Pediatric cardiac surgery in the West Bank, West Bank

 

Beneficiaries: 15 children of Al Makassed Hospital (Jerusalem)

Cities / Regions involved: Jerusalem

Period: 2010

Sources of funding: The Palestine Children's Relief Fund in collaboration with various charities

Total cost: 57.000 euros

Project Status: concluded

In Palestine, the children often live with health facilities which are unable to meet their specific needs. It was therefore implemented, together with the PCRF, the project Heart to Bethlehem. The goal was to get cardiac surgery for 15 children with congenital heart diseases in Al Makassed Hospital in East Jerusalem.

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PHOTOGALLERY

Situation in the Country

 

Palestine is a large historic region of the Middle East between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River. Currently, the term is to be understood in a more limited and indicates a well-defined geographical area, formally, within the territory of Israel. It consists of two distinct parts: the largest is called the West Bank, north-east of the Dead Sea, the smallest is the Gaza Strip, which stretches along the Mediterranean Sea arriving at the border with Egypt. It is separated by Israeli territories and isolated by a 9 meter high wall recently built by Israel. The legal, political and institutional Palestine is the subject of one of the most serious conflicts of contemporary history, unresolved for nearly sixty years. Since 1984, as a result of the Oslo Accords between the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and the government of Israel, Palestine is still under the supervision of a representative of the resident population: the Palestinian National Authority.

The Israel-Palestine question, at the global level, represents the most criticism and tension, also because the conflict is not only between nations but also religions. Emerge from this conflict probably also the underlying reasons for the terrorist events of recent years, when he took on connotations of a conflict between Arab interests (represented by the Palestine) and western (represented by Israel). The rivalry between Jews and Arabs has its origins at the beginning of the story (remember the pages of the Bible), but the current situation stems largely from UN Resolution 181, dated November 29, 1947, announcing the birth of the State of Israel. This choice, never accept by the Arab world, which is still often denied, has generated wars and conflicts that have essentially led to the current situation: a Palestinian autonomous region, but without the dignity of the state and part of the state of Israel, still substantially under Israeli rule but formally governed by the National Authority.

In a nutshell, the situation sees the Palestinians, deprived of many basic rights, subject to Israeli rule, limited in their ability to self-determination, react with terrorist attacks and paramilitary actions against Israel; and Israel response increasing seeing the insecurity of their citizens, increasingly isolating Palestine and proceeding to retaliate. And the revival, in essence, a fragile balance of terror, in which each of the two contenders stands ground, and so they feed the grounds for conflict. The situation does not appear to be resolvable without outside intervention, the UN or others, who can impose a reasonable solution.

The Palestinian population is affected dramatically by this political situation. The United Nations has repeatedly warned of the increase in poverty and unemployment in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, along with choking of the economy, strain is also put on food security, forcing many people to totally rely on the outside. The restrictions on trade and freedom of movement have led to the progressive fragmentation of the economy, dragging sectors of society (once self-sufficient), into poverty and debt. The situation is particularly critical in Gaza. The poorest households (nearly one-third is under the poverty line) depend totally on welfare and are without electricity or heating and are eating food prepared with non-potable water. This obviously has an effect on their health. The emergency care is among other things also amplified by the presence of an indefinite amount of toxic waste in the Palestinian territories, which are probably the cause of an increased incidence of cancer, heart and lung disease.

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PHOTOGALLERY