Letters to the Editor

by the Readers

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Why don't you just come out and say that you just dislike (hate) Republicans? [Loose Canon, "While Reagan Slept," Bruce Schimmel, June 17, 2004] I also feel that the City Paper is in the same boat with you. In your eyes, Republicans can do nothing good, everything we do is bad.
Domenick Lazzaro Jr.
South Philadelphia
P.S. "History 101" [Slant, Deborah Bolling, June 17, 2004] was a real low blow.

I'm 30 years old, so back in the '80s when Reagan was president, I was too young to remember his deplorable decision-making and blatant WASPy bigotry. All I remember is that my parents tried to make a dollar outta 15 cents. And that my dad watched Nightline in disgust every night. In "History 101," when I read that he labeled ketchup as a vegetable for school lunch programs, I was dumbfounded. I am going to forward this to all of my friends and acquaintances in my age group.
Hamida Kinge
Philadelphia

Good Doc, Bad Doc Part II

As a physician, I admire Nader Hebela for using vacation time to help treat Arab children in the disputed territories of the West Bank and Gaza, currently under the control of the Palestinian Authority ["A Good Doctor's Mission, Amy L. Webb, June 17, 2004]. Unfortunately, while his dedication is admirable, his perspective does not accurately portray or explain the tragic circumstances that the people of the Middle East, Jew and Arab alike, confront on a daily basis. I have had the opportunity to visit those areas, both before and during the current phase of the Arab war against Israel. I have also been a visiting professor at the Hadassah Medical Organization in Jerusalem, and I have sat and spoken with Israeli physicians, both Jews and Arabs.

It is indeed tragic what the current war has done to the children of that region. Even after the Palestinians rejected a state and chose war instead in 2000, Israel's hospitals continued to treat Arab adults and children. Unfortunately, violence has made the health care of all people in the region increasingly difficult. Unlike Dr. Hebela, who was able to safely travel throughout the disputed territories, Israeli health care workers have been directly targeted. Dr. Hebela can rest assured that he would be more than welcome to visit Israeli's hospitals, where he would see other Arab physicians training and treating patients of all backgrounds, just as he does in Philadelphia. Israel's doctors long to return to the conditions present before the destruction of the last four years of war, when physicians could devote themselves to using their skills to help all of the region's children.
Dr. John R. Cohn
Thomas Jefferson University

Israeli medical professionals have treated thousands of Palestinian children for a variety of ailments and injuries at hospitals, clinics and other facilities throughout the country over the past few years alone. As a humane society, Israel does not discriminate against helping Palestinian-Arabs, despite the fact that many of them have sworn to spare no effort to harm Israelis. Many Israeli medical centers and universities train Palestinian-Arab doctors who then return to their villages and towns to open clinics or staff hospitals.

While the current, tragic round of Palestinian-initiated fighting may make it harder for Arabs of all ages to get immediate access to Israeli health care, it is even more tragic that millions of dollars that could have gone to training doctors and building clinics is being squandered by the Palestinian Authority on bombs and bullets.
Steve Feldman,
Executive Director, Hillel Zaremba;
Vice President of Media Relations & Advocacy, Zionist Organization of America, Greater Philadelphia District

After returning from vacation, I took a minute to read the article based on my interview.

I was quoted as saying, "There are a few cases of terrorists using ambulances to suicide bomb." In fact, I do not know whether there are a few such cases. I had raised the question as a possibility for the reason Israeli soldiers deny access to ambulances across checkpoints.

I was quoted as saying, "A few years ago, an Israeli soldier was on top of a tank shooting and this kid got in the way." As it happened, the Israeli soldier on the tank was shooting at the child because, in the words of the 15-year-old boy, "[I] was throwing a stone at the soldier."

The article stated that, in recent fighting, "it is Palestinian teenagers who have strapped bombs to themselves and killed innocent citizens on buses or street cafes." No reasonable, moral individual can condone the killing of innocent civilians.

Finally, in response to the question, "Do I think I gave treatment to a future terrorist?": My response, "I have absolutely no idea,'" was intended, at best, as a confused retort. The question itself, loaded with political and personal innuendo, ignores the very reason for our mission: to treat sick and insured children, physically incapable of committing the violent acts [the] question was intended to accuse them of committing.

Like myself, there are other physicians from Philadelphia participating in medical care abroad. Their efforts should be lauded, not loaded with political and social rhetoric.
Dr. Nader Hebela
Queen Village

Correction

It was inadvertently stated in last week's Loose Canon ["Independence Crawl," Bruce Schimmel, June 24, 2004] that it's been nearly four years since 9/11. It's been nearly three. City Paper regrets the error.