Paralysed Gaza girl, Marya Aman, in plea to Israel

[Scurrilous]

<snip>

"Three Israeli judges will hear a case this week brought on behalf of a six-year-old Palestinian girl who was paralysed from the neck down in an Israeli missile attack.

The High Court judges will be asked to decide whether the Israeli government should help Marya Aman, from Gaza, who depends on a life-support machine, by allowing her to stay in Israel with continuing financial support from the authorities. Her supporters say if she loses the case it will amount to a death sentence.

Marya, who has been sustained in part by donations of more than £38,000 from readers of The Sunday Times, has chosen to attend the hearing in person.

Two years ago an Israeli plane targeted a vehicle in Gaza and killed a Palestinian militant. But the blast also hit the Amans’ car, killing Marya’s mother and grandmother, her elder brother and her uncle."

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[breakaleg]

1. This ought to be a no-brainer. I wonder why Israel isn't taking responsibility for its actions?

[wurzel]

2. They want the publicity. Makes them look humane.

[notfullofit]

13. Peres Center 'Saving the Children'

snip...

Maria is among tens of thousands of Palestinians who receive care every year at Israeli hospitals.

In 2007, Israel issued more than 63,000 permits to Palestinians requiring treatment in Israeli hospitals, according to the army unit responsible for civilian matters in the West Bank and Gaza, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.

Most Palestinians either pay for their care privately, or have the Palestinian Authority or private foundations such as the Peres Center for Peace handle the expense. The Peres Center’s Saving the Children project has financed treatment in Israel for more than 5,000 Palestinian children since 2003.

But Maria’s case is exceptional in that the Israeli government is footing the bill.





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http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/israel_news/palestinians_fight_to_keep_daughter_in_israeli_hospital/

[pelsar]

4. double standards?

will the Palestinians take responsibly for the various attacks of over 60 years of attacks on israelis?.....i would guess from your post it too is a "no brainer"

...or do you have a set of double standards?

my guess is that you do...

[wurzel]

5. The Israelis have been far too soft on Palestinians.

There are still some Palestinian houses standing with Palestinians still living in them. From 2000 to 2004 the Palestinian child death rate was only 22:1 compared to Israeli children. But there is hope. The latest reports give the average income of the Palestinians at $250 a month. And with the dollar falling in value and food prices rapidly rising the problem may soon be solved.

[Vegasaurus]

6. IT isn't Israel's fault that the Palestinian leadership steals the aid money

the billions of dollars given by donors worldwide, and uses it for bomb making and terrorism (or to buy themselves luxurious homes, cars, etc), instead of food and services for the children.

What can we say about leadership that puts murder and terrorism above the welfare of their own citizens?

[subsuelo]

9. Both sides leaders place murder and terrorism above citizen welfare

[Vegasaurus]

10. I am sure the Palestinians do not think that anyone is looking out for their welfare

in fact, many lament that Hamas is in power, since their lives have grown exponentially more miserable since the Hamas coup last June.

The fact is that the government of Israel absolutely looks after its citizens, all of them, and provides for them.

Your effort to equate the two is absurd.

[subsuelo]

11. Just because Israel has killed vastly more civilians

Doesn't negate the point that terrorism and violence are a priority.

[pelsar]

7. i'm confused...

should the Palestinians pay for damages?.....there are quite a few israelis paralyzed, minus limbs due to Palestinian bombs....

[notfullofit]

3. Tragic. nt

[LeftishBrit]

8. I hope very strongly that she is allowed to stay

In response to Pelsar's point: I DO think that both Israel and Palestine should pay compensation for damages caused to civilians in war. In fact, if ever we can move everywhere toward a culture of 'sue your enemy for its violence' rather than 'bomb your enemy for its violence', then we will have made a lot of progress!

But in this case: I feel strongly that the child should be allowed to stay on compassionate grounds *even if* the injury had not been inflicted by the Israelis. She's a child; she's there; she's innocent; her life may depend on it - all very good reasons!

My own country, to its shame, has not always acted compassionately in such situations.

[Violet_Crumble]

12. The address for donations....and a well-aimed kick up the arse for some of the posts in this thread.

Most important thing first. Anyone who is moved by this little girls plight should send donations to:

c/o Foreign Desk, The Sunday Times, 1 Pennington Street, London E98 1ST

Now for what really pisses me off after reading this thread. There's a little girl paralysed from the neck down directly as a result of the Israeli military, and sending her back to Gaza when she's on life support would be handing out a death sentence to her given the not very reliable supply of electricity. But instead of thinking about her and the fact that her family have had to fight Israeli courts every step of the way to get her help, some people would rather try to play some stupid tit for tat game. Arguments that the other side do or don't do something is no justification for why one side shouldn't have to do or not do something. It's not fucking pre-school. Az is right. This is a complete no-brainer. There shouldn't even have to be court cases about it to put more stress on a family that's suffered more than enough. That missile fucked up that little girl's life. She'll always need a high level of medical support and she'll never have anything like an independent life. It's the responsibility of the Israeli govt to help her and give her the support she needs, both now and in the future...

[Shaktimaan]

14. You are missing the point.

For you, this is about a single girl who was gravely wounded and should have access to decent medical care simply as a point of humanity. I'm sure this looks like people playing politics when the life of an innocent child hangs in the balance, thus you understandably find the process disgusting. But no one here is arguing against giving this girl proper care, they are simply discussing at the bigger issue, one which impacts many tens of thousands more lives, which this case is a microcosm of. Aside from the tragedy that befell this one girl, her story represents many many other, similar stories, both in Israel/Palestine and throughout the rest of the world. There is nothing wrong with using her story as a real-world example to better discuss the ethical and political problems it represents.

You're right about some things... this family has suffered enough, an Israeli missile fucked up her life for good and this isn't pre-school. Lots of people and families suffer for no good reason due to war. But are they all due the same treatment as you suggest for this girl? Pelsar raised a very important point when he asked if Palestine should also pay for the lives they fucked up. He wasn't playing a tit for tat game, it is a crucial question to ask what kind of responsibility the state holds for accidental civilian casualties. (In this conflict it is even more complex because of the extra variable of intent. Should it matter if the civilians were the actual target?)

The Israeli court system isn't there to administer humanitarian aid. It exists to provide rule of law. In this case it could face the question of how culpable Israel is for accidental casualties it inflicts. And the ruling impacts far more than just the life of this one girl. If Israel is deemed culpable now then it is probably culpable in many other instances also and potentially faces the prospect of providing lifetime care for thousands of injured Palestinians.

This is a complete no-brainer. There shouldn't even have to be court cases about it to put more stress on a family that's suffered more than enough. That missile fucked up that little girl's life. She'll always need a high level of medical support and she'll never have anything like an independent life. It's the responsibility of the Israeli govt to help her and give her the support she needs, both now and in the future...

Why?

During a war is it usually the responsibility of either side to provide care for their enemy's wounded civilians? Of course not. So why in this case?

Please note that I am not arguing against Israel providing care to her. I think that Israel has an ethical responsibility to help gravely injured children who would otherwise die. And I think this responsibility has nothing to do with whether it was an Israeli missile that injured her or not. (But that responsibility only comes into play over the most extreme cases, I don't think Israel's responsible for outfitting every Palestinian who has lost a leg with prosthetic limbs merely because they can.) And while Israel should provide the care, I also think that it should be the PA's (or Hamas') job to pay for it. (As they should also pay to help Israeli and Palestinian civilians that they targeted for attack.)

[Scurrilous]

15. Thanks for the link Violet.

:thumbsup: