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Palestinian gives birth at checkpoint
A Palestinian woman has been forced to deliver her baby at an Israeli checkpoint in the West Bank.
Aljazeera correspondent Jivara al-Bidairi said the 25-year-old woman was forced to give birth to her baby at the Qalandia military checkpoint on Thursday after Israeli soldiers blocked her passage.
The permanent roadblock separates Jerusalem from Ram Allah. It is estimated that there are more than 700 Israeli checkpoints across the occupied Palestinian territories, some permanent, others constructed and removed without notice.
They hinder Palestinians seeking medical attention and those going about their ordinary lives. Queues and closures at checkpoints can turn a 20-minute journey into an hours-long ordeal.
It was the first time Aljazeera was on hand to record a woman in labour being prevented from proceeding to the maternity ward to deliver her child.
Going into labour
The woman, a resident of Jerusalem, who gave only her first name, Nivin, found herself in labour at the checkpoint on her way to al-Quds hospital. Her pleas to Israeli occupation soldiers to allow her through were to no avail.
She waved down a passing car for help and almost immediately gave birth to a baby boy.
"I had only a few minutes before the baby came out while I was in the car," said Nivin.
"No offer of assistance came from the occupation soldiers, such as calling an ambulance" she said.
Coincidental ambulance
"It was a mere coincidence that an ambulance carrying another patient with a critical case passed by, saw me and called another ambulance that came moments later and picked me up," she said.
The baby's Palestinian father said he was anxious about the baby. "Who can restore dignity to us as human beings in this country?"
A nurse at the hospital where Nivin was taken said: "The baby was brought [to us] in a miserable condition, shivering from cold with sputum coming from its mouth, but we made the necessary arrangements."
The boy was named Abd Allah.
Aljazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/09F27EB4-D818-449F-BFDD-3C637014A826.htm
The permanent roadblock separates Jerusalem from Ram Allah. It is estimated that there are more than 700 Israeli checkpoints across the occupied Palestinian territories, some permanent, others constructed and removed without notice.
They hinder Palestinians seeking medical attention and those going about their ordinary lives. Queues and closures at checkpoints can turn a 20-minute journey into an hours-long ordeal.
It was the first time Aljazeera was on hand to record a woman in labour being prevented from proceeding to the maternity ward to deliver her child.
Going into labour
The woman, a resident of Jerusalem, who gave only her first name, Nivin, found herself in labour at the checkpoint on her way to al-Quds hospital. Her pleas to Israeli occupation soldiers to allow her through were to no avail.
She waved down a passing car for help and almost immediately gave birth to a baby boy.
"I had only a few minutes before the baby came out while I was in the car," said Nivin.
"No offer of assistance came from the occupation soldiers, such as calling an ambulance" she said.
Coincidental ambulance
"It was a mere coincidence that an ambulance carrying another patient with a critical case passed by, saw me and called another ambulance that came moments later and picked me up," she said.
The baby's Palestinian father said he was anxious about the baby. "Who can restore dignity to us as human beings in this country?"
A nurse at the hospital where Nivin was taken said: "The baby was brought [to us] in a miserable condition, shivering from cold with sputum coming from its mouth, but we made the necessary arrangements."
The boy was named Abd Allah.
Aljazeera
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/09F27EB4-D818-449F-BFDD-3C637014A826.htm
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What is the Palestinian population? 2.9 million on the West Bank and another 1 million in Gaza? That's 4 million people! In ANY population of 4 million, how many of those babies are born in taxicabs, private cars, homes, or places other than a hospital? Its rare, but it does happen. Babies are occasionally born at checkpoints. (figures on the number born in this manner are greatly inflated by Palestinian sources) Note, even in this case we don't know for sure that this even happened. The woman giving birth did not give her last name. It could be entirely fabricated (as has happened in the past) or it could be accurate. Without her name, her age, her birthdate etc. it would be difficult if not impossible to verify this story.
That said, if we take the story entirely on its face value, we have to factor in the real concerns the IDF have at any checkpoint. Female suicide bombers have disguised themselves as pregnant women so to bypass usual security measures. Ambulances HAVE been used to smuggle both wanted criminals and weapons, so the IDF must, of neccessity search EVERY woman who claims she is pregnant and in labor and EVERY ambulance. The cause of the additional delay is not the IDF but the Palestinian terror groups which are the reason for the security measures in the first place.
Many Palestinians are treated in Israeli hospitals, paid for by the Israeli government too. I see nothing like that appeared in this article.
Note: I'm not mocking the topic. Contrast that with the derisive attitude taken by the 'Dr. Freud' from a few weeks ago who made a mockery of some Jews' concern over signs of antisemitic burgeoing in Armenia and an antisemitic renaisnce in Russia. But, it's ridiculous to pretend this kind of incident still constitutes news.
I would guess the corporate media focus in the Middle East on the daily trauma of the Occupation relates to the renewed peace process. If "peace" is just seen as an end to attacks on Israelis and an ending of assasinations of Palestinians and Israeli incursions where would that leave things. For Israelis active violence is main problem wheras for most Palestinians it is just one of many problems. If a peace agreement means a continuation of humilations at checkpoints and a West Bank where Palestinians are treated as second-class Israelis rather than as citizens of their own country the main force that started the conflict will still remain and violence will quickly restart. Anger at Israelis that lead to bus bombings and attacks on settlers didnt come from nowhere, one cant expect a people to live forever under foriegn occupation without violence.The Gaza withdawl could mean some real changes for Palestinians there but for those in the West Bank it may be nice to know that other Palestinians may finally have some freedom but if one is still harassed on the way to work or the hospital by Israeli troops it wont really matter (and even if Gaza became a utopia the anger in the West Bank would build back up and things would explode again).
