported by a Muslim merchant, Aloune Niass. No radical extremist is he. According to FBI Director, Mueller, the American Muslim Community is co-operating with the FBI and since 911, ten terror plots have been foiled by their help.The the case of undercover FBI agent, Craig Montielh, in Irvine, Ca is a case where the Muslim community took out a court order of protection against him. He is suing FBI for entrapment of Muslim American. In his article, What Patriotism Is and Is Not, Michael Winship (TruthOut, July 3, 2008) states, ” It is an unmistakable lesson of history that when one group of people starts to see another group of people as ‘other’ or as ‘different’, as ‘undeserving’, as ‘inferior’, ill treatment inevitably follows.”
The lessons of history must be learned lest we repeat the mistakes of the past, horrors still vivid in the memories of many of us, even of Mr. King.The nation has to heal. Mr. Kings actions reek of suspicion, revenge and further divide our country. We hope he reconsiders his misguided undertaking and reaches out to those in the Muslim community working to bridge the divide and form a true interfaith coalition for peace.
Talat Hamdani is an American who became a commentator after her son was killed during the attacks on September 11, 2001. Her son, EMT Mohammad Salman Hamdani, was a New York Police Department cadet.
February
11
2011
(Don’t miss great comments from Egyptian protester in video at end of post.)
The ouster of Hosni Mubarak gives new meaning to Liberation Square.
From Al Jazeera:
Hosni Mubarak, the Egyptian president, has resigned from his post, handing over power to the armed forces.
Omar Suleiman, the vice-president, announced in a televised address that the president was “waiving” his office, and had handed over authority to the Supreme Council of the armed forces.
Suleiman’s short statement was received with a roar of approval and by celebratory chanting and flag-waving from a crowd of hundreds of thousands in Cairo’s Tahrir Square, as well by pro-democracy campaigners who attended protests across the country on Friday.
The crowd in Tahrir chanted “We have brought down the regime”, while many were seen crying, cheering and embracing one another.
“Tonight, after all of these weeks of frustration, of violence, of intimidation … today the people of Egypt undoubtedly [feel they] have been heard, not only by the president, but by people all around the world,” our correspondent at Tahrir Square reported, following the announcement.
Pro-democracy activists in the Egyptian capital had marched on the presidential palace and state television buildings on Friday, the 18th consecutive day of protests.
Read the full story here.
See streaming video of developments in Egypt on Al Jazeera here.
And here are just a few of the hundreds of Facebook comments on the “We are all Khaled Said” page:
We are all Khaled Said
I CANT BELIEVE IT … FOR 30 YEARS .. 30 YEARS OF DICTATORSHIP… MUBARAK RESIGNSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS …………………
BACKGROUND STORY ABOUT KHALED SAID
Khaled Said, a 28-year-old Egyptian from the coastal city of Alexandria, Egypt, was tortured to death at the hands of two police officers. Several eye witnesses described how Khalid was taken by the two policemen into the entrance of a residential building where he was brutally punched and kicked. The two policemen banged his head against the wall, the staircase and the entrance steps. Despite his calls for mercy and asking them why they are doing this to him, they continued their torture until he died according to many eye witnesses.
Khaled has become the symbol for many Egyptians who dream to see their country free of brutality, torture and ill treatment. Many young Egyptians are now fed up with the inhuman treatment they face on a daily basis in streets, police stations and everywhere. Egyptians want to see an end to all violence committed by any Egyptian Policeman. Egyptians are aspiring to the day when Egypt has its freedom and dignity back, the day when the current 30 years long emergency martial law ends and when Egyptians can freely elect their true representatives.
It is believed that Wael Ghonim is the creator of the Facebook page “We are all Khaled Said” and that he works with a colleague in England on the website. Wael Ghonim is a Google executive in Cairo who played a vital part in the Internet discussions on Facebook that helped spark the rebellion in Egypt. Wael Ghonim was held captive for 12 days by Egyptian security forces shortly after the protests began.