Monday, July 19, 2010
Of course the Congolese victims are happy to see the Israelis, but the political monsters from Doctors Without Borders...not so much. Priorities: Israeli doctors in Congo to aid burn victims get slammed for occupation
Uvira, Democratic Republic of Congo - Having never visited Africa before, Israeli burn specialist Dr. Eyal Winkler was apprehensive about what was in store for the delegation of five medical specialists which he led this week to Congo. The locals turned out to be good hosts - but working with Western volunteers proved more complicated...
...On Tuesday Winkler arrived at the city of Uvira to treat 50 Congolese who were severely burnt in a fire that claimed more than 230 lives in the nearby village of Sange, where an oil truck had overturned and caught fire. Winkler's five-man squad was the first team of specialists to arrive in the district of South Kivu to treat the injured.
They were there with Daniel Saada, Israel's ambassador to Congo, as an official delegation of the Israeli foreign ministries Mashav aid agency. The team crossed remote border crossings with ease under the supervision of South Kivu's governor, Jean-Claude Kibala. The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila, telephoned the delegation to thank them.
But the relationship with the volunteers of Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) Netherlands, who arrived at Uvira the previous week, began on a sour note, according to Winkler and the other Israeli specialists.
Winkler said he got the impression that some volunteers for MSF - which has accused Israel of war crimes and obstructing medical care for Palestinians - did not want to be around him or the other team members, Drs. Shmuel Kalazkin, Gil Gragov Nardini and Ariel Tessone, and nurse Noa Anastasia Ouchakova.
"This is the reality today: Doctors from international aid organizations treat a delegation of volunteer Israeli doctors to Congo as though we were occupiers", Winkler told Nati Harush, the foreign ministries deputy chief security officer who accompanied the delegation...
...During their stay, the Israeli medical staff trained Congolese doctors in performing skin grafts. They will leave behind approximately one ton of medical equipment.
This is very depressing to read. What specifically are the crimes the Doctors without Borders are referring to? And if Israelis aren't really guilty of these crimes, why haven't they gotten the word out.
Doctors Without Borders Statement of Clarification Regarding Collaboration with Israeli Doctors in Eastern Congo and Its Intervention in the Palestinian Territories
Posted July 29, 2010
Recent articles and commentaries published in Haaretz, the Jerusalem Post, and the HuffingtonPost present false information concerning the cooperation between a Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) team and Israeli burn specialists treating victims of a fuel tanker explosion in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in early July.
The articles and commentaries allege anti-Israel sentiment expressed by MSF staff and the staff’s refusal to work with their Israeli counterparts. MSF has carried out a thorough internal investigation with its team in DRC and has found no basis for the allegations made against it in the various publications.
Any accusation that MSF places politics above the best interests of our patients is vehemently rejected.
MSF's letter to the editor in Haaretz, published August 9, 2010
(click the link below to read the letter that was published)
The fact is that during the intervention in DRC, both the MSF and Israeli teams on the ground collaborated extremely well and appreciated each other’s contributions to assist patients. Both medical teams shared—and worked together toward—the common goal of providing the best possible treatment to those most in need. Cooperation continues with the exchange of medical data on the 64 remaining burn patients in our care.
Both Dr. Eyal Winkler, who led the Israeli team from the Sheba Medical Center, and Gila Garaway, who escorted the team, have reassured MSF that there was good collaboration and co-operation throughout the five-day intervention and they have rejected any suggestion that this was not the case. Media reports and commentaries alleging otherwise are unfounded and irresponsible.
MSF’s humanitarian action is guided by the principles of alleviating the suffering of victims of violence, epidemics, and natural disasters through the provision of impartial and neutral medical assistance that is independent of political, religious, or other interests. All MSF staff members are obliged to respect medical ethics and international humanitarian law, as well as to display a general attitude and conduct characterized by neutrality, impartiality, and non-discrimination. Any deviation from these principles by an MSF staff member is deemed unacceptable.
Regarding references in some of the coverage to MSF’s work in the Palestinian Territories: MSF routinely describes publicly the humanitarian impact of hostilities on civilians, as witnessed by our medical teams on the ground. Operating under the rubric of international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions, MSF pays particular attention in conflict situations to the measures taken by belligerents to spare civilians during the conduct of hostilities.
These principles were the basis for MSF’s speaking out in January 2009 during “Operation Cast Lead,” the Israeli military response to rocket attacks against Israel. MSF teams working in Gaza indeed observed a significantly high number of civilians wounded and killed in a very short period of time. Contrary to references in some coverage, however, MSF representatives never stated that the consequences of the Israeli military offensive in January 2009 resulted in a greater overall toll than the violence in Sudan’s Darfur region.
MSF also has a track record of speaking out when its teams have witnessed civilians injured or killed as a result of internecine Palestinian violence in Gaza, as it did in June 2007, for example.
When working in conflict areas, MSF assesses the level of needs and local response capacities on each conflicting side. Israel has a comprehensive and advanced emergency response capability and medical infrastructure. While MSF has offered its services within Israel, including during the 2006 conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, to date MSF’s assistance has not been required there.
http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news/article.cfm?id=4620&cat=field-news&ref=home-sidebar-right