We are extremely sad to hear from Dr Abdullah from Abu Dis of the death of Monadil Jabareen from Aizarieh (neighbouring Abu Dis in the Jerusalem suburb).
Yesterday, Monadil had a stroke and the emergency services decided he needed a hospital. But the Israelis have built the huge Separation Wall and military checkpoints between Abu Dis/Aizariyeh and the nearby Mount of Olives where the local hospitals are. You can see the hospitals from Abu Dis and Aizarieyeh, but they have become very difficult to get to in emergency. Israel has created a massive division at the point of the Wall – they don’t allow Palestinian ambulances to go through but require Palestinian patients to be transferred into an Israeli ambulance at the checkpoint, after a whole process of co-ordination.
This is another clear example of apartheid. The Israelis force Palestinians to live in enclosed areas with real restrictions on their movement. At the same time (against the Geneva Conventions which forbid the movement of an occupier’s civilians on to occupied land), they have moved hundreds of thousands of Israeli civilians into settlements on Palestinian land – those living in the huge settlements on Abu Dis/ Aizariyeh land (Maale Adumim, Qidar) can rush in minutes into Jerusalem on fast main roads.
Yesterday Monadil was driven to the checkpoints and the request for him to be transferred to an Israeli ambulance was sent to what is known as ‘the Co-ordination.’ He waited at the checkpoint while the medics tried to look after him for half an hour. The ‘permisson’ for him to go through came too late. Sadly he died at the checkpoint – a direct result of the Occupation. We sent our deep condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.