January 2004 Letters

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Palestinian Propaganda?

As someone who has lived in the Middle East, I take issue with certain aspects of your article on Palestinian EMS ("We Do What We Can"-The Palestinian Experience, October 2003). While reporting on EMS in a difficult situation is admirable, one has an enormous responsibility to present facts and not hearsay or unfounded information. Instead of being an informative article on EMS, this became a political one with an agenda.

For example, one cannot discuss a term such as curfew in 120 words without adding that these curfews are implemented in direct response to alerts of potential terrorist actions or as a result of attacks that have already occurred. When these curfews are in place, anyone who ventures outside risks being thought a terrorist. People evading curfews have killed many Israeli children, women and men in cold blood. In Ramallah, on June 30, 2002, ambulances from the Sheikh Zaid Hospital transported wanted terrorists to and from the hospital and to various other places inside the city while it was under curfew. This was at the express order of Palestinian Authority head Yasser Arafat. Had the Palestinian Authority not abused the joint patrols and communications it had with the Israelis, much of this could have been avoided. However, this is not a political forum-which is exactly my point.

In the section subheaded "Terrorists in Ambulances?", the authors attempt to refute factual information regarding terrorists using ambulances. Unfortunately, the plethora of information on ambulances used for terrorist activity is too lengthy to state here. However, as for the specific case of the explosive belt in the ambulance referred to in the article, the driver was arrested because he, Islam Jibril, was a Tanzim (a terror organization) member. Explosive belts and other explosives were found inside the ambulance Jibril was driving. Jibril confessed to trying to smuggle in the bomb. He also admitted that a) this was not the first time an ambulance was used to transport terrorists and bombs, and b) Red Crescent workers are sent on terror missions.

Maybe Younis Al-Khatib (the Palestine Red Crescent Society president quoted in the article) didn't have access to this information, but the authors certainly should have. The authors should be aware of every word they print and how it comes across. This article was at best irresponsible and at worst blatant propaganda.

Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll
via e-mail

Mike Taigman and Jeff Forster reply: When we first published the article on EMS in Israel ("We Have No Choice"-EMS in Israel, June 2002), we expected that writing anything about that part of the world would generate fury. We were certainly aware that telling the Palestinian EMS story would do the same thing. We've not been disappointed. Almost everyone who has passed judgment on us says something about the "facts" they see as unquestionable. The challenge is that these "facts" are often in conflict with other "facts," yet they are put forth with the accusation that we must be lying to advance some political agenda. It's nearly impossible to find an unbiased source of information to prove anything as it relates to the Israeli and Palestinian situations.

We agree that it's difficult to write about curfew in just 120 words. The reality is that it would take a thick book to fully tell of our experiences with Magen David Adom (MDA) and the PRCS. Unfortunately, the space available in a magazine is pretty small when you have a big story to report. Depending on whom we talked with, the curfew has many functions and effects. One is that people who have medical emergencies don't get the care they need.

In the EMS in Israel article, we told of the belt bomb found in the PRCS ambulance just the way it was told to us. We asked Younis Al-Khatib, president of the PRCS, about that situation and reported exactly what he told us. We shared both perspectives in this magazine. Readers can believe either perspective or neither one. There exists no independent source of objective investigation of this or most situations in this conflict.

Ms. Jaskoll states, "The plethora of information on ambulances used for terrorist activity is too lengthy to state here." We asked senior managers at MDA, Israel's EMS service, about the use of PRCS ambulances to transport terrorists, bombs and weapons. They told us there was one case of a belt bomb found in a PRCS ambulance and that the first female suicide bomber was a PRCS volunteer. We described both of these cases in both articles published in this magazine. The MDA managers said there are other stories, but these are the only two that have been documented.

When we strip away all of the purported "facts," opinions and political perspectives, we are left only with incredible suffering from the violence. Last October, two members of the Bereaved Families organization shared their stories in San Francisco. One of them was an Israeli man, a self-proclaimed Zionist, a former IDF (Israeli Defense Force) tank commander with two sons currently in the IDF. A bomber had killed his 14-year-old daughter last year. The other man, a Palestinian, had his olive-farming brother killed by the IDF earlier this year. As they stood together, these former sworn enemies, now bonded by their overwhelming suffering, asked, "Isn't it time we started donating blood rather than shedding it?" As paramedics and authors, this is the only agenda we are interested in advancing.

Fostering Peace

It was exciting to see "Field Report: Palestinian EMS" on the cover of your October issue. The article by Mike Taigman and Jeff Forster ("We Do What We Can"-The Palestinian Experience) goes far in fostering the kind of respectful, professional communication so necessary for peace. I worked with the PRCS as a volunteer in various nursing and educational capacities over 20 years. It is gratifying to see their humanitarian tradition and courageous EMS staff showcased in your journal. EMS providers everywhere defend human rights daily when they go to work in their communities. That is the nature of EMS, and we are all better for it. Thanks for a great article and a great journal.

Liza Elliott, PhD, RN
Author, Finding Palestine
Birmingham, AL

Correction v2.0

I would like to amend the correction to the August Book Corner review of 3000 Degrees offered by Capt. Mark Coreira in November's Letters. The original review and subsequent correction stated that three members of the Worcester Fire Department were lost in the fire discussed in the book. Unfortunately, we lost six members from that department on that fateful December day.

J. Isajewicz, FF/EMT
US Steel, IN