New York, NY, July 7, 2023 – “Israel applied its most innovative medical technology to save the life of a Palestinian child whose head nearly severed from his body. This happened around the time a BBC presenter sparked controversy by claiming Israeli military is “happy to kill Palestinian children.”
Twelve-year-old Suleiman Hassan’s head nearly separated from the body in a West Bank car accident while riding his bike. When an Israeli helicopter brought him to Jerusalem’s Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center, doctors said there was a 50-50 chance he would live.
But this week, as a BBC anchor accused Israel of killing Palestinian children, Suleiman was discharged from the hospital and resumed normal life. Israeli surgeons who saved Suleiman’s life – Dr. Ohad Einav and Dr. Ziv Asa – posed with him for a photo before he headed home.
The worst of Suleiman’s injuries from the crash was a fracture in the internal connection between his head and neck, along with tearing of all the supporting ligaments. An Israeli medical team operated on him in a surgical procedure lasting several hours. Technology and intensive care saved Suleiman’s life. He went home this week wearing a cervical splint to aid his full recovery. Israeli medical attention spared this Palestinian child neurological deficit and sensory dysfunction. His father told Hadassah’s staff: “I will thank you all my life for saving my dear only son.”
This is not a lone story about Israelis saving Palestinian children. In 2013, 3-year-old Mohammed Al-Farra was abandoned by his parents due to a genetic disorder that left this toddler without limbs. Hamas government in Gaza refused to pay for his healthcare. The Palestinian Authority was not interested. This Palestinian child has known just one home: the yellow-painted children’s ward in Israel’s Tel Hashomer Hospital, where the Israeli staff raised funds to look after him.
Israeli hospitals have treated Syrian children. The Jewish state’s humanitarian streak extended to the neighborhood, to people in Lebanon, Iraq, and Turkey. Israel rushed humanitarian aid to Pakistan in the devastating 2005 Kashmir earthquake despite lack of diplomatic ties.
BBC’s management graciously owned up to a presenter’s “inappropriate” line of questioning. If there is anyone who killed teenagers in the Jenin antiterror operation, it is Palestinian terrorist groups that pushed child soldiers to die. The American Jewish Congress has noted in a statement: “The fact that teenagers are among the killed terror combatants is further proof of Palestinian terror groups’ record of child-soldier recruitment.”
The American Jewish Congress congratulates Dr. Einav and Dr. Asa, and the staff and administration at Tel Hashomer Hospital for Suleiman Hassan’s miraculous surgery and recovery.”
Jack Rosen, President
Dr. Munr Kazmir, Vice President
Daniel Rosen, Vice Chair
Dr. Ben Chouake, Secretary
Michael Melnicke, Treasurer
