In an op-ed released today, CMAJ Deputy Editor Matthew Stanbrook is pressing Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government to grant the Gazan children and their caregivers visas to enter Canada.
“The only remaining obstacles are the visas the children and their caregivers require to enter Canada,” Stanbrook writes. “All it would take for Canada to join them is a swift decision from Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who coincidentally has been nominated for this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.
“We encourage physicians across Canada to help by calling on the Harper government to let us bring the children of Gaza to Canada for the care they need.”
The CMAJ is a highly-regarded medical journal and, according to its website, “has played a key role in raising awareness of health and medico-social issues.”
In July, Toronto doctor Izzeldin Abuelaish appealed to Canadians to bring 100 injured Gazan children to Ontario for treatment. The idea led to the Heal100Kids campaign and a petition — which has gathered more than 43,000 signatures to date — calling on the provinces, federal government and all Canadian hospitals to help offer treatment to the children.
Abuelaish’s campaign has picked up a lot media attention over the past few months, including a number of op-eds both supporting and questioning the proposed initiative.
For Abuelaish, the plea is personal. The Palestinian gynaecologist lost three daughters — Bessan, Mayar and Aya — and his niece Noor to Israeli shelling in 2009. He now calls Canada home.
His campaign is backed by five pediatric hospitals, the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario and the Ontario government, and has won endorsements from the leaders of the federal NDP and Liberal party. Abuelaish said the added support from the CMAJ is still significant.
“I am very satisfied and happy they (CMAJ) came to speak out about this initiative,” said Abuelaish. “This is an answer to anyone who is delaying the acceptance of this initiative.”
There’s only one more thing Abuelaish needs before he can start bringing the 100 Gazan children to Canada for treatment: visas for them and their caretakers.
“It’s an issue of visas, that’s all,” he said.
Abuelaish said he has tried to reach out to the federal government numerous times to obtain the visas. He wrote letters to Harper, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander. In early August, Baird’s Chief of Staff Garry Keller emailed Abuelaish to remind him that the minister was not available to meet.
Abuelaish said that, to date, he still hasn’t gotten a meeting with a decision-maker at the federal level.
In response to an iPolitics query about Abuelaish’s proposal, Baird’s Press Secretary Adam Hodge said that those who want to “have the greatest impact must recognise the importance of ensuring innocent victims receive the medical support they need close to their families and loved ones, and that includes avoiding the medical risks and dangers of being transported overseas.”
But Abuelaish said this concern is unfounded. He said that his proposal makes it clear that the initiative would only sponsor “stable” children that are in strong enough condition to travel to Canada.
“We are not bringing children on ventilation. We are bringing awake, conscious, fully independent children, but they need care.”
According to Abuelaish, the wounded children need rehabilitation, prostheses and reconstructive surgery — all unavailable in Gaza. He said all expenses will be covered by the provincial government and the hospitals that have joined the initiative.
The CMAJ supports Abuelaish’s argument: Stanbrook writes that doctors who have visited the conflict zone saw large numbers of children with injuries Gaza’s hospitals aren’t equipped to treat.
“They have seen a high incidence of blunt and penetrating trauma, burns and damage to sight and hearing,” he writes. “Some children had limbs amputated by blast injuries; others needed amputations in hospital to save their lives. Not only are these children unable to care for themselves, many have become orphans or have parents facing similar injuries and disabilities.
“These children need prostheses and rehabilitation. Some will require orthopedic, vascular, neurologic or plastic surgery to have any hope of recovery. It is unlikely that they will receive the care they need in Gaza, where such specialized resources were in short supply even before the conflict began.”
Abuelaish said he is willing to meet with the government to discuss any concerns that might be holding back a decision on the visas, but he has yet to receive an invitation.
While Abuelaish refused to speculate about why the government is denying the visas, Stanbrook said the initiative appears to have become politicized.
“We must be cautious not to confuse the geopolitical issue, which is not something that these children are involved in, with the humanitarian issue, which should be the only thing that guides our response to these children,” said Stanbrook in an interview with iPolitics.
For instance, in his editorial, Stanbrook argues that had the shoe been on the other foot — had the children selected for treatment in Canada been Israelis — the Conservative government’s reaction probably would have been different.
“Had the Israeli casualties been large enough to overwhelm their health care system’s capacity and had Israel called for international aid, surely Canada would have been among the first to respond, and rightly so,” writes Stanbrook.
He adds that that Germany, Austria and Turkey already have taken in dozens of Palestinian children for care.
From a medical and financial perspective, Stanbrook said, the initiative is “entirely feasible” and “can happen in an instant if the government gives the go ahead.”
“All that is needed is a bureaucratic stamp of approval at the federal government level to make this happen and I see no reason why that shouldn’t be given as soon as possible,” said Stanbrook.
During the most recent conflict between Israel and Hamas, at least 2,131 Palestinians, including 501 children, were killed, according to the United Nations. More than 3,000 Palestinian children were injured.
Abuelaish said the natural Canadian reaction to such devastation should be to help.
“Canadians, they care about everything in the world,” he said. “And that’s the Canadian way — to come together to give, to help, to share.”
Original Article
Source: ipolitics.ca/
Author: Michelle Zilio
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