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Editorial
Fatah Is Among Israel's Terrorist Neighbors
I
t's common knowledge among Jews
that Islamist terrorists command a
deadly presence along Israel's northern
(Hezbollah) and southern borders (Hamas).
But make no mistake about it: Fatah,
the governing party in the Palestinian-
controlled areas of the West Bank on Israel's
eastern border, boasts a terrorist wing that is
tied to both Lebanon-based Hezbollah and
Gaza Strip-ruling Hamas. That makes Fatah
not a potential peace ally, but an avowed
enemy, at least as it's currently constituted.
In January, when Hezbollah commander
Jihad Mughniyeh was killed in an appar-
ent Israeli airstrike within the Syrian Golan
Heights, Fatah, headed by Palestinian
Authority (PA.) President Mahmoud
Abbas, Israel's supposed peace partner,
memorialized Mughniyeh as a "hero" and
a "martyr." Rifat Shanaah, leader of Fatah's
Lebanon branch, expressed sympathy to
Hezbollah on Abbas' behalf, declaring, "We
are in the same trench and are resisting
the same enemy:' according to Israel-based
Palestinian Media Watch (PMW).
Shanaah went on to stress Fatah's
"adherence to the principle of struggle
and jihad between us and our brothers in
Israel faces the
possibility of imminent
danger on three fronts.
Hezbollah" — a principle, he said, that is
shared not only by the Palestine Liberation
Organization (PLO), the umbrella for armed
struggle against Zionist repression in pursuit
of Palestinian statehood, but also by the
Palestinian people.
Enter Hamas
It was widely reported that Fatah embraced a
unity agreement with Hamas last year, osten-
sibly to strengthen its chances to achieve
statehood through international recognition,
but most probably because it would give the
P.A. another front from which to threaten
Israel. By charter, Hamas seeks Israel's
destruction. Fatah's charter isn't so blatant,
but the party surely wouldn't mind if some-
how the Jews were forced to flee from what
Abbas calls "the land of the olive trees."
Fatah long has shown no shame in nam-
ing schools, streets, sports tournaments,
summer camps and ceremonies after terror-
ists — a practice that is a Hamas pastime.
In a Facebook post two weeks ago, Fatah
quoted Abbas as affirming his commit-
ment to "armed struggle" as a legitimate
component of resisting Israel, which
Palestinian leaders consider an impediment
to international recognition for the "State of
Palestine." In the post, Abbas noted "every-
thing in its time."
Unassuming as that phrase sounds,
PMW reveals that it alludes to the deceptive
P.A. policy of alternating between use of
terror ("Fatah — the first stone and the first
bullet") and diplomacy ("Fatah will remain
the beacon of the cause"), whichever the
P.A. deems the most beneficial at any given
time.
PLO Shadows
Abbas also chairs the PLO. So when a PLO
ambassador described the Palestinian
"joy" over Hezbollah's Jan. 27 "operation"
that killed two Israeli soldiers in northern
Israel, such hatred bore the rubric of Abbas.
In an article published in the official P.A.
daily newspaper Al Hayat Al Jadida, PLO
Ambassador to India Adli Sadeq noted the
Commentary
Medicine As A Bridge
L
ate last year, we had the opportunity to join 10
physicians from Philadelphia, Chicago, Ontario
and Sydney, Australia, on a fact-finding mission
to better understand humanitarian and medical care
issues resulting from the Arab conflict with Israel.
The trip was facilitated through Scholars for Peace in
the Middle East, NGO-monitor CAMERA, Media Central
and Magen David Adorn. It took us from Golan in the
north to Gaza in the south.
With the help of the Israel Medical Association, we
visited hospitals, such as the Ziv Medical Center in
Tzfat where civilian victims of the civil war in Syria
are treated. We visited the Soroka Medical Center in
Beersheva and the Tel HaShomer Rehabilitation Center,
where miracles are performed.
Ziv Medical Center is only 19 miles from Syria. To
date, this hospital has provided care for more than 410
Syrian casualties of its civil war, combatants and civil-
ians. About 17 percent are children. We met a 9-year-
old boy who lost his eyesight, a leg and had a severely
injured arm from playing with a booby-trapped toy. He
underwent surgery and rehabilitation and was fitted
with prosthesis. He's since returned to Syria.
