Israel Matzav

Iraqis reject free medical treatment for their children in Israel

Back in March 2007, I reported on three Iraqi children who were brought to Israel for life-saving heart surgery at the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon under the Save A Child's Heart program. In March, I posted a video about surgery performed on 'Palestinian' children from Gaza under the same program. But two weeks ago, I blogged a report that the Iraqi parliament had protested the treatment of sick Iraqi children in Israel. And on Sunday the Times of London reports that some Iraqi parents are no longer willing to have their children treated in Israel - even though it's free of charge.

Hostility towards the Jewish state in Iraq is so strong that many parents refuse to travel to Tel Aviv for free life-saving hole-in-the-heart surgery.

Some accept the offer but never reveal where their children were treated, even though the operation has not been available in Iraq since its leading cardiac clinic burnt down after the American-led invasion in 2003.

Other parents are seeking treatment elsewhere in the Arab world, despite prices of up to £15,000 for heart surgery in private clinics. They fear the stigma of being treated in Israel.

Aria, an 18-month-old baby from Kirkuk in northern Iraq, was waiting to return home last week after a successful operation at the Edith Wolfson medical centre in Tel Aviv, where 11 Iraqi children are being treated. The surgery is sponsored by Save a Child’s Heart (SACH), a humanitarian organisation founded in Israel in 1996 and supported by private sources, including Christian charity groups.

Aria’s young mother, Paiman, paid tribute to the clinic and the surgeon, Dr Lior Sasson, saying: “He saved little Aria’s life.”

However, the parents of other Iraqi children in urgent need of surgery said they had rejected free treatment when they heard it would be performed in Israel.

Sara, 2, needs surgery for a defective heart valve. After taking her from Iraq to neighbouring Jordan for preliminary tests, her mother, Shatha, 37, turned down treatment at the Wolfson centre. She said she had had no idea before she left for Amman, the Jordanian capital, that the operation would be in Israel.

“We’ve been foes of Israel since before we were born. We firmly believe that they are our enemies. You can’t change this overnight,” she said.

She is now planning to have the operation performed in Algeria instead: its government agreed to pay for 14 Iraqi children to be treated there rather than be sent to Israel. [How generous of them. SACH has treated hundreds of children. And something tells me that the care in Algeria is nowhere near as good as in Israel. This reminds me of the famous Golda Meir quip about how we'll have peace with the Arabs when they love their children more than they hate us. CiJ]

Shatha’s friend, an Iraqi Kurd from Kirkuk who was too afraid to give her first name, also travelled to Jordan so that her son, Ahmed, could be assessed for a heart operation. She too turned down the free treatment offered by SACH.

“Now I can sleep with a clear conscience. I’m able to hold my head up high and not be ashamed by having my son treated in Algeria,” she said.

The opposite view was taken by Mohammed, a 37-year-old Kurdish aid worker, whose daughter Souz, 22 months, needed urgent heart surgery. He borrowed thousands of dollars to pay for treatment in Iraq and Jordan, but the doctors there told him there was nothing they could do for her. When he heard she could be treated in Israel, he did not hesitate. She has now had surgery and is making a good recovery.

“I can honestly tell you that I didn’t worry for a moment about where or who will operate on my daughter,” he said. “Nor did I worry about the reaction of my family and relatives. Anyone who blames me should put themselves in my place and live for nearly two years watching his daughter die in front of his eyes, and then tell me what he’d have done.”

His wife, who accompanied Souz to Israel for the operation, added: “The doctors were helpful and understanding, and were sympathetic to our suffering.” She had not been charged anything and would be able to return home with the £1,000 given to her by her husband.

Apprehension about a hostile reaction in Iraq is common among families who opted for treatment in Israel.

The mother of Mustafa, 4, from Kirkuk, who has undergone two heart operations in six months, said: “My only fear, which spoils my joy at my son’s escape from death, is the revenge my family can expect when we go back to Iraq.”

Simon Fisher, the Liverpool-born executive director of SACH, said: “We welcome every child in need regardless of origin.”

What's most amazing is that the first (and as of now only) comment on the story comes from a resident of Birmingham, England asking why the children cannot be treated in the US or the UK, claiming it's "the ethical thing to do" because of "all the harm they have done to children of Iraq caused by the invasion and destruction of hospitals and infrastructure." You've got to be kidding.

First of all, heart defects are genetic. US and UK troops did not cause them. And I'm sure the US and the UK did not target the clinic that burnt down after the invasion in 2003.

Second, why should an infant have to fly over 2000 miles (to the UK) or over 5000 miles (to the US) when the best medical care is available just 300 miles to the west.

Third, the US and the UK didn't offer. Israel did.

As to Mustafa's mother who fears the 'revenge' her family can expect, I dread the day when a family is subjected to 'honor killings' - God forbid - for having taken a child to Israel for treatment. But given typical Muslim behavior, that day is probably not far off.

Finally, I am surprised by the hostility of at least some Iraqi Kurds, since Israel has been working with and supporting the Iraqi Kurds since long before the US ever invaded Iraq.

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 1:11 PM