MAP UK
Donate
Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) was launched in the aftermath of the Sabra and Shatila massacres to provide emergency relief and medical assistance to Palestinians in desperate need of medical help as a result of the Israeli invasion and the civil war in Lebanon.
Until the outbreak of the first Palestinian Intifada in December 1987, MAP concentrated its efforts on sending medical volunteers and supplies to the Palestinian camps in Lebanon. In total, over 300 volunteers from 12 countries gave their services.
select this link for a PDF Version of MAP's History
The First Intifada
With the eruption of the first Intifada, the organisation increased its material and personnel support to health institutions in the West Bank and Gaza. With support from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) MAP established its first volunteer project in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
By the early 1990s, MAP was supporting a diverse range of projects in Lebanon and throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
In Hebron, MAP nurses worked with staff at the Al Ihsan Centre to provide care for children with physical and learning disabilities and at the Augusta Victoria Hospital, MAP supported the training of midwives and sponsored the salary of the only audiologist/speech therapist providing care in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. During this period MAP also facilitated the provision of emergency ambulance services in Nablus and Tulkarm and supported the services of the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in Cairo.
By 1993 MAP was contributing to the purchase of equipment and supplies for a new maternity hospital in Tulkarm and two of its occupational therapists were working with the Patients Friends Society mobile clinic reaching 14 isolated villages around Jenin.
MAP also assisted local organisations in Ramallah in their struggle to provide basic community services throughout the West Bank and in Gaza sent specialist volunteers to teach the latest medical techniques to their counterparts who either could not afford further training or faced travel restrictions.
MAP also gave its support to the Abu Rayya Centre for in-patients suffering spinal injuries sustained during the Intifada and contributed to the YMCA Beit Sahur community rehabilitation project for young Intifada victims.
In Beirut during this period, MAP worked with the PRCS to upgrade its laboratory services and provided a community nurse and general practitioner to train local staff in the PRCS clinics in Shatila, Naame and Bourj al-Barajneh in mother and child health care.
The Oslo Years
Following the signing of the Declaration of Principles between the PLO and Israel in 1993 and the formation of the Palestinian National Authority in 1994, hopes for peace were raised and MAP began to move away from the provision of immediate emergency aid.
With the Israeli Civil Administration's handover of "governmental" health services to Palestinian control, MAP began helping the fledgling Palestinian Ministry of Health to develop its services.
By 1995-96, the focus had shifted from sending volunteer health and medical staff to training Palestinian health personnel with a view to achieving sustainable improvements in health care in the West Bank, Gaza and Lebanon.
In Gaza, MAP worked with the Gaza College of Nursing to improve nursing standards, particularly in paediatric care. MAP also continued its work with the Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem, training intensive care nurses on site as well as using the facilities and training staff of the Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford.
MAP also supported a number of projects run by non-governmental organisations, including the development of a Palestinian Charter for Patient Rights, a lecture programme in the History of Medicine at al-Quds university and a study on Intifada-related Head Injuries.
In 1996, the Rt Hon Lord Steel of Aikwood became President of MAP. On the ground in Palestine, the peace process was faltering and several violent crises diverted some MAP resources away from longer-term projects.
The Qana bombing tragedy in Lebanon and then the violence triggered by the opening of the tunnel in the vicinity of the Haram al-Sharif required MAP to react quickly to calls for much-needed emergency medical assistance.
In September 1996, MAP's rapid response to the outbreak of violence in the West Bank and Gaza facilitated the purchase of essential medical supplies with the speed required to provide effective relief on the ground where and when it was needed.
But MAP's commitment to the training of doctors and nurses for the Palestinian Ministry of Health continued. Support was given to the training of community Health Workers in the villages around Jenin and the development of a database of Palestinian health personnel residing outside Palestine. MAP also supplied medical books to al-Quds University and funded a training programme for 15 women volunteers working with women victims of violence at the Family Defense Society in Nablus.
Healthcare remained a major problem for Palestinians living in refugee camps in Lebanon and in 1996-97 MAP initiated a programme to develop physiotherapy services provided by the PRCS and continued to support the development of services at Hamsharry Hospital in Sidon. MAP also co-funded the purchase and equipping of a mobile clinic for the al-Sader Foundation to operate in isolated villages in the south of Lebanon.
The al-Aqsa Intifada
Throughout the late 1990s, the emphasis remained on improving local skills to meet the health and medical needs of communities. But the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000 once again altered the situation on the ground and demanded that MAP respond.
Throughout 2001 and 2002, closures, curfews, house demolitions and fighting in civilian areas created huge suffering and bloodshed and denied Palestinians access to medical treatment.
MAP continued to assist in the provision of ante- and post-natal healthcare to women in the rural West Bank and, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and al-Quds University, initiated a paediatric Nursing Diploma course. But MAP also increased its support for services providing emergency care to Palestinians, supplying medical disposables and equipment, medicines, and foodstuffs to nearly thirty local organisations across the West Bank and Gaza.
March 2002 saw a dramatic escalation in violence in Palestine as Israel re-occupied much of the West Bank. By the third anniversary of the Intifada, on 28 September 2003, the Palestinian Ministry of Statistics had recorded 2,737 deaths as a direct result of the conflict with Israel. Of those, 94 people had died waiting at checkpoints trying to get to hospital. Fifty-two women had given birth at checkpoints and 29 of the babies born at checkpoints had died.
With deepening poverty in the Occupied Territories, MAP supported local organisations with medicines, medical disposables and in conducting free medical days. MAP also supported the establishment and maintenance of rural clinics, mobile clinics and outreach services to increase the capacity of local communities to respond to emergencies.
MAP supported the provision of food parcels and other household goods to the families left without essential supplies by the long and sudden curfews and closures imposed in March-April 2002 while the constant threat of violence and the daily struggle to survive encouraged MAP to increase its support for psychosocial programmes. In Hebron, MAP supported the provision of psychological intervention for children and individual counselling session for women.
Meanwhile, MAP continued its efforts to provide long-term support to the Palestinian people, supporting ante- and post-natal care through a mobile clinic in the Hebron area and ongoing GP training throughout the West Bank.
In Lebanon, MAP focused attention on Ain al-Helweh Camp where living conditions were dire and water scarce and contaminated and on the unofficial camps around Tyre where MAP supported the provision of medical equipment and disposables, food parcels for those identified as experiencing special hardship and a community health education programme.
Throughout its history, MAP has worked closely with local partner organisations to respond to the shifting political landscape and the enduring need of Palestinians for access to health and medical care.
Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip as well as its apparent entrenchment in the West Bank are creating a new set of political circumstances which an organisation with MAP's commitment and experience is well-placed to tackle.
MAP is a Charitable Company Limited by Guarantee. Registered Number 3038352 England. Charity Registration No. 1045315. Website Terms and Conditions