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Add an EventUS medics on Palestinian ambulances witness IDF brutality up close and personal
Palestine Red Crescent Society - Current Developments
Bethlehem: May 23, 2002. At 7:30 pm hours, an ambulance team from Ramallah was transporting a patient to Bethlehem at the Gilo checkpoint just outside Bethlehem. The team was stopped and the ambulance was searched. At this point, the ambulance had already received clearance at two previous checkpoints.
The Israeli army forced the 3 EMT’s – Majdi Srouji, Bassam Hassen, and Brian Spina (U.S. volunteer medic) out of the ambulance. They were made to stand by the side of the ambulance while the Israeli soldiers pointed their assault rifles at the medics for several minutes. The soldiers forced the patient and his wife to exit the ambulance as well. Then they had one of the medics remove all the equipment and most of the supplies from the ambulance. They examined the contents by making the medics open the oxygen cylinder, and discharging the fire extinguisher. During their search of the ambulance, the soldiers also destroyed some of the supplies. The EMT’s were made to move away from the ambulance and the Israeli soldiers took their photographs (two of the other EMT’s have previously been detained and photos taken in an earlier incident).
The army searched the patient by the side of the road, and then they removed him to an undisclosed location. The EMT’s were finally released after being detained for several hours; they returned to the Ramallah station at 11:00 p.m.
Ramallah 23/05/2002 At 21:00 hrs -- At the checkpoint in front of the Bet El settlement entrance gate, Israeli soldiers stopped a PRCS ambulance operated by three EMTs, while returning from discharging a patient. The soldiers checked the medics' IDs, inspected the vehicle for the 4th time that night, and then told the crew to wait while they disappeared with the driver's identification. After waiting half an hour, the ambulance received notice from PRCS Headquarters that there was a call for a woman in labor, but the ambulance remained in detention. The patient's family drove her to a spot approximately 300 meters from the checkpoint, but did not approach for fear of being targeted.
After waiting one hour, the EMT/driver, Sufian Qoraen, was physically searched, handcuffed and detained. Red Crescent EMT Ahlam Nasser and American EMT Brian Dominick were hesitant to leave without their crewmate and driver, but the only other "available" ambulance was the one still returning from detention at Bethlehem. Ahlam and Dominick were forced to drive the ambulance to pick up the patient. The ambulance was again searched at every checkpoint on the way to the hospital. At the third army post station between Bet El settlement and Ramallah, after more than half an hour of Sufian's detention, the soldiers who had detained him caught up with the ambulance and returned Sufian to his crew. When he emerged from their armored jeep, Sufian's head was covered with his own jacket used as a hood. The handcuffs(plastic) had dug deep grooves into his wrists, but he was otherwise uninjured. The expectant mother was transported safely to the hospital to have her baby without further incident.
For more info and news from US EMTs and street medics in occupied Palestine, visit Street Medics in Palestine.
ALSO - are these US citizens? Why are they coming to the aid of serial killers like the Palestinnys? Why don't they help innocent people that need their help in many parts of the world, not to mention in the US, where we can always use more volunteer medical help.
In his blessed ignorance, Mr Reasonable is unaware that in the past 20 months over 2,060 people have been killed by terrorism in this conflict. This includes 1,590 Palestinians and 470 Israelis. The majority of victims killed on both sides, as is the case in all modern wars, have been civilians.
Thanks to the billions of our taxes that keeps feeding the right-wing Israeli war machine, they can kill Palestinian much more effectively with F-16s tanks and armore bulldozers. The Israeli military may be winning the body count, but they are not winning world support for the murderous and inhumane occupation.