I doubt there is a policy to specifically make it hard for Palestinians to get to hospitals but checkpoints delay any movement around the West Bank (causing all sortof of problems including the inabiilty for people to get to hospitals in a timely manner) and are a daily reminder to Palestinians that they are not free and are living under the heavy hand of a foreign occupation.
Most supporters of Israel rightly point out the injustice of Syrian occupation, but never detail the daily horrors of it. Does Syria have checkpoints in Lebanon that stop all Lebanese travelling around the country? Does Syria carry our home demolitions, build Syrian only settlements in Lebanon, build roads to settlements that can only be used by Syrians? As we saw a few days ago they might carry out assasinations, but in terms of daily trauma to the Lebanese, where does/would the anger come from compared to those in the West Bank and Gaza? If one can imagine a Lebanese uprising based mainly around Syrian troops and ultimate secuirty control one should consider that this same situation will probably exist in Gaza after Israel "leaves".
All sides in all conflicts olike to dismiss popular anger as bigotted and irrational rather than primarilly driven by direct personal hardships. One can dismiss Lebanese hatred for Syria as US propaganda. One can dismiss Israeli fear of Palestinians as mainly driven by racism. One can dimiss Palestinian hatred for Israelis as antiSemitism. And one can dimisses Iraqi hatred for the US occupation as being Baathists and Islamists hating freedom. But by doing so one is putting up ones politcial blinders and ignoring the real forces that drive peoples opinions. Taking ones political views and trying to come up with an explanation for why one group is upset at another is usually a way to ignore reality. Blaming a whole group for the actions of a few is form of racism and bigotry but there is a tendency for all sides to ignore the actual events that lead to hatreds and just focus on the hatred itself as a driving force rather than a typical human reaction to actual events (antiSemitism, racism, antiAmerican hatred, antiMuslim hatred etc.. all exist in Middle Eastern conflicts but none are driving forces and are instead reactions to specific events)
I and others can go and post up articles about every single mortar fired at a Jewish town that simply falls in an open area causing no damage whatsoever. That would sort of be the equivalent of what was posted above.
>>>"If "peace" is just seen as an end to attacks on Israelis and an ending of assasinations of Palestinians and Israeli incursions where would that leave things. For Israelis active violence is main problem"<<<
Though Israel's semi-pariah's status -- which entails quite a few serious problems -- due to its audacity to resort to defensive measures against the intifada hasn't been a Sunday picnic.
>>>"Anger at Israelis that lead to bus bombings and attacks on settlers didnt come from nowhere, one cant expect a people to live forever under foriegn occupation without violence."<<<
Hamas and I. Jihad's anger basically stems out of Israel's very existence rather than the reality of an occupation. No peace treaty will be worth more than the ink it was printed with if Abu-Mazen fails to dismantle these organizations or at least their terrorist capabilities.
>>>"The Gaza withdawl could mean some real changes for Palestinians there but for those in the West Bank it may be nice to know that other Palestinians may finally have some freedom but if one is still harassed on the way to work or the hospital by Israeli troops it wont really matter (and even if Gaza became a utopia the anger in the West Bank would build back up and things would explode again"<<<
I repeat: it's not for harassment that Palestinians are made to endure waiting in lines at checkpoints and roadblocks. When the terrorist threat completely stops, the checkpoints will be totally removed.
That is their official stance but the reason people support Hamas is tied to more immediate hardships. One can look at any separtist movement and see a pattern like this. Many Kurdish groups officially want a seperate Kurdish state but the reason most Kurds supported uprisings in Turkey was due to personal experiences with discrimination by tghe Turkish government. Would all calls or desire for a seperate Kurdish state end if Turkey started treating Kurds equally? No, but the main force that drives people to be willing to commit violence ine the name of Kurdish independence would end (and changes in such treatment by Turkey explains much the the recent lull in violence).
"No peace treaty will be worth more than the ink it was printed with if Abu-Mazen fails to dismantle these organizations or at least their terrorist capabilities."
Against looking at the Kurdish example where there where the Kurdish rebells havnt been "dismantled", one can see a lull in violence as the conditions that lead to it change. Or look at violence in Northern Ireland? Does an end to violence require a complete dismantling of the IRA or would calling for that nix any chance of peace?
"When the terrorist threat completely stops, the checkpoints will be totally removed."
First off, do you really think that it will every "completely stop"? They could setup checkpoints in Oakland until homicides completely stop but since everyone knows there will always be a certain level of violence in any community using small scale violence as an excuse doesnt really give much room for change.
If ending checkpoints were part of what the peace process was proposing then constantly beinging them up now would be different then the current state of things with the current set of things being proposed in Abbas and Sharon's negotiations.
>>>"Does an end to violence require a complete dismantling of the IRA or would calling for that nix any chance of peace? "<<<
I reiterate: Abu-Mazen should DO. The Palestinians have nothing to lose and much to gain from dismantling these organizations' terrorist capabilities. It's not necessary to disband them altogether. They may morph into purely political and/or social groups.
You should observe the workings on this site more carefully before singling me out to assign blame to me.
Palestinians in the middle east aren't a "race." They're a specific group of people in one area who behave like insane lunatics.
It is impossible to live with them. That's why a wall needs to be put up because otherwise they will just keep trying to sneak into israel to keep murdering israelis.
Israel didn't put a wall up right when israel formed.
It took 50 years of nonstop terrorist attacks against israel for israel to finally realize that they needed a protective barrier.