Posted on 05/24/2006 12:44:42 PM PDT by Alouette
Palestinian family says Border Guard officers refused to allow ambulance into refugee camp to transfer heart attack victim to hospital unless convoyed by IDF jeep; man dies on way to Hadassah Hospital
Residents of the Shuafat refugee camp in the West Bank blamed the death of a man who suffered a heart attack last Friday on tight security procedures imposed by Israeli security forces.
Family members said soldiers ignored their pleas to allow an ambulance access to the camp to evacuate Omar Abu Kamel, 41, and held up a second ambulance.
Omar died on the way to Jerusalem's Hadassah Hospital in Ein Karem.
Under security procedures set by the IDF, ambulances can enter the refugee camp only with military convoy.
Mohammad Ramzi, Omar's uncle, said Border Guard officers refused to allow an ambulance entrance to the camp. A Border Guard officer told Mohammad that convoying Palestinian ambulances doesn't fall under his troops' duty and an IDF jeep has to be called in to accompany the ambulance.
Dr Aviv Totnaor told the officer that his medical team is willing to enter the camp unaccompanied by soldiers, but to no avail. Assisted by locals, Totnaor entered the refugee camp by foot.
With the Israeli ambulance unable to enter the camp, family members called in a local ambulance to transfer Omar to Hadassah.
'Policemen pushed us'
The ambulance was stopped by a Border Guard jeep at the entrance to the camp, Mohammad said.
The ambulance was finally allowed into the camp. A scuffle erupted between members of Omar's family and Border Guard soldiers when Mohammad and his brother approached officers with a request to allow the ambulance to jump a long queue of cars waiting to exit the refugee camp.
"There were about 14 Border Guard policemen, and the officer pushed me and my brother Jawdat and shouted at us," Mohammad said.
Omar reached Hadassah Hospital on Mount Scopus around 8 pm. nearly two hours after the heart attack, leaving his family members wondering whether he would be alive had it not been to the delays caused by soldiers.
Ronen Bashari, Magen David Adom manager in Jerusalem, said an IDF jeep called in by the Border Guard officer to convoy the ambulance never showed up, forcing the medical team to enter the refugee camp by foot.
Bashari said however that as far as he knows the ambulance that transferred Omar to Hadassah was not delayed by Border Guard soldiers as it made its way out of the refugee camp.
The IDF spokesperson's office said Central Command Chief Yari Naveh appointed an IDF officer to investigate the incident.
Warning! This is a high-volume ping list.
Now how many ambulances have terrorists used to blow up Jews? Sorry - take no chances. Nothing is sacred for muslims in killing infidels.
The odds of being shot at if I were driving an Israeli ambulance would make me wait for an escort. Its happened before.
"He who s**ts in the road meets flies on his return."
If it weren't for the tight security, he and all of his family might have been dead years ago.
Yep. Such are the risks Palestinians take to live in their world of hatred of the Jew.
Note to Palestinians, don't use ambulances as terrorist taxis and you won't have these problems.
The bastards killed Kenny!
"IDF Delays Blamed on Palestinian Habit of Using Ambulances to Transport Bombs"
End of story.
Yep, they should have thought of that before using ambulances to convoy terrorists.
Life is tough and shi'ite happens. The PA has its own hospials..
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Obviously, a breach of standard journalistic technique. And equally obvious, a subtle attempt to convey sympathy for "Omar" and "Muhammad" with his readers.
Sorry, Ali, we're smart enough to see through your little trick here!
his heart attack can be attributed to his late nite indulgence of smuggled pork skin rinds and fat back sandwiches
But the hard truth is that "Palestine" doesn't have the medical know-how nor the facilities and equipment to improve the chances for survival of a heart attack victim, and the Palis themselves are well aware that their best bet is to get him to a prestigious Israeli hospital. Don't expect any "thank you" from the Palis for the Israeli medical care, though.
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