A PRECIOUS LIFE
I am writing this from a little township called Pukerau located in the far south of New Zealand, where I am staying with my brothers and some members of my extended family. Two days ago, on Boxing Day, my mother, aged 89, passed away quietly in her sleep. It has been good to be able to say 'goodbye' to her and be with my family at this time. It is a time to reflect on family and the importance of life and all that that involves.
On my way home I stayed a night in a hotel in Auckland and flicking through the TV channels I suddenly heard Hebrew being spoken. How bizarre is that? A Hebrew program on Maori TV in New Zealand. I had to watch. It turned out to be an amazing documentary called "A Precious Life" and it was about a small Muslim boy, Mohammed, from Gaza who suffers from the rare genetic disease, SCID (severe combined immunodeficiency disease) better known as Bubble Boy Disease. The boy was brought to a hospital in Israel in the hope of giving him a bone marrow transplant which might save his life. Money for the treatment was donated by an anonymous Jewish donor whose son had been killed in action during the previous Gaza war. The boy's mother, Raiida, and three siblings accompanied him in the hope that one of them would prove to be a match. None were. About that time this last summer's Gaza war broke out, but, undaunted, the Israeli doctors with their colleagues in Gaza managed to arrange for the boy's closest relatives still in Gaza to send blood samples to be tested in order to find a match. As one of the uncles waited at the border crossing to bring the samples across, a missile struck the border crossing causing it to be closed for the foreseeable future. In spite of the ongoing hostilities, the doctors did not give up and miraculously arrangements were somehow made to get the blood samples across the border. One of the uncles turned out to be a match and he was also brought across to the hospital in Israel. The bone marrow transplant took place successfully and 'kick-started'' the boy's immune system, and he is now happy and healthy living in Gaza.
During the course of treatment the Israeli doctor in charge of the case and the boy's mother, Raiida, had some very interesting and challenging conversations. There are some very telling statements that Raiida made which I remember. One was her reaction when she saw an Israeli city for the first time, and she remarked, "These people know how to live". In a later conversation she also commented that while Israelis valued life, her people valued death, and said, '' Death is natural to us. Life isn't precious".
Given that, one could only wonder why she was working so hard to save her son. When asked if she was going to raise Mohammed to be a 'shahid' (martyr) and she replied 'ýes', the Israeli doctors fighting to save his life were thrown into a dilemma and for a time felt very angry with her. However when they talked it through at a later date, Raiida promised that she would not allow her son to become a shahid and claimed she had only said so because of the fear of reprisals back home in Gaza if she did not. She was clearly caught between a rock and a hard place, wanting her son to live and having to rely on Israeli charity and expertise to save him, and being thought a traitor or even a collaborator by people back home - a very dangerous situation for her and her family. Many so-called collaborators have been killed by Hamas in Gaza.
This program highlighted and explained many of the key dilemmas and issues that lie behind the Israeli and Palestinian conflict. It made it very clear that the real issue is a clash of opposing world views. I strongly recommend this documentary for anyone interested in understanding the situation in the Middle East.
Here is the official trailer on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSxUkVv30ZI
It is amazing to think that all this was going on during the last Gaza War while the whole world was criticizing Israel for bombing Gaza. The compassionate and humanitarian side of Israel is often overlooked by the world's press, but this is only one of the stories of compassion that occurred during this war. The "United with Israel" organisation reported that:
http://unitedwithisrael.org/israeli-doctors-save-life-of-boy-from-gaza/Rambam Health Care Campus provides medical care to hundreds of patients from Gaza and the Palestinian Authority (PA) year round; 650 children and teenagers were treated there throughout 2013.During Operation Protective Edge, as terrorists in Gaza were firing on Israeli citizens, hospitalized patients at Rambam Hospital included three adults and eight children from Gaza as well as three adults and two children from the PA. In addition, the Haifa hospital was treating seven patients from the PA in outpatient clinics.A report published by Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories Unit (COGAT) shows that 219,464 Palestinian patients received medical treatment in Israeli hospitals during 2012, including 21,270 children.
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| A 14-yr old boy from Gaza receives a kidney transplant at Rambam Hospital in Israel http://unitedwithisrael.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/890x400xIMG_6774b-890x400.jpg.pagespeed.ic.J13JAJETsr.jpg |
Though I am far away my thoughts remain in Jerusalem where the daily violence continues. Today's headlines focus on my own neighborhood, Armon Hanatziv, where a Molotov cocktail was thrown at a Jewish home from the adjacent Arab village of Jebel Mukaber. The balcony of the house was set on fire and no one was injured, but this is a dangerous escalation in an already tense relationship.
On Friday two Israeli border policemen were lightly injured when they were attacked by a knife wielding Arab after Friday prayers in the Old City
http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Report-Palestinian-stabs-two-police-officers-in-Jerusalems-Old-City-385831
The day before a father and daughter were injured when their car was set on fire by a Molotov cocktail thrown by teenage boys east of Kalkilya in the West Bank. Both father and daughter escaped the burning car but 11 year old daughter, Ayala (pictured below), suffered third degree burns to 30-40 % of her body and is still fighting for her life. Only a month earlier the mother of the family escaped injury in a similar attack on her car.
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| http://www.israelandstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Ayala-Shapira.jpg |
As I mourn the passing of my mother, and read about all these others fighting for their lives, one cannot help but ponder the value of a life. Raiida, the mother of Mohammed was right. In the Judeo-Christian value system nothing surpasses the value of every single life. The rabbis believe that every life is a universe, and according to Jewish law every law and regulation can be overthrown in order to save a life. This is known as ''pikuach nefesh". In stark contrast, Muslim extremists venerate death and teach their children that their highest calling is to die as a suicide fighter. What a tragedy! This philosophy leaves no basis for any desire for peace.
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| http://patdollard.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Hamas-Children-600x350.jpg |
“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
John 11: 21-25 (NKJV).