I hope, one day American politicians will wake up and consider a better use for our tax dollars
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ICRC & PRCS sign cooperation agreement of 44M Swiss francs 27 May 2002 Israel and the occupied and autonomous territories: ICRC to massively increase aid Geneva (ICRC) - The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) today launched a budget-extension appeal for 44 million Swiss francs, more than doubling the initial 2002 budget of 35 million for Israel, the occupied and autonomous territories to 79 million francs. The activities for which the funds are needed primarily involve a massive increase in aid to civilians living in both rural and urban areas. The existing food-relief programmes for West Bank villages will be expanded to cover 30,000 families rather than the existing 10,000, while aid will be provided for some 20,000 families among the most vulnerable in nine larger West Bank towns. Support will also grow for the Palestine Red Crescent's emergency medical service and Israel's Magen David Adom. These changes will require an increase in the number of ICRC expatriate staff to 100 (from 50) and of locally hired staff to 170 (from 110). ICRC programmes geared to protecting and assisting vulnerable civilians have long existed, but by last March it was clear that larger-scale and some fully new activities were needed to respond to the effects of the spiralling violence. In particular, the military incursions, prolonged closures and curfews, and the destruction of public infrastructure and private property have led to the socio-economic collapse of Palestinian society, resulting in extreme hardship for the population. The escalating violence in Israel and the occupied and autonomous Palestinian territories since the beginning of 2002 has caused many casualties and much suffering among Israeli and Palestinian civilians. In carrying out its new activities, the ICRC will continue to work toward faithful implementation of international humanitarian law, in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention, which lays down rules for the protection of civilians in time of war and occupation. "The ICRC is more than ever committed to protecting the Palestinian and Israeli civilian population," said Werner Kaspar, the organization's head of operations for the Middle East and North Africa. "Recent field surveys show that for the West Bank this means a massive increase in aid to those who can simply no longer cope in the current economic and security situation. We appeal to the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to do their utmost to facilitate the implementation of these programmes. These are emergency measures, however, and we expect other mechanisms to take over as soon as possible." Existing programmes ? such as visits to detainees being held both by the Israeli and Palestinian authorities, support for hospitals, aid to civilians whose houses have been destroyed and awareness-raising programmes about the danger of explosives in conflict zones ? will continue. Please consult also: www.icrc.org |
If terrorists in the USA were using ambulances as truck bombs or to transport bombs, you bet we'd all be demanding that the police stop them and search them.
Ethnic clensing? you have any proof of that? To me it looks like Israel is fighting the terror infrastructure in the PA.
"if you go to war with someone and invade a foreign country"
Either you are an idiot or as ignorant as one can be. Israel did not "invade a foreign country", Israel was attacked by three arab armies in 1967 and managed to capture this land in the process. And this war was started by the palestinians two years ago, using Ariel Sharon's visit to the temple mount as an excuse. And pelsetine was no country in 1948, there were some arabs, some jews, some germans, many british personnel, before the British mandate, the o'tman empire was in control. Hell - the entire middle east was not divided into countries until the middle of the twentieth century.
Benjamin Franklin (a great man we could use more like him he’d probably be arrested nowadays though) said freedom and liberty is the most important thing, “if we give up some of our freedom for more security we will end up neither security or our freedom”
The main terrorist are the fascists mole police state cops and their related organizations like the riders in Oakland rampart in la and many others in the police around the usa and of course the paramilitary death squads around the world paid for by the robber baron oil companies
I saw what happened was not in the protest though just a tourist on the bridge the protest was peaceful no banners on the bridge the protesters stayed on the side walk the cops stopped the protest at 1:35 the cops blocked the sidewalk the cops stopped the traffic on the bridge so the could get their buses in to take off the courageous protesters that where abused by the chpig fascists
The little girl I saw arrested after the protest near that little parking lot by the bridge walk way about 50 yds from the bridge at about 1:59 the courageous little girl did not assault the chpig the chpigs where pushing the people with sticks she said stop pushing me an the chpigs attacked her after the chpigs tied the little girl up and tossed her to the ground one chpig fatass kneeled on her and grabbed her ass I took a photo of this
If courageous people like the 11 yr old don’t protest the fascist practices of our dictator bush over in other peoples countries more terrorist will be willing to come over here and kill the people that support their oppressors
A large group of people on the surface of Earth contributes very little to nothing to the welfare of human race. This group of people has invented no medicine of significant importance in the last several hundred years. Modern medicines have saved hundreds of millions of life in the last hundred years. Medical technology saved far more life than the total number of life lost during all the war combined in last few hundred years.
Same group of people has declared all technological advances as not necessary or of very little importance. This group of people has not invented anything significant for human comfort, enjoyment or to reduce the pain and misery of poorest 1 billion people of the world. Since they do not have the technology they try to downplay the benefit of technology to human kind. But they also want to reap the benefit of technology and other's hard work. They are extremely jealous of other group of people who has achieved much higher standard of living by good work ethic, civic mindedness, and hard and smart work over a long period of time. The jealous group of people’s unspoken motto is, “if you do not share your wealth with us then we will destroy you by blowing ourselves up in your high value property areas. You can’t stop us showing up to your high valuable vicinity because you folks enjoy higher civil liberty. We will use your Bill of Rights to destroy you.”
This extremely jealous people’s heart is full of hatred because of extreme inferiority complex. They teach hate to their children. They are over a billion in the world. Even though they are like parasite, grows, multiplies faster than bacteria does, you do not want to exterminate them all since you hold higher moral standard. Although, these people neither has the capability to advance in science and technology, nor has the sense of fairness but they think their belief system is superior to all others and wants to rule the world. They grow like cancer cell grow. These bacteria like people, instead of focusing on constructive ideas has decided to work on destruction. They believe in suicide bombing.
Who are these people? What are you going to do about it?
An alien from outer space.
…whose measuring stick is "Reward the group of people who contributes most toward the welfare of human race, independent of national boundary, religion, or ethnicity."
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