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Dr Swee Ang
A Trustee and founding member of MAP, Dr Swee Ang was both a witness to and a survivor of the Sabra and Shatila massacre.
As the 24th anniversary of the massacres passes, she explains why it is so important not to forget.
The anniversary of the Sabra and Shatila massacre is upon us. Given the events of recent weeks and the Israeli attacks on Lebanon, why should we still commemorate an event 24 years ago?
There are many compelling reasons why. The dead must never be forgotten. Why they died must never be forgotten. As many know, forgetfulness leads on to exile. The resilience of the Palestinian people requires that we keep the memory of their plight alive. After 1948, generations have grown up in the refugee camps and have refused to surrender their dream of coming home. They always stress the need to remember.
In 2006, many would be forgiven for thinking that not much has changed over the years. The same TV pictures of death and destruction from Israel?s northern neighbour. There is still no peace in the region and the Palestinian people are still denied their right to homeland and statehood.
But there is scope for optimism. The goal-posts may be shifting.
In 1982, nearly 3,000 unarmed Palestinian men, women and children were slaughtered in their homes in the refugee camps of Beirut. The people of Lebanon were subjected to horrendous attack, and Israel?s indiscriminate bombing and destruction of homes, schools, hospitals, factories led to the ?collateral damage? death of thousands, Lebanese and Palestinians alike. In its invasion of its northern neighbour, Israel unleashed implosion (vacuum) bombs, phosphorous bombs, cluster bombs.
Systematic slaughter
I was there both as witness and survivor. I had responded to an international call for a surgeon to work among the casualties following Israel?s invasion in June that year. With the other medical volunteers, we desperately tried to patch up the broken bodies of the victims of Israel?s invasion. In mid-September, we finally emerged from our basement operating theatre of the Sabra-Shatila camps? Gaza Hospital only to realise that outside the hospital, thousands of innocent and unarmed Palestinians were systemically slaughtered. The hospital, named in honour of Palestine?s Gaza Strip from which many of the refugees originate, had been overwhelmed by hundreds of desperate camp residents fleeing the murderers.
I was outraged because I had just begun to discover the existence of the Palestinians and had made genuine friendships. But now they were dead. Until then, I had been an unstinting supporter of Israel and had been guided by elders in my fundamentalist Christian church that Israel was the chosen of God. My motivation to go to Lebanon then had been primarily the disappointment at Israel?s breach of faith for all those who believed in her. I never went there because of the Palestinians. In fact, I never knew they existed. I feared and loathed the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Israel?s bete noir .
It was only when I saw their dead bodies in the camps that I finally understood them. Alive, they were denied their humanity, their homeland, their human rights. Israel?s prime minister, Golda Meir, even denied they existed. Their massacre shocked me ? I had no more excuses and pledged I would tell their story to anyone who would listen.
From Beirut to Jerusalem
I appeared at the Kahan Commission of Inquiry in Jerusalem, went on a whirlwind speaking tour throughout Britain and other countries. I must have, if my husband?s tallies are right, ?done? over 1,500 talks. I recounted my experiences in my book From Beirut to Jerusalem ? a publication which continues to reach people in several reprints and languages. The latest, the Indonesian edition, was launched in late August 2006 in Jakarta.
I went from Beirut?s camps to Jerusalem. Coincidentally, it was a journey Palestine?s five million refugees dream of doing. From exile to return, next year to Jerusalem.
The most concrete outcome of that experience was the birth of Medical Aid for Palestinians, MAP. It was formed when the British charity that recruited me, went on to work in other disaster areas after 1982. To ensure continued British support for the Palestinians and Lebanese, we set up MAP to work with the Palestine Red Crescent Society, the effective ministry of Health of the Palestinian diaspora. The PRCS treated all ? Lebanese and Palestinians alike - free at the point of delivery and we were able to mobilise nearly 300 medical volunteers from all over the world to work in Beirut and the rest of the Lebanon. When the first Intifada broke out in 1987 in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, MAP?s work expanded to include Gaza and the West Bank.
Have things moved on? In some perceptible way. When Medical Aid for Palestinians was first started, some objected to the name ?Palestinians?. We could not even call it ?Palestine?.
Through the years, public and international perception has moved and even those who once denied the Palestinians? existence now reluctantly have to articulate that precious word. The way ahead remains long and tortuous, and the health and other needs of the Palestinians are still daunting. However, the massacre of the innocents at Beirut?s Sabra-Shatila camps did force one of the very first cracks in the wall of denial against them.
Dr Swee Chai Ang
September 2006
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