Advocating for peace

RHONDA SPIVAK

“Hate and revenge is a disease, but I am a doctor whose job is to heal.... I do not want to be full of hatred. It is a toxin that must be purified.”

This powerful message was delivered by Gazan obstetrician and gynecologist Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish, who had treated both Palestinian and Israeli patients in Israeli hospitals for many years before tragedy befell him in last year’s Operation Cast Lead in Gaza.

On Jan. 16, Abuelaish’s urgent pleas for help were captured by Israeli television and broadcast around the world, after three of his daughters and a niece died when Israeli tank shells hit his house in the Jabalia refugee camp. A fourth daughter and another niece were severely injured.

Abuelaish, who is nominated by Belgium for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize, delivered the Sol Kanee Lecture of the Arthur Mauro Centre for Peace and Justice at the University of Manitoba earlier this month. The large crowd gave him a standing ovation following his presentation.

Abuelaish said that he worked all his life as a doctor, “with one leg in Israel and one leg in Gaza,” and tried to serve as a model of peaceful co-existence. Talking about that tragic day, Abuelaish recounted that as he looked at “the blood bath” – his daughters had been decapitated – he began to understand that “God [had] planned” for his wife to die of cancer three months prior. “I am a believer with great faith ... God is good. He did not want her to see her three daughters killed before her eyes,” he said, fighting back tears.

Israeli cameras were on the scene because the doctor had been scheduled to be interviewed about women’s health – he speaks fluent Hebrew and had been doing Israeli interviews throughout Operation Cast Lead. The fact that his story was captured and broadcast live on Israeli television served to “disclose a secret” to the world, showing “the craziness and prejudice that was practised against Gazan civilians,” said Abuelaish.

Israel Defence Forces initially claimed that Hamas militants were firing from the house, Abuelaish said, but later “announced its responsibility [for] the shelling of my house.”

Prior to the tragedy, he had received offers to work at the University of Toronto, as well as at the University of Haifa, in Israel. Despite his family’s tragedy, and even while he is now working and living in Toronto, Abuelaish has decided to continue conducting “joint research with my Israeli colleagues” at the University of Haifa.

“If we [Israelis and Palestinians] want to have better lives, we need to work together jointly,” he said. He explained that his personal tragedy has motivated him to take steps to “achieve justice,” and noted that, although he can “never get back” what he lost, he is continuing to move forward. “I am blessed with five other children and a future,” he said.

“I hope a day will come when there is a Palestinian state living side by side an Israeli state.” Abuelaish referred to “two independent states ... living in partnership,” and said that he believes that reconciliation will require a “joint effort between Israelis and Palestinians.... I understand Israeli needs and their fears.... Every coin has two sides.”

While he expressed criticism of the Netanyahu government for not actively pursuing peace, he said, “Palestinians must stop any violent actions” and unequivocally condemned violence.

He reserved some criticism for Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak. “He came to visit Israelis injured in the war who were in Tel Aviv’s [Tel Hashomer] hospital,” where Abeulaish used to work, “but he didn’t come to visit my daughter and niece who were being treated there in that hospital.”

Later, he decided to go hear Barak speak in Prague. “I sat in the front line and Barak started to wave to me. He knew me. But afterwards he left without speaking to me. Twenty minutes later he came back to talk to me. I said the meeting was supposed to have been in Tel Aviv [at the hospital], but never mind, it’s not too late. Once we communicate, we build trust.... We must face each other and express our fears.”

Abuelaish also spoke about sending his eldest daughter, Bessan, who was killed that tragic day, to a peace-camp in Santé Fe, N.M., to be with Jewish-Israeli girls, so “she could get to know the other.” At first it was difficult, but she ended up becoming friendly with them.

“During the war, all of the [Israeli] girls came to visit my daughter who was in hospital in Tel Aviv,” he said. “We must give women a greater role in making peace.”

Rhonda Spivak is a Winnipeg freelance writer.

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