NEWS FROM
LUTHERAN WORLD RELIEF
October 6, 2000
For more information contact Jonathan Frerichs at (410) 230-2802.
In this news release:
- Jerusalem Hospital Needs More Medicines for Causualties, LWR Responds
JERUSALEM HOSPITAL NEEDS MORE MEDICINES FOR CASUALTIES, LWR RESPONDS
Baltimore, Oct 6, 2000 -- "Sutures, saline solution, pain killers, antibiotics, tetanus vaccine" -- with the sound of gunfire in the Old City still crackling up to the Mount of Olives, the head of the Lutheran hospital in Jerusalem had a list. "We're basically asking for everything you need as people come through the door," he said. It was another long day in the emergency room today for the staff of Augusta Victoria Hospital.
Another 24 casualties reached Augusta Victoria today as clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli security forces intensified again. Treating the wounded from a week of sporadic violence has depleted supplies needed for gunshot wounds. The Lutheran World Federation facility asked for outside assistance and Lutheran World Relief is sending $10,000 in emergency funds for medical supplies.
"It's been crazy again today. There's a lot of shooting in the Old City," said Craig Kippels, the LWF representative in Jerusalem. "But at least we are seeing more rubber bullets and less live ammunition than earlier in the week."
The hospital took in 60 casualties last weekend when the current violence began. Many of those wounded were hit by live ammunition, including one person who died at the hospital from a head injury.
Augusta Victoria is still cut off from its patient population in the West Bank. Ambulances transferring patients from other hospitals have also been stopped by security forces. Israeli security forces early in the unrest occupied the hospital grounds, which overlook Palestinian neighborhoods on the Mount of Olives. Leaders of both the Lutheran World Federation and of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America have strongly protested Israeli tactics and their impact on the hospital.
"We thank God for the care and service that the staff of Augusta Victoria provide even in the most challenging circumstances," said LWR President Kathryn Wolford in a message to Kippels. LWR has supported the institution for more than 50 years as part of its assistance to Palestinian refugees.
Nearly 70 people -- all but three of them Palestinians -- have died in the violence triggered last Friday by an Israeli opposition leader's visit to Jerusalem's Temple Mount, a site sacred to both Jews and Muslims. Demonstrators insist that the violence is fueled by widespread frustration, even among Israel's Palestinian citizens, with a peace process that has failed to solve the issues that shape the future for all Palestinians: Jerusalem's status, the return of occupied land, dismantling of settlements and the return of refugees.
See also: October 3, 2000 -- At One Palestinian Hospital, Injuries are "Report Card" on New Levels of Violence
