Jerusalem
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This is the story of the most notable Anglican presence in Gaza, the Ahli Arab hospital.

The Ahli Arab Hospital

The oldest hospital in Gaza was built in 1892 by the Church Missionary Society, but has been the responsibility of the Diocese of Jerusalem for the past 25 years. In the present crisis it averages 15 in-patients and 100 out-patients a day. There are 20 doctors (10 full and 10 part time), 45 nurses and 20 paramedics, technicians and therapists. Almost 50% of the staff are women. The hospital specialises in feeding programmes for malnourished children and in trauma treatment. Recently it has developed special programmes in urology, burns treatment, physical therapy and has built a mammography centre and OB/GYN services with health care for elderly women. It has two ambulances which are allowed free movement in Gaza to collect the sick from outlying villages. These patients receive diagnosis, treatment and food supplements as the outlying areas have no medical care.

The real cost for an in-patient is $110 per day and $15 for an outpatient. In fact the in-patients are asked for $9 and the out-patients for $4 but with unemployment in Gaza at 60% and with 80% below the UN poverty line, few can pay but all are treated. UNWRA contributes $68 a day toward each in-patient, but the hospital’s deficit in 2007 was $400,000 to be found by the diocese.

All this work depends on the medicines and supplies getting through. The Israeli blockade of Gaza has resulted in chronic shortages and many deaths which could have been prevented, which is a cause of great stress to the hospital staff and anger to the bereaved families.

Suhaila Tarazi, the Hospital Director, says…

“Ahli Arab hospital is a profound illustration of the mission of the Anglican church, and a visible expression of our concern for the community. We play an enormous role in the provision of medical and surgical care, in the prevention of illness and disability to all the people of the Gaza Strip, both residents and refugees, regardless of race, gender, ethnic background or political affiliation”.

Suhaila was appointed Director fifteen years ago and was the first woman to hold such a post, in a highly patriarchal society. She was born in Gaza to a Christian family and she received her Higher education in Egypt, England (Leeds) and USA. When she accepted the post, she never imagined the scale of deprivation which Gaza would suffer. “Israel’s inhumane border blockade continues and the situation has deteriorated beyond imagination. Medical and food resources are scarce, clean water in short supply, electricity is rarely available, waste and sewage has spilled on to the streets. We are suffering tremendously but we have not lost hope. Our spirits are down but our souls are intact”

Bob and Maurine Tobin say…

Two recent Anglican visitors, Revd Bob Tobin and his wife Maurine, describe the hospital as ‘a modern miracle’. “They have erratic electricity and depend on generators most of the time, but fuel for that is limited. There are no bulbs for surgical lamps, no mops for cleaning and only recently could they get any detergents for washing bed-sheets and blankets…yet there is no recorded incidence of infection within the hospital, which many US and European hospitals can not claim”. They noted a huge number of post-surgical patients who had kidney stones removed, caused by the impure water and they noticed a large number of children’s burns caused by heating homes and cooking food with an open flame in the absence of fuel. Bob and Maurine were impressed that the hospital’s rule of ‘no guns’ was accepted. It is common in other centres to see armed guards around a patient’s bed, a symbol of Gaza’s many fears and conflicts. The absolute neutrality of the Ahli Arab Hospital is respected. Even so, it has not prevented the Israelis bombing the chapel (compensation is still being sought) and in one month alone 96 Gazans were killed in bombing raids and an unknown number made homeless. They concluded “What is ultimately striking about Gaza is the sheer disproportionality of it all – the collective punishment inflicted on 1.5 million people is against every measure of international and humanitarian law…” And the miracle is that the spirit remains so positively strong, in spite of it all, or possibly because of it all.

Thank God for our Anglican presence and for the staff, Christian and Moslem, working together.