Doctor Praises Israeli Treatment of Syria
' n, POWs, Care at Front Lines
By
DR. MILTON MUTCHNICK
(Editor's Note: Dr. Match-
nick, a member of the staff
of University Hospital in Ann
Arbor, recently spent some
time in Israel, observing the
practice of medicine by the
armed forces and the treat-
ment of Syrian POWs during
and after the Yom Kippur
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS War. A flight surgeon and
Friday, June 7, 1974-17 epidemiologic officer at Luke
.
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Air Force Base, Ariz., in
1969 71, he was named flight
surgeon of the year by the
Air Force in 1971 and the
Air National Guard in 1974.
Dr. Mutchnick was a 1967
magna cum laude graduate
of Wayne State University's
medical school and holds
awards for original research.
This article was written prior
to the signing of the Israeli-
Syrian disengagement agree-
ment and the initiation of the
prisoner - of - war exchange,
but it is illustrative of the
way Israel regards human
life).
The facility for Syrian
prisoners of war is located
somewhere in northern Is-
rael. In it are confined 390
Syrian, six Moroccan and 10
Iraqi prisoners. They, like
their Israeli counterparts in
Syria, have now celebrated
a half year of confinement.
This writer was recently
given permission to visit the
prison.
The first impression on
entering the prison is the
high degree of cleanliness
demonstrated. This rigid
sanitary order is enforced
for both esthetic and health
purposes. The prisoners oc-
cupy a series of cell blocks
that encompass a central
square which is open to the
air and is used for exercise
in the form of military drills
and for leisure time. The
POWs are not treated as
criminals as contrasted to
the imprisoned Arab guerril-
las.
The Arab officers are con-
fined separately from the en-
listed personnel. Each cell
may have from two to more
than 10 inmates, depending
on, size. Each cell has a non-
commissioned of ficer in
charge, who is responsible
for discipline and main-
tenance of cell sanitation.
The prisoner's day begins
at 5 a.m. He is allowed an
hour for personal hygiene.
Breakfast is consumed at 6
a.m. and as with all meals,
is prepared by POW cooks.
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The food given the POWs
is identical in both quality
and quantity to that given
the Israeli guards. The Arabs
are allowed to prepare the
food in their own fashion.
Meat or fish is provided
daily, along with the neces-
sary dairy and grain prod-
ucts. The Arab cooks are in-
spected by the prison physi-
cian and periodically exam-
ined for tuberculosis, skin
infections or other communi-
cable diseases. Strict health
measures have been insti-
tuted and explain, in part,
the absence of any infectious
outbreaks thus far.
During an unannounced
visit, this writer sampled the
food and inspected both the
kitchen facilities and person-
nel and found that standards
exceeded those encountered
in American penal institu-
tions.
Following breakfast and
until 10 a.m., the POWs en-
gage in disciplined exercise
and drill formation. They are
then confined until noon,
after which they have the
main meal of the day. The
remainder of the afternoon
is spent at leisure either in
the cells or in the open
square.
Many prisoners occupy
their time with various
games, including the popu-
lar `Sheshbesh,' while others
read, paint, work with hobby
craft or write letters. Al-
though television is not avail-
able, the prisoners are given
Arab language newspapers
and magazines. Each POW
is permitted and exercises
the privilege of writing two
letters and three post cards
each month. These corre-
spondences are carried to
Syria by the representatives
of the International Red
Cross. The POWs are allow-
ed to receive packages and
letters from home, again
brought by the Red Cross.
Officials of the Red Cross
visit the prison at least once
each week and make recom-
mendations when needed.
These officials have voiced
approval of the treatment re-
ceived by the POWs.
Some minor changes have
been suggested and imple-
mented. ,These include the
substitution of the Syrian
favorite, feta cheese for the
Israeli yellow cheese and the
issuance of additional cloth-
ing to each prisoner.
All the POWs I saw and
talked with appeared healthy.
The conversation between
prisoner and guard was cor-
rect and at times, bordered
on amicability.
I asked the prison com-
mander if he encountered
any difficulties between the
Israeli guards and their
Arab wards. He replied that
all guards are carefully
screened to weed out those
who may have personally
known or have been related
to any of the Israeli POWs
found murdered during the
Yom Kippur War.
A potential guard is scru-
tinized closely and given a
psychological profile. If ac-
ceptable, he attends a special
course on the internment and
treatment of prisoners of
war.
A colonel, who is the act-
ing warden, summarized the
attitude of Israelis toward
their Arab POWs. "One can
have great hatred toward the
Syrians, particularly in view
of the fact that they have
conducted war against us for
over 25 years. When you deal
with the prisoners, who are
completely at your mercy,
there is no anger. That does
not mean we love them. We
treat them as human beings;
perhaps, one day, after sev-
eral generations, they will
return this feeling. There
have been no disciplinary
problems here among the
Syrians and between prison-
ers and guards."
