Posted on 03/31/2002 3:03:28 PM PST by l33t
NEW YORK (April 1) - The family of Brooklyn-born Adam Shapiro rejoiced on Saturday night upon hearing that the volunteer medic was released after treating Palestinian wounded and dining with Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat in his besieged Ramallah headquarters.
Shapiro, 30, a co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement, which organizes non-violent protest against what it calls Israeli occupation, entered Arafat's headquarters on Friday evening to treat and evacuate the wounded. He also negotiated the entry of a Red Cross ambulance and a doctor.
Shapiro told the New York Post he feared for his life until the IDF permitted him to leave the compound on Sunday morning, after he ate a sparse breakfast of bread and cheese with Arafat.
"We expected at any moment a shell would come through the wall. There was nothing we could do about it," he told the New York Post.
He described a scene of carnage in the compound, including blood-splattered walls and rows of dead Palestinian guards in the hallways. He said 60 guards and 40 staffers were in the building with Arafat, and their only source of light during the nights of bombardment was from cigarette lighters.
His parents, Stuart and Doreen, and his brother Noah, a lawyer, had gathered in their Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, apartment on Saturday night when they received a call from Shapiro telling them he had safely left the compound.
Noah Shapiro told the New York Times his brother's belief in the teachings of Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. motivated him to help the Palestinians.
"He's passionate about it, and wants to show there is a way to protest without suicide bombings," he said.
Adam Shapiro, who told various news outlets he does not consider himself a Jew, previously worked for Seeds of Peace, a summer camp that brings Jewish and Arab teenagers to Maine every year to learn about coexistence. He also taught English in Yemen and led tour groups through the Muslim country.
For the past three years, Shapiro has lived in Ramallah. He said he plans to wed Huwaeida Arraf, an American-born Palestinian, in May.
He's married to an Arab. I wonder if he considers himself a Muslim?
He has quite a little knitting circle going:
Stunning book.
So why wont the Jews take care of their own? Bullets are cheap. And no one in Brooklyn (except for his Lindh-like parents) will give a damn, believe me.
Don't believe...go back and read!
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