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Children at the hospital
Photo: Roee Gazit

'Not all Israelis are bad'

Eight-year-old Palestinian cancer patient treated near Tel Aviv grateful to Israeli doctors

Even though he is currently his Israel, while most of his family is in the Gaza Strip, Imad Tanani watches almost no television. His young daughter, eight-year-old Wala, is a cancer patient treated at the oncological department at Sheba Medical Center near Tel Aviv. Imad says he prefers not to expose his daughter to the difficult images from Gaza because they frighten her.

 

"She is very concerned about what's happening in Gaza and asks: 'Daddy, what if they attack our house by mistake?'" Imad told Ynet Thursday. "She tells her mom not to let her brothers go outside because it's dangerous."

 

The concerned father says he takes his daughter to the supermarket and buys her presents to help her deal with the anxiety.

 

"I tell her that they're not attacking everyone. There's a mess right now, but eventually it will end," he says.

 

The Palestinian child, who is being treated by Israeli doctors and nurses, understands the complexity of the situation.

 

"The doctors are Israeli and they take good care of us," she says. "Not all Israelis are bad. There are some good ones and some bad ones."

 

Meanwhile, the family of Israeli cancer patient Nachman Raphael Fadida is staying with him at the hospital, next to the Palestinian children. The six-year-old child's mother, Liat, says that she had not spoken to the Palestinian families.

 

"I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, a child is just a child, yet on the other hand I know that those children will become martyrs one day," she says.

 

Sheba hospital director Prof. Ze'ev Rothstein says he has a different vision: "The assistance to the wounded and sick knows no politics and boundaries. We save lives, prevent suffering, and promote peace between us and the Palestinian people. Perhaps one of these days our neighbors' leaderships will also realize it."

 


פרסום ראשון: 01.09.09, 02:06
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