<<<-- Murder of Palestinian Health Care Providers Condemned by National Arab American --
/FROM PR NEWSWIRE DETROIT 248-352-5200/
TO NATIONAL, MEDICAL AND FOREIGN EDITORS:
Murder of Palestinian Health Care Providers
Condemned by National Arab American Medical Association
BIRMINGHAM, Mich., March 7 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Arab American
Medical Association (NAAMA) condemns the murder of a Red Crescent physician
and the wounding of his five medical co-workers by the Israeli army in the
West Bank town of Jenin on March 4. At the time of the attack, Dr. Khalil
Suleiman, director of emergency services for the Red Crescent in Jenin, and
his co-workers were treating the injured at Jenin refugee camp. Shelling by
Israeli army forces resulted in Dr. Suleiman's death and the lethal explosion
of oxygen canisters in the Red Crescent ambulance.
"The systematic targeting of ambulances and health care workers by the
Israeli occupation army is a crime against humanity and a flagrant violation
of the Fourth Geneva Convention," said Dr. Ghaleb Hatem, NAAMA's president.
"We call upon our government, the United Nations and human rights
organizations and peace-loving people the world over to stand up to these acts
of murder and to bring all those responsible to justice. We request the
attention of our government, which just issued its report on human rights. We
call on Israel to abide by the Fourth Geneva Convention in its treatment of
civilians and medical personnel in the occupied territories. One hundred
eighty-eight countries signed the Geneva Conventions on August 12, 1949, to
prevent just such a recurrence of the atrocities of World War II."
Palestinian civilians urgently need protection and safe access to health
care, impossibilities under the restrictions of Israeli occupation, continued
Dr. Hatem.
"History teaches that inaction in the face of such atrocities will never
be forgotten. Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilians and medical
personnel violate every tenet of human rights and negate impotent calls for
restraint."
NAAMA is a non-profit, non-political, educational and humanitarian
organization of physicians and other medical professionals of Arab heritage.
It was established in 1975 and includes over 2,000 members in North America.>>> |