The Israeli adherence to
the Geneva Convention on
the treatment of POWs is
scrupulous. Israel has ex-
pressed a constant and pro-
found concern for her sol-
diers now in Syrian hands.
Past experience has shown
that Jewish captives of the
Syrian government fare
poorly.
It is the Israeli hope that
world opinion will force a
reluctant Syria to minimize
the degree of mistreatment
meted out toward her Israeli
prisoners.
* C. *
MILITARY MEDICINE
It is generally accepted
that a large percentage of
wounded soldiers who are
seen by Israeli doctors will
die. This is not a reflection
on the quality of Israeli mili-
tary medicine but rather an
indication of the speed with
which the wounded are
brought to medical attention.
The accelerated speed of
recovery b r i -n g s gravely
wounded patients to Medical
attention, whereas in pre-
vious wars these wounded
would have expired on the
field.
The effectiveness of medi-
cal evacuation in the Golan
Heights during and sub-
sequent to the Yom Kippur
War has engendered great
respect and affection for the
medics among the Israeli
fighting troops. This fact is
attested to in part by the
large number of physicians
who are numbered among
the 2,500 fatal casualties in-
curred during the war.
The concept of evacuation
which is practiced is that of
immediate evacuation of
wounded to the nearest cen-
ter where adequate treatment
may be given .. One must
recall that even within the
newly occupied Golan
Heights, ie, the salient, one
is a mere hour's drive from
the near settlements of the
upper Galilee.
The present Syrian War of
Attrition has incurred Israeli
casualties mostly in the form
of shrapnel wounds resulting
from the daily artillery ex-
changes. The wounded sol-
dier is first seen by the
corpsmen who administer
first aid. The individual is
then brought to the MD by
a specially designed U. S.
armored personnel carrier.
The physician at the unit
level may be a surgeon, in-
ternist, pediatrician or be-
long to any of the sub-
specialties. All receive in-
tense training in emergency
medicine and minor surgery
prior to assignment.
The unit MD decides
whether the casualty should
be lifted out by, helicopter,
carried by armored carrier
to a closer field hospital, or
maintained locally. If a heli-
coptor is utilized, ' an air
force physician always ac-
companies the flight and will
.
decide which hospital to pro-
ceed toward. Thus, a neuro-
logical case and orthopedic
case may go to different hos-
pitals where their particular
injuries will receive ad-
vanced and specific care.
The wounded are trans-
ported to civilian hospitals
as there are no military hos-
pitals in Israel. The military
do provide physicians to the
various medical centers, all
university teaching facilities,
who then work with their
civilian compatriots on both
civilian and military pa-
tients.
The Israeli army physician
provides superb medical care
and in a very large and sig-
nificant way, bolsters the
sense of security of the fight-
ing soldier. Speed of removal
from the area of battle and
excellence of care provided
appropriately describe Is-
raeli medicine.
Jewish Woman
Named France's
Health Minister
PARIS (JTA) — The only
woman in the new French
government named here is
also the only Jew. She °is
Simone Veil, who became
France's health minister.
Born on July 13, 1927, in
the southern French town of
Nice, Mrs. Veil studied law
and later made a career in
the justice ministry. Her fa-
ther, Andre Jacob, was an
architect. Her mother is
Yvonne Steinmetz.
When she was 16, she and
her family were deported by
the Nazis during the occupa-
tion. Mrs. Veil's husband,
Antoine Veil, works in the
finance ministry here.
College Gives Funds
to Jewish Newspaper
—
CARBONDALE, Ill. (JTA)
A $3,000 grant from student
activity funds has been given
by the Southern Illinois Uni-
versity student senate to help
finance "Kol Shalom," the
Jewish student newspaper at
SIU.
In reporting the grant to
James P. Rice, executive di-
rector of the Jewish Federa-
tion of Metropolitan Chicago,
Rabbi Earl Vinecour, SIU
Hine' director, said the grant
represented the first time
that general study student
body funds have been allo-
cated to a Jewish students
newspaper on any major uni-
versity campus in the mid-
west.
There is one kind of a
laugh that I always did rec-
ommend; it looks out of the
eye first with a merry twin-
kle, then it creeps down on
its hands and knees and
plays around the month like
a pretty 'moth around the
blaze of a candle, then it
steals over into the dimples
of the cheeks and rides
around in those little whirl-
pools for a while, then it
lights up the whole face like
the mellow bloom on a da-
mask rose, then it swims up
on the air, with a peal as
clear and as happy as a din-
nerbell, 'then it goes back
again on gold tiptoes like an
angel out for an airing, and
lies down on its little bed of
violets in the heart where it
came from.—Josh