I heard Dr. Izzeldin Abuelaish on CBC radio this morning. He is the Palestinian doctor who now lives in Toronto. His remarkable book called I Shall Not Hate recounts his life growing up in Gaza, his drive to qualify as a physician against the odds, and his eventual work for reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians. During the last war between Israel and Hamas three of his daughters and a niece died after an Israeli tank shell smashed into their home. Despite the tragic death of his loved ones Abuelaish stills advocates for peace. He is a Muslim, a man of deep faith, and an extraordinary example of someone determined to uphold peace rather than retaliatory violence.
Today he was calling on the Canadian government to allow one hundred Palestinian children to come to Canada for medical treatment. We know that many children have been killed and maimed during this conflict and even in peaceful times there is not adequate medical care in Gaza. During this conflict five times as many people have been displaced from their homes than in 2009 and the toll of dead and injured is much higher. As I looked for a photo of Palestinian children some of the images were far too disturbing to include, but the carnage is terrible.
I pray that the federal and provincial governments will heed Dr. Abuelaish's call to compassionate action. I have no doubt he would be tireless in supporting these children upon their arrival and we have the resources in this province to provide care. A stumbling block might be a prime minister and foreign affairs minister who have shown little subtlety in assessing this conflict and the humanitarian crises. Wouldn't it make sense for churches to get behind this proposal and whatever would be necessary to assist the children and their families while in Canada?
Does this call to action make sense to you? Should denominations and congregation lend their support?
I think that our responding positively to the good doctor's suggestion finally would make some sense to our overall response to that terrible conflict.
ReplyDeleteWhether that can be received, equally positively by this current government is quite another matter.
These are children we are talking about. Even Homer Simpson looks after his kids (see CBC on our PM's twitter account). We need to see that these ones as well as others are taken care of.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Frank and Colin ... but our present government is totally biased toward Israel, and does not see the wrong done on that side as well as the wrong done by Palestinians. I wish we could find an answer to bring an end to the foolishness of wars.
ReplyDeleteThanks to all three of you. I plan to do a book study of Dr. Abuelaish's I Shall Not Hate in the Fall. I do hope the United Church picks up on this initiative.
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