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David Shove: ‘People are virtually starving and key drugs are no longer available’ |
Border guards thwarted doctor’s mercy dash with Gaza medical aid
‘I had my suitcase full of basic supplies but police didn’t want foreigners to go through’
RETIRED doctor David Shove didn’t think twice when he heard that a six-metre-high Israeli security wall that “imprisoned” a Palestinian community had come crashing down.
He grabbed a suitcase full of medical supplies from his home in Gibson Square, Islington, and within days of the border wall’s collapse last month had boarded an aircraft to Egypt.
Dr Shove, 74, who spent 30 years at Barnet Hospital specialising in forensic work, is a campaigner and founder member of Islington-based Friends of Yibna.
The organisation, with the backing of Islington Labour MPs Jeremy Corbyn and Emily Thornberry, was launched last year to support beleaguered Palestinians in a refugee camp at Yibna in Rafah on the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Dr Shove said: “There is a humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinian people today and very little is being done about it.
“People are virtually starving and key medical drugs are no longer available.”
For Dr Shove, the opening of the border was a chance to take in much-needed medical supplies. “I also wanted to find out what the Palestinian community needed,” he said.
He flew to Cairo and took a taxi to a town close to the border with Gaza. From there he tried to get through the hole in the border wall but was stopped by Egyptian police, who were re-sealing the structure.
“I had my suitcase full of basic medical supplies