Dr. Gilbert is an emergency medicine doctor specializing in conflict medicine. He travels to Gaza often through NORWAC (the Norwegian Aid Committee, he's Norwegian) and spoke at length of the Norwegian people's commitment to Palestine and how traveling to work in Palestine for a stint is a kind of "right of passage" for Norwegian doctors. Dr. Gilbert began by introducing his presentation as an "eyewitness account, not a scientific presentation", as the data from Gaza has not yet been analyzed. He reminded the audience that this attack was not natural, not a tsunami or earthquake, but was manmade. His slides were comprised of heart wrenching photos of disfigured corpses in the hospital, young children who had survived, and their families. He told us that he was "urged" by the families of the deceased, disfigured, and maimed to show the world their photos, so we would all know what had happened. Dr. Gilbert encouraged us all to pick up the March 2009 special issue of the Lancet, which is all about health in Palestine (this is really groundbreaking, and I would really urge anyone remotely interested to try to get or read a copy of it).
Dr. Gilbert spoke about how Norway was occupied during WWII by the Germans, and how they are proud that they are no longer occupied. The Germans had labeled them terrorists for fighting back against their arms with homemade rockets...the analogy was not lost on us. He then wondered if perhaps Obama should go to Gaza, and tell the Palestinians there, "I am a Palestinian" just like JFK went to W. Berlin and told them "I am a German"...one of the seminal steps in bringing down the Berlin Wall...another wall nobody thought would ever come down.
Out of the blue, and within 30 minutes, on December 27 Israel killed 230 Palestinians. Dr. Gilbert said he'd been in West Beirut in 1982 and never thought he'd experience anything like that again...where Israel bombed people--laid siege on a city cutting off electricity, water-- and then bombed the rescuers who were altruistic enough to try to save lives. But then he went to Gaza.
Dr. Gilbert explained to us how DIME explosives work (Dense Inert Metal Explosives). It is an explosive made out of teungstun, and the only weapon that they know of which creates injuries like the ones he saw in Gaza and the ones that appeared before us on the screen. Limbs were torn off, with the bones splintered through. Abdomens would look slightly bruised but the victim would have experienced massive internal bleeding. However there is no remnants of the weapon-- no shrapnal. He said Israel used them in Gaza and Lebanon in the summer of 2006 and February and March 2008 in Gaza. These explosives, he reminded us, are developed, produced, and exported by the USA.
"If you bomb Gaza," Dr. Gilbert explained, "You have to kill children." It can be no other way in an area where 49% of the population is younger than 15 years old, and where the average age is 17.6 years old. DIME bombs basically produce an energy wave that literally tears people apart. The radius of the shockwaves are 5 meters from the central point of impact. Dr. Gilbert walked onto the middle of the stage and said if a DIME was dropped right there, himself and the first 4 rows of audience would be dead instantaneously. The fifth and beyond would suffer injuries.
Dr. Gilbert reminded the audience that on top of the 1434 deaths counted in Gaza during the war, 350 women experienced traumatic abortions and stillbirths. This could have been due to an injury or stress-induced from the war. At any given time in Gaza, 40,000 women are pregnant. And during the war, all delivery services were suspended because there weren't enough doctors to go around. All these things continue to happen during war-- women continue to give birth, need cesearians, have complications...
"Any medical system would have considered this a medical disaster," Dr. Gilbert remarked. "Even at Columbia hospitals, this would have been a huge challenge." Even with all the up-to-date, state-of-the-art equipment and supplies available here. Israel has denied Gaza hospitals supplies for the past 2 years during its economic siege. Dr. Gilbert spoke so highly of the staff of al Shifah hospital, so many of whom he counts as close, close friends-- not just colleagues. One of which was killed while he was there. Another's house was bombed, his wife was missing and his daughters brought into the hospital. They survived. The next day his nephew (13yrs old) was brought in. He died within 10 minutes. "This is our life, here," the doctor told Dr. Gilbert-- part doctor, part taking care of your own family. He praised the staff who were also besieged and exhausted for their tireless dedication. They worked around the clock learning where the most recent strike had been to try to manage the flow of patients. He said, "If you want to learn about human dignity these days, you should go to Gaza. They never act like the animals they are treated as."
Dr. Gilbert explained that IDF tanks, when the ground invasion began, entered Gaza through the center of the Strip-- effectively splitting it in half, so overflowing hospitals could not move patients around to other hospitals. The ambulances were refused by the tanks to cross, even though they were chaperoned by the ICRC.
Dr. Gilbert put the death toll as follows:
3 Israeli civilians were killed during the war.
10 IDF soldiers were killed during the war.
1314-1500 Palestinians were killed during the war.
431 Palestinian children were killed during the war (of which Israel admits killing 189).
118 Palestinian militants were killed during the war according to the 3 major groups in Gaza.
What was the point of this war? Dr. Gilbert asked. According to Shimon Peres, Nobel Peace Prize recipient, it was to give "a strong blow to the people of Gaza so that they would lose their appetite for shooting at Israel. That's all." He said this at the January 14th AIPAC conference, and remarked he was "satisfied" with the outcome of the war.
"That's all."
Just over 1300 dead Palestinians.
"That's all."
oh, and $2 billion worth of property loss.
Dr. Gilbert said that the IDF destroyed anything that could provide protein for the starving population. "There was no electricity, the only thing that would light up the night was the burning of the bombs."
He showed a picture of a 5yr old boy from the Samouni family, whose right arm was fractured. He stared into the camera with void eyes. He looked completely numb. "This is the next generation of Palestinian leaders." Dr. Gilbert said.
On the medical side, Dr. Gilbert informed us that when people are cold, they bleed more-- because hypothermia sets in. And it was cold in Gaza because it was winter. It was made colder in the hospital because all the windows had been blown out by bombs. So stopping the bleeding of patients was even harder. The policy had to be, "If you could walk and talk you were sent home". There was no room in the hospital for those who were not critical.
Dr. Gilbert began to speak about the bodies and the bombs and you could feel the rage at the injustice rising within him as his voice got louder. In the case of Gaza, "the virus was not HIV or e. Coli-- it was bombing, man-made, and could have been stopped if it had been wanted, and then the bodies would have stopped." He said, "It was my duty to report, as a doctor. Were there journalists there? Yes, of course, 600. But they were Niggers, they have curly hair and are dark, and not to be trusted. They could be 'al kayda'!" (In case the sarcasm is lost in translation here due to a lack of writing ability on the part of the author, Dr. Gilbert was making the very sound point that the Western world and press cried out throughout the war that there were no journalists in Gaza because there were no Western journalists, and how racist that mentality is-- obviously Arabs, Palestinians moreover, cannot be trusted to accurately report what is happening in Gaza.)
Right now, 80% of Gaza lives below the UN poverty line. And 63% live below the extreme poverty line.
Dr. Gilbert said he has never participated in so many amputations. I wonder how this generation will grow up. There was one boy who lost both legs and both arms. What kind of life is that for a 14 year old boy? It's not a life. "Everyone had cardboard boxes for their amputations."
"In 1938, they would have worn yellow stars and been called Jews," he said of the Palestinians in Gaza.
And when he was asked about the illegal use of white phospherous, Dr. Gilbert replied, "The siege is the most illegal weapon used against Gaza. White phospherous is just a distraction."
Indeed. And it continues. Dr. Gilbert is working on a book due out at the end of the year on his time in Gaza called "Eyes in Gaza."
(In the 2nd one, note how the Arab journalist needs to confirm with Mads, "From your point of view as a foreigner..." because obviously his point of view, as an Arab, cannot be trusted)
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