Democratic Palestine : 40 (ص 10)
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- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 40 (ص 10)
- المحتوى
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treatment room. We quickly set up the supplies and in
minutes someone’s home was converted into a mini-clinic.
Soon patients began arriving, first in a trickle, then in a
stream and eventually a flood of people crowded the tiny
room and overflowed out the door and down the narrow
street. As evening fell, the tension in the reception room
visibly rose as camp residents, fearful of not being treated
and not knowing when they’d have another chance to be,
began arguing among themselves for places in line. More
than once the head doctor emerged from the examination
room to reassure those waiting that everyone would be
treated. As I observed the chaotic but heartening scene
around me - crying babies with runny noses, old women
complaining of a litany of ailments to anyone who'd listen,
nervous mothers clutching their bruised and bandaged chil-
dren and jittery shabab chain-smoking as they peered out
the door watching for soldiers - I noticed above the door 4
portrait from perhaps the last century. A distinguished-look-
ing man dressed in traditional Palestinian garb, gazed out
onto the room with a stern but proud face. Most certainly
he was the ancestral patriarch of the family whose house-
cum-clinic we were using. I wondered what he would have
to say about the scene before him.
Near the end of the evening, a young man I hadn’t seen
around suddenly appeared and asked to see the doctor. He
was taken into the examining room and a few moments later
re-emerged with the head doctor who was carrying his med-
ical bag. The remaining medical team continued to see the
few patients who were still waiting, as he went to tend a
gunshot victim who hadn’t risked going to hospital and
could not make it to the clinic.
Hl
When the doctor returned, we packed up what supplies
remained and were served hot Arabic coffee. As we sat
around sipping the coffee, the room fell silent, the tired
medical team looking understandably dazed: in just over
two hours they had seen about 125 patients. After loading
the supplies into the cars outside, we looked out onto the
camp and were startled by what we saw: several small fires
shimmered in the night, dotting the surrounding area in
every direction. We quickly got into the cars and began
driving towards the camp’s main entrance. As we did so, on
several occasions shebab removed barricades that had been
newly erected so we could pass. Around the fires, men and
women of all ages stood talking and watching. We could see
young boys gathering stones, sticks, cinderblocks and pieces
of metal - anything that could be used to defend the camp
against soldiers and settlers who frequently attacked the
camp. Jalazon was preparing for another night of the
intifada.
On the road leading back to Ramallah, at almost the
same spot where the roadblock had been earlier in the day,
we came across a convoy of army jeeps and settlers’ cars
speeding towards where we had just come from.
The fight for proper medical care and its administration
in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip has essentially
‘ust begun. Yet in the face of often brutal measures taken
»y the occupation authorities, the Palestinian community,
with the appropriate help of international organizations, is
continuing its struggle to maintain a physically and mentally
healthy population. These efforts are inextricably linked
with the intifada, and together they are building a healthy
future in Palestine. @
Jalazon refugee camp, West Bank
10
Democratic Palestine, July-August 1990 - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 40
- تاريخ
- أغسطس ١٩٩٠
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
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