We also saw two teens with serious wounds, two
rebel fighters and two little girls – all treated no differ-
ently than any other Israeli patient.
The dedicated staff at Ziv (a third are Jewish Israeli,
a third are Arab Israeli and a third are Druze) go to
great lengths to provide psychological support to the
children, including therapeutic clowns and rooming
them together to decrease anxiety.
50
February 5 • 2015
Co-Authors from left to right: John R. Cohn, M.D.,
Stuart M. Sprague, D.O., Vuong DuThinh, M.D.
There is no better way to summarize this noble
humanitarian effort than to quote directly from the
hospital's mission statement: "Medicine has no bor-
der. It can serve as a bridge between people. We will
continue to provide lifesaving treatment to the Syrian
casualties for as long as needed."
At the Erez crossing at the Gaza border, we learned
how Israel transfers hundreds of patients from Gaza to
be treated in Israel where more sophisticated care is
available. These transfers are done on a routine basis
even as rockets fly across the border toward Israel.
Ironically, some of these patients included family mem-
bers of Hamas leaders, the same terrorist organization
committed to the destruction of Israel.
We saw similar dedication to humanity and decency
at other hospitals, such as at Soroka Medical Center,
a major trauma center that absorbed the brunt of
casualties from both Israel and Gaza during the most
recent conflict.
Palestinians were hoping Hezbollah would
kidnap Israeli soldiers, who then could be
used as a bargaining chip to demand the
release of "all" Palestinian prisoners. Sadeq
was quick to demonize Israel as "the aggres-
sors," "rampant villains" and a "wild bur
PMW reported.
It's hard to imagine how Abbas, con-
sidered by U.S. leaders as a moderate in
a region roiling with believers of radical
political Islam — the hijacked, perverted
offshoot of Islam the religion — can sepa-
rate himself from such vitriol.
To try to avert escalation into a full scale
war it isn't prepared for, Hezbollah tempo-
rarily seems to have stood down after its
anti-tank missile struck an Israel patrol on
the Israel-Lebanon border, killing the two
soldiers and injuring seven others.
But no one in the Jewish world should
lose sight of the fact that Israel faces the
possibility of imminent danger on three
fronts, from Hezbollah, Hamas and Fatah
— each a proxy of sorts for Syria's Assad
regime hovering just beyond Israel's Golan
Heights.
Then, of course, there's the still-active,
still-ominous Iranian nuclear threat ... ❑
-
Everywhere we saw a commitment to save lives,
regardless of nationalities, religion or political ideolo-
gies. These facts on the ground go unreported, partly
as Israel does not want to publicize the humanitarian
efforts to protect the recipients who might face real
persecution once they return home because they had
been to the "enemy" side.
As conflicts and tensions arose in Jerusalem and
surrounding territories and we are witnessing increas-
ing acts of terrorism against the Israeli population,
news outlet once again are showing pictures of heavily
armed Israeli security forces clashing with seemingly
unarmed civilians. These outrageous headlines have
more shock value than reporting on doctors delivering
humanitarian aid but, in effect, perpetuate bias against
Israel.
There are always two sides to any conflict, but a
balanced presentation ought to acknowledge and not
distort the facts that Israel has not only gone to great
lengths to minimize Arab civilian casualties, but has
turned its marvelous medical system to alleviate suf-
fering and heal the sick from conflicts, such as the
Syrian civil war, where more Arabs have been maimed
and killed than in almost a century of the war on Israel.
As doctors, we are proud to see our Israeli col-
leagues reflect the best our profession has to offer. As
citizens of countries that value free speech, we are
obligated to counter lies and propaganda that demon-
ize Israel. In so doing, we protect our own freedom.
❑
Dr. John Cohn is professor of medicine and pediatrics at Thomas
Jefferson University and Hospitals in Philadelphia. Stuart
Sprague, D.O., is chief of Division of Nephrology and Hypertension
at Northshore University Health System in Chicago. DE Vuong
DuThinh is a cardiologist practicing in Grand Blanc.