by the International Center of Bethlehem © 2001
Riad
It is difficult to put into words the experience we went through during the last week. For one week I was at the Husseini public hospital working almost 24 hours a day, under severe physical and psychological pressure.
Nobody can know what kind of stress we were under, having to rescue people and work under continuous bombing, lack of equipment and personnel. We even had to ask our friends in Jordan to send us some main equipment, which were needed from surgical operations.
Within a week 150 people were admitted to the hospital. As the only orthopedic doctor in the hospital I had to work almost non-stop. In addition to the normal small operations, I had to do 15 major operations, each lasting for about 4 hours. Due to the dangerous situation we couldn’t transfer any patient to other hospitals in the city or to Jerusalem.
Dr. Raid Abu Aita and a colleague at the hospital.
On the night our colleague the anesthesiology technician was injured, I had to operate until 1:00 am in a situation where one Israeli tank was at the entrance of the hospital and the emergency room was under attack. It was hard to keep calm in such a situation, keeping in mind also your worry about your own family who was alone in one of areas being attacked.
As a medical doctor, who had worked in Palestine during the first Intifada also, I was prepared for a lot. Yet, this time the number and kind of injuries was far beyond any imagination.
In the mid 90s I returned to Palestine because I wanted to help my people. I knew the price would be high. Yet in these days, I came to realize that the price could also be my own life. A price that is too high for any person to accept.
reporter: Viola Raheb
photos: Riad Abu Aita
webmaster: Andreas F. Kuntz