In 2004, the delegates interviewed staff at Hadassah Hospital, (Ein Kerem campus on the left), and staff at Shaare Zedek Medical Center, (Dr. Cornelieus Gropp on the right) in our efforts to understand issues facing Israelis and their health care providers.
Our interviews covered a wide range of topics facing Israeli health care
providers, with a particular focus on the impact of universal military
service on soldiers as well as the impact of suicide bombing on the society
as a whole.
In 2005, while crossing the Erez checkpoint into Gaza, we also talked with Israeli soldiers. Because this was a closed military zone, it was not possible to take photos easily. The heavily militarized checkpoint included turn styles to control the flow of traffic and a long concrete and barbed wire walkway.
After a lengthy security check we proceeded down an extended walk, dragging our luggage through concrete chutes and corridors. We were greeted by soldiers from the Palestinian Authority, sitting at a desk on the other end.
Seeing the wheelchairs at each end of the concrete corridor and then just outside the Palestinian side of the checkpoint reminded us that sick patients from Gaza who are lucky to receive care in Israel must traverse this endless checkpoint to get to and from their care.
