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Rastro
Citizen
Username: Rastro
Post Number: 3664
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Friday, July 28, 2006 - 3:50 pm: | 
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Lebanese wounded turn cold shoulder on Jordan aid
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060728/wl_nm/mideast_lebanon_jordan_dc_1
BEIRUT (Reuters) - Tent after green tent stands just off one of Beirut's fashionable shopping areas, part of a field hospital sent by Jordan to treat Lebanese wounded.
Jordanian soldiers sit idly in the shade nearby and a peek into one tent reveals the beds are empty.
Lebanese casualties are rejecting aid from Jordan in protest at what they view as its failure to press for an end to Israeli air strikes in the 17-day-old war against Hizbollah.
Lebanese casualties are rejecting aid from Jordan in protest at what they view as its failure to press for an end to Israeli air strikes in the 17-day-old war against Hizbollah.
"They've been here three days and we have seen no casualties treated here," said a parking attendant near the field hospital in the Verdun area.
"They cannot give the green light for this strike against us and then show up to treat us. We don't want their sweetness or their bitterness."
Beirut airport opened for the first time since July 13 to allow in three Jordanian planes bringing the field hospital and meant to take out Lebanese wounded.
The planes returned empty, as have two other flights carrying humanitarian aid from the kingdom.
"I asked casualties to travel to Jordan for treatment but they refused either because they feel everything is available here or because they don't want to leave their country," Lebanese Health Minister Mohammed Khalife said.
"They said ... if the Arab countries want to do something, they should use their influence to stop the aggression against us.
"This was shocking to us -- even those who had lost their legs refused."
Up to 600 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Lebanon. At least 51 Israelis have also been killed by Hizbollah attacks since the war was sparked on July 12 when the guerrilla group captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid.
IMMEDIATE END
Arab countries have called for an immediate end to the hostilities and Jordan and Egypt, which both have peace treaties with
Israel, have condemned the Israeli air raids.
But U.S.-allied Arab countries partially blame Hizbollah for the crisis and privately worry that Shi'ite Muslim
Iran is fuelling the conflict with its support of the guerrilla group.
The humanitarian crisis is biting in southern Lebanon where many casualties still lie buried under the rubble.
The Jordanian field hospital cannot reach those areas without guarantees of safe passage through roads that have been severed by Israeli air raids and remain under fire.
Even if Jordanian aid did reach the south, it is not clear that the Lebanese there would accept it.
Some Lebanese say Arab condemnations of Israel have been half-hearted and aimed mostly at allaying domestic anger.
Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, who heads the Shi'ite Muslim Amal movement allied with Hizbollah, told Al-Jazeera Television of one of the wounded who declined a seat on a plane to Jordan.
"One woman with an amputated hand was invited to go to Jordan to fit a prosthetic limb and she said: 'My house is gone, my son and husband are gone, what do I need my hand for?'.
"The plane returned without a single casualty." |
kathleen
Citizen
Username: Symbolic
Post Number: 638
Registered: 3-2005
| | Posted on Sunday, August 6, 2006 - 11:24 pm: |
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Who is doing the amputations here? Why isn't medical help able to travel roads to reach the wounded? Shouldn't your post be titled "Come Blame the Victims!"
If you don't understand the depth of contempt felt for the accommodating dictatorships of the region, and why proud people would rather die than put a band-aid on the vicious brutality of collective punishment against them and their country, you don't understand the region. But hey, don't worry. That qualifies you to rise to the top of the current Israeli administration or the Bush Administration. The only downside of that is neither will be around all that long. |
Rastro
Citizen
Username: Rastro
Post Number: 3704
Registered: 5-2004
| | Posted on Monday, August 7, 2006 - 11:23 am: |
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Blame the victim? Not at all. I am not blaming them for getting injured. I am saying they are stupid for not accepting help, and putting themselves at risk because of it.
I do understand the pride that makes people put their own health at risk simply because of who is treating them. I just think it is stupid. It is no better than someone saying they won't let a Black physician treat them "to prove a point."
Did you not read the article? The help that is being rejected is not from Israel. It's from JORDAN. You're saying they would rather die to make a point? Accomodating dictatorships? Are you kidding me? You see Jordan as being worse than Iran or Syria?
BTW, this was over a week ago. |
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