Working with Physicians for Human Rights-Israel
I spent the summer of 1996 working with an organization called Physicians for Human Rights (PHR). PHR is an international medical human rights organization with branches in the United States, England, Denmark, and Australia. The chapter in Israel was established in 1988 by a group of concerned Israeli and Palestinian doctors, and PHR is today engaged in numerous projects which promote Israeli-Palestinian cooperation and which strive to protect medical human rights in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza: PHR operates a charitable on-site medical clinic in the West Bank; PHR works to protect freedom of movement for patients and medical personnel into and out of the West Bank and Gaza; PHR is helping to develop the infrastructure of an independent Palestinian medical system.
PHR's office is located in Tel Aviv, and this is where I spent most of my
time volunteering with PHR. Alhough I am not a doctor and although I
posssess no professional medical skills, I do happen to read, write, and
speak English, and I was happy to discover that these are especially
valuable skills for an international
humanitarian aid organization like PHR. The office in Tel Aviv is where all
the truly imoprtant "behind-the-scenes" work occurs. At PHR, I was
responsible for PHR's English corrspondence and media communication.
Among other things, I authored press releases, edited PHR's English
publications, critiqued lectures to be given at international
conferences, and composed PHR's correspondence with organizations which
provide medical and humanitarian aid thropughout the world, including
the International Committee of the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders.
The picture at right is a medical clinic in the West Bank town of
Tulkarem. PHR doctors provide medical care as part of their On-Site Clinic
project, and I joined them on one occasion to observe and learn. I was
later asked to write an article for a PHR publication in which I narrated
the events and routine of a typical day with the PHR on-site clinic.
Pictured at right is an Israeli cardiologist treating a Palestinian
man. Pictured below are an Israeli pediatrician, the wait
room of the medical clinic, and a Palestinian nurse. PHR doctors donate
their time, skills, and services at no cost to PHR. The PHR doctors I
spoke with were compassionately devoted to PHR's operations and committed
to building a dynamic of trust between Israelis and Palestinians through
joint medical projects such as the On-Site Clinic.
Pictures of Israel: its land and
people
Yitzhak Rabin, The Elections of May 1996,
and the Peace Process
Links
The Web is full of websites on related topics. Here are a few
that I personally recommend:
Israeli-Arab Relations and Israel/Jewish Politics
The (Almost) Complete Guide to World Wide Web in Israel
Hospitals and Medicine in Israel