Amar Emeera was eating lunch in his home in the West bank village of Juma’een near Nablus when armed settlers from a nearby settlement threw a firebomb at his home. The house ignited and two brothers were killed. Though Amar lived, he bore horrific scars that left him unable to function as a normal child. « For five years Amar was unable to go to school or live a normal life, » says PCRF board member Hiam Khairreddin. « After we brought him here for surgery, he became more sure of himself and is now back home living as every 12 year old should. »

Amar was brought to the U.S. in 1996 by the P.C.R.F. He was treated in San Diego by Dr. Michael Peters at the Mercy Hospital. Both donated their time and services to treat him as a charity case. He later had hand surgery at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. The San Diego Chapter of the PCRF did a great job in housing and caring for Amar. The whole Arab community in San Diego supported his care and made it possible for him to start to feel more sure of himself inside. When he went home in the summer of 1996, after three operations on his face and body and one on his hand, he was a new boy.

FRANÇAIS

Amar déjeunait dans sa maison, près de Naplouse, lorsque des colons israëliens armés y jetèrent une bombe incendiaire. La maison s’enflamma aussitôt, Amar a survécu, ses 2 frères furent tués, brûlés vifs. Il a été plus tard soigné dans un hopital américain, grâce à P.C.R.F., une association humanitaire. Ses horribles cicatrices en furent sensiblement améliorés. Voir ci-dessous.

Mansour Abu Sneineh was the first case brought to the U.S. for free medical care by what was to become the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund. He had lost both legs, his right hand and right eye when a passing Israeli patrol threw an anti-tank grenade at his family as they ate lunch in Hebron, the West Bank, in November, 1989. Both he and his sister Sabah, 13, were taken to Akron, Ohio in 1990 where doctors at the Crystal Clinic and Yanke Bionics treated them as charity cases. Mansour got new legs and was soon again walking, while his older sister had orthopedic surgery to re-lengthen her bones. During his stay in the U.S. funds were raised for the their college education. « Our initial objective is to enable these children to eventually be independent adults, » explains PCRF vice-president Sue Nasir. « In some cases where they children are permanently injured, such as Mansour, we do our best to help them medically and socially for their future. »
Both were blessed to have an organization sponsor their treatment and support them for school. Too many other injured poor Palestinian children do not have this opportunity.

FRANÇAIS

Mansour déjeunait dans sa maison, à Hébron, lorsque des soldats israëliens jetèrent une grenade anti-tank en direction de la maison familiale, en Novembre 1989. Lui et sa soeur furent gravement blessés. Il a perdu ses deux jambes, sa main droite, et son oeil droit. Il a été plus tard soigné dans un hopital américain, grâce à P.C.R.F., une association humanitaire. Ses horribles blessures en furent sensiblement améliorés. Voir ci-dessous.

Mohammed Abu Kwaik returned to his homeland in early December, 1996 after over seven months and several operations to repair his burned body. The eight-year-old boy from a Gaza housing project suffered third-degree burns to his face, chest, arms and legs in an accident which also claimed the life of his sister.

Mohammed was treated at the Shriners Hospital for Burned Children in Cincinnati, Ohio and was hosted by local resident Pamela Simon. « It was a great joy to have Mohammed for the time that he lived with me. He is very bright and very sweet, » says Pamela. « He cooperated in all aspects of his care and everyone who met him loved him. »

FRANÇAIS

Mohammed a eu un « accident » qui l’a brûlé sur une large partie du corps. Il a été plus tard soigné dans un hopital américain, grâce à P.C.R.F., une association humanitaire. Ses horribles cicatrices en furent sensiblement améliorés. Voir ci-dessous.

Mohammed Qasem

The Plain Dealer, Friday, June 6, 1997

Steve Sosebee, founder of the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, reassures Mohammed Qasem just prior to surgery at the Cleveland Clinic to repair a head wound the 8-year-old suffered as an infant in a Palestinian refugee camp.
Dale Omori/Plain Dealer Photographer
Healing the wounds of war
An 8-year-old boy injured by a plastic bullet is the latest child to be brought to Cleveland for medical care by a group founded by a Kent man

By Brian Albrecht
Plain Dealer Reporter

He seems incredibly frail, a mere 47 pounds clinging to the 8-year-old frame curled in a hospital bed. A fresh scar runs from the top of Mohammed Qasem’s forehead to the back of his head, concealing a few grams of titanium mesh recently grafted to his skull by Cleveland Clinic surgeons.

By weight, the titanium isn’t much, but is could help assure Qasem lives a longer life back in his Palestinian homeland.

Qasem was an 8-month-old baby being carried in his mother’s arms while she was on her way to market when a rock-throwing confrontation broke out between residents of their West Bank refugee camp and Israeli soldiers in 1990. A plastic bullet fired by a soldier smashed into Qasem’s head, blowing a hole in his skull.

Skin and hair grew over the one- by two-inch gap in the bone, but could not disguise the effects of an irreparably injured brain: right-side paralysis affecting his arm, leg and speech.

During the 2 1/2-hour surgery Wednesday, doctors screwed the titanium mesh to Qasem’s skull over the bullet hole, then covered it with a layer of material that eventually should knit with healthy

FRANÇAIS

Qasem avait 8 mois (oui, vous avez bien lu!), il était dans les bras de sa mère, qui allait au marché. Lors d’une dispersion d’un groupe de jeunes lanceurs de pierres, un soldat israëlien a visé la tête du bébé dans les bras de la mère, avec une balle de plomb recouvert de plastique. Le crâne du bébé a éclaté sur plusieurs cm (voir ci-dessous). Il restera paralisé à vie (articulation et tout son côté droit). Il a été plus tard soigné dans un hopital américain, grâce à P.C.R.F., une association humanitaire. Ses chances de survivre en furent sensiblement améliorés. Voir ci-dessous.

Nizar El-Barky : 9-year-old Nizar was playing with his sister at his home near the Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza in 1990 when an object that « looked like a toy » fell from a passing Israeli helicopter. « When I picked it up, it exploded. » The child lost his right leg, left foot and right arm and was wasting away at a rehabilitation center in Bethlehem when the P.C.R.F. was asked to help him. In 1991 he began treatment at the Shriners Hospital for Crippled Children in Los Angeles, CA. Dr. Yoshio Setoguchi, Director of the prosthetics department there, began to build for Nizar new legs and an arm. Since then, Nizar has received new limbs every two years, enabling him to walk again. Yet the real story is not just his ability to get back on his feet, but the new chance for independence through education. « Nizar came to the U.S. illiterate; he was unable to read or write Arabic, » explains his first host sponsor Christie LoCascio, who took Nizar in during his first trip to Los Angeles. « Of course, he did not know any English then either. »

FRANÇAIS

Nizar, 9 ans, jouait avec sa soeur près de chez lui, dans le camp Younès à Gaza, en 1990. Un hélicoptère israëlien qui survolait le camp leur jeta un objet qui ressemblait à un jouet. Lorsqu’il le prit, il explosa. L’enfant a perdu sa jambe droite, son pied gauche et sa main droite.
Les braves soldats sionistes avaient rempli leur mission!
Nizar a été plus tard soigné dans un hopital américain, grâce à P.C.R.F., une association humanitaire palestinienne. Ses horribles blessures en furent sensiblement améliorés. Voir ci-dessous.

Nourhan Matar
As reported by the Charlotte Sun Herald, Port Charlotte, FL.

Hospital and Doctor Donate Care for Burn Victim
By LILIANE PARBOT-JOHNSON
Staff Writer

The little girl, whose 5th birthday is April 10, is a third generation of Palestinian refugees living in camps created after World War II when Israel was created. They heat and cook with kerosene heaters. Sosebee said he did not know the details of the accident, but Nourhan’s twin sister escaped injuries. Nourhan also has three other sisters and two brothers.

She came to the United States without her family, but with other injured children. American Airlines provides free transportation. A 14-year-old boy, who lost both hands and one eye from a bomb, went to Philadelphia. Two girls went to Chicago, two others to New Jersey and Philadelphia. After examining Nourhan, Baroudi said he will start operating near her eyes, nose and mouth. He will need to see her once a week for sometimes. Eventually, he will also work on her scalp where several burned patches have no hair.

There are eight such camps in the Gaza Strip, 22 on the West Bank, 13 in Lebanon and a few others in other countries. The camps were created in 1948 when 700,000 Palestinians were evacuated due to the creation of Israel.

FRANÇAIS

Les blessures de Nourhan sont en relation directe avec les conditions de vie précaires qui sont celles des réfugiés palestiniens depuis la création d’Israël en 1948. Il a été victime d’un accident domestique, qui a forcément plus de chance de survenir lorsqu’on vit, cuisine, mange et dort à dix dans une pièce.
Il a été plus tard soigné dans un hopital américain, grâce à P.C.R.F., une association humanitaire palestinienne. Ses horribles cicatrices en furent sensiblement améliorés. Voir ci-dessous.

Nadia Chami
As reported by the San Antonio Express-News.

Palestinian Refugee Gets Care She Needs
By Done Finley
Express News Medical Writer
Thursday, September 18, 1997
Reprinted by permission of the San Antonio Express-News

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Nadia has had little to smile about during her 13 years. A Palestinian living in a refugee camp in war-torn Lebanon, she has seen her share of violence and misery. On top of that, she suffers from a congenital spinal defect that has made her incontinent and threatened to leave her paralyzed.

An organization called the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund flew her and her mother to San Antonio, where Dr. Robert Johnson, a spinal surgeon, agreed to correct her defect.

The ongoing disintegration of the peace process in Israel is particularly hard to accept, he said. « It is very disappointing. Because it means human beings are going to suffer. It’s not just about who owns the land, who has the right to this house, or to this stone or this tree. It means the conflict is not going to be resolved diplomatically, and more children like this girl are going to be in need of our services. »

FRANÇAIS

Nadia, 13 ans, a eu sa part de misère et de violence, dans un camp des réfugiés palestiniens au Liban, sous l’éternelle artillerie sioniste contre les civils. En plus elle avait une malformation congénitale. Elle suit actuellement un traitement dans un hopital américain, grâce à une organisation humanitaire.

Pour ces quelques « heureux » qui ont eu la chance d’avoir des soins adéquats, combien sont morts dans d’atroces souffrances sous le feu des « valeureux » sionistes???