“I couldn’t even save my own mother” The Israeli Barrier cuts Barta’a off from the rest of the West Bank. The nearest hospital is in Jenin, which is only accessible by crossing a checkpoint. Abu Rami, a member of the village council, is responsible for the coordination of medical cases with the Israeli authorities. “I remember the day my mother died as if it were yesterday. It was in the summer of 2007. She was old and had had health problems for some time, but during that day her condition deterio- rated. I called the Israeli authorities to get permission for an ambulance from Jenin to come and pick her up. The ambulance arrived at the checkpoint, three kilometres outside our village, in 15-20 minutes. However, the Israeli security guards searched it and ordered it to turn back. Why? I don’t know. They were probably just in a bad mood. I telephoned my Israeli interlocu- tors over and over again to get permission for the ambulance to cross. When I realized that my efforts were in vain, I asked for permission to drive my mother to Jenin in my own car. This Limited health services in “Seam Zone“ communities Communities located in the “Seam Zone” between the West Bank Barrier and the Green Line suffer restricted access to health services. The need to obtain a “visitor permit” to enter the “Seam Zone” generally prevents doctors from conducting house calls, ambulances from collecting patients and mobile teams from providing health services there. The Barta’a enclave, the largest such “Seam Zone” community with 5,600 inhabitants, used to be visited twice a week by a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) mobile health team; however, since September 2007, UNRWA has been unable to access Barta’a and the mobile health programme has been suspended. The fate of the Barta’a popula- tion looms over approximately 21,000 Palestinians living in nine villages west of Bethlehem. If the Barrier is completed in the area as planned, they will be cut off from the rest of the West Bank. Their access to Bethle- hem, where they receive health and education services, will be severely limited. request was granted. Then, just after we crossed the checkpoint my mother passed away. When I turned around to go home, the guards insisted on searching the car with my dead mother in the back. It felt like they were ma- king fun of me because I hadn’t even driven out of view of the checkpoint. I deal on almost a daily basis with cases of sick people who need to cross the checkpoint. Anyone who can’t walk needs special coordination with the Israelis, as well as anyone who has to cross during the night when the checkpoint is closed. Pregnant women leave the village weeks before their expec- ted delivery date, just to make sure that they can reach the hospital in time. With the Barrier and the checkpoint, what was a Abu Rami, village council member, coordinates medical cases with the Israeli authorities for sick people to leave the “Seam Zone” village of Barta’a. P. O. Box 54812, Jerusalem 95147 phone: +972 2 540 0595 [email protected] WHO occupied Palestinian territory The right to the highest attainable standard of health is enshrined in the 1946 WHO Constitution and numerous human rights instruments. Four criteria make up the right to health: availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality. World Health Organization 15-minute drive to or from Jenin now takes about one hour. My mother was old and I knew she would probably die, but the feeling of helplessness was terrible. I’m the person responsible for medical coordination in Barta’a so I know the pro- cedure and I have all the tele- phone numbers. Nevertheless, I couldn’t even save my own mother.” © Patrick Zoll, WHO July 2010

Access coordinator: “I couldn’t even save my own mother”

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In a series of portraits, the World Health Organization (WHO) highlights cases of people in the occupied Palestinian territory who face access to health problems. This issue of July 2010 features Abur Rami who lives in Barta'a a village cut off from the rest of the West Bank by the Israeli Barrier. The nearest hospital is in Jenin, which is only accessible by crossing a checkpoint. Abu Rami, a member of the village council, is responsible for the coordination of medical cases with the Israeli authorities.

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Page 1: Access coordinator: “I couldn’t even save my own mother”

“I remember the day my mother died as if it were yesterday. It was in the summer of 2007. She was old and had had health pro-blems for some time, but during that day her condition deterio-rated. I called the Israeli autho-rities to get permission for an ambulance from Jenin to come and pick her up. The ambulance arrived at the checkpoint, three kilometres outside our village, in 15-20 minutes. However, the Israeli security guards searched it and ordered it to turn back. Why? I don’t know. They were probably just in a bad mood.

I telephoned my Israeli interlocu-tors over and over again to get permission for the ambulance to cross. When I realized that my efforts were in vain, I asked for permission to drive my mother to Jenin in my own car. This

Limited health services in “Seam Zone“ communitiesCommunities located in the “Seam Zone” between the West Bank Barrier and the Green Line suffer restricted access to health services. The need to obtain a “visitor permit” to enter the “Seam Zone” generally prevents doctors from conducting house calls, ambulances from collecting patients and mobile teams from providing health services there. The Barta’a enclave, the largest such “Seam Zone” community with 5,600 inhabitants, used to be visited twice a week by a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) mobile health team; however, since September 2007, UNRWA has been unable to access Barta’a and the mobile health programme has been suspended.

The fate of the Barta’a popula-tion looms over approximately 21,000 Palestinians living in nine villages west of Bethlehem. If the Barrier is completed in the area as planned, they will be cut off from the rest of the West Bank. Their access to Bethle-hem, where they receive health and education services, will be severely limited.

request was granted. Then, just after we crossed the checkpoint my mother passed away. When I turned around to go home, the guards insisted on searching the car with my dead mother in the back. It felt like they were ma-king fun of me because I hadn’t even driven out of view of the checkpoint.

I deal on almost a daily basis with cases of sick people who need to cross the checkpoint. Anyone who can’t walk needs special coordination with the Israelis, as well as anyone who has to cross during the night when the checkpoint is closed. Pregnant women leave the village weeks before their expec-ted delivery date, just to make sure that they can reach the hospital in time. With the Barrier and the checkpoint, what was a

Abu Rami, village council member, coordinates medical cases with the Israeli authorities for sick people to leave the “Seam Zone” village of Barta’a.

P. O. Box 54812, Jerusalem 95147 phone: +972 2 540 0595 [email protected]

WHO occupied Palestinian territory

The right to the highest attainable standard of health is enshrined in the 1946 WHO Constitution and numerous human rights instruments. Four criteria make up the right to health: availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality.

World HealthOrganization

15-minute drive to or from Jenin now takes about one hour.

My mother was old and I knew she would probably die, but the feeling of helplessness was terrible. I’m the person respon-sible for medical coordination in Barta’a so I know the pro-cedure and I have all the tele-phone numbers. Nevertheless, I couldn’t even save my own mother.”

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