Rights group protests death of Bethlehem teen at checkpoint

Haaretz 01:49 16/08/2007
By Lily Galili

A gigantic inscription stretches across the separation wall behind the roadblock cutting Bethlehem off from Jerusalem. Put up by the Tourism Ministry, it reads "Jerusalem-Bethlehem - love and peace." It's nice to see that the government ministries have a sense of humor, even if a chilling one. Radi Alwahash, 18, died at the roadblock, after a traffic accident, while his body systems failed, and it took an hour and a half to get him from Bethlehem to the hospital in Jerusalem.

Here's a first in the history of deaths at roadblocks: Physicians for Human Rights has filed a criminal complaint with the Tel Aviv police against the Civil Administration's health coordinator, Dalia Basa, accusing her of negligent homicide. In a small room in the Bethlehem Red Crescent offices, Abdelhalim Ja'afra, director of emergency services for the Bethlehem area, pulled out a thick file containing its records of roadblocks and ambulances. Each patient's name and address are inscribed in hand-written columns, along with the time of the call and the time of going to and from the roadblock. The file also records the dichotomy of the occupation, noting that an Israel Defense Forces doctor and Magen David Adom emergency service staff worked tirelessly to save the life of the young Palestinian, who had been run over right after completing his last matriculation exam; an army helicopter was called, before it was decided that an ambulance would be quicker. But Alwahash died in the ambulance, which was denied permission to cross into Israel. The chronology what happened in the hour and a half between the moment Alwahash was run over until he died is also included in a comprehensive report compiled by PHR on the entrance to Israel of ambulances from the West Bank. The incident occurred on June 29. The report states that at around 9 P.M. Mohammed Abu-Ajaima, the Red Crescent liaison officer, was informed of the accident and dispatched an ambulance to the scene, which met the army ambulance and the IDF doctor, who began life-saving procedures on Alwahash. An MDA ambulance also arrived on the scene and and at 9:46 P.M., it began to transport Alwahash to the roadblock on the way to the hospital. According to testimony in the PHR report and conversations with Bethlehem Red Crescent personnel, Basa called the Red Crescent emergency line twice. The first time, the police complaint states, she wanted to know why the injured man had not been evacuated in a Red Crescent ambulance. The second time, she shouted at the liaison officer that she would appoint an investigative committee to find out why the Red Crescent personnel had refused to evacuate Alwahash. Despite the Red Crescent officer's explanations, she is quoted as saying, "My dear Abu-Ajaima, the injured man is prevented for security reasons from entering Israel." Abu-Ajaima responded that Alwahash was being treated by MDA, and Basa would be responsible if anything happened to him. The police complaint states that at this point, Basa answered, "My dear Abu-Ajaima, my name is Dalia Basa and I am not afraid of you or bigger people than you." The police complaint states that Basa claimed she had instructed MDA not to transfer Alwahash to Jerusalem, and had ordered Abu-Ajaima to send a Red Crescent ambulance to pick up the injured man. Mohammed Abu-Riyan, a medic and ambulance driver, set out for the roadblock. "I found the patient in critical condition, with the MDA treating him as best it could," he told Haaretz this week at the Red Crescent offices. "I was told I had to rush him to the trauma unit at Hadassah [University] Hospital in Ein Karem. But the MDA man took me aside and told me that the soldiers and Dalia did not agree, and he could not be brought into Israel." At 10:25 P.M. Alwahash died in the MDA ambulance. The Civil Administration and the Defense Ministry have so far not elucidated the nature of Alwahash's "security past." The Civil Administration responded: "The Civil Administration is unaware at this time of an official complaint against the health coordinator, Dalia Basa. The Civil Administration is aware of the tendentious claims against Basa by the Physicians for Human Rights, both in this and in other cases, and rejects them. The circumstances of the case have been checked following the organization's inquiry of the Civil Administration, and Basa's actions were found to be blameless." The Civil Administration accused PHR of damaging Basa's good name and "releasing false information." An aide to Defense Minister Ehud Barak, attorney Ruth Bar, told Haaretz that the case was still under investigation. A source in the Red Crescent offices in Bethlehem said: "In this work, Dalia is God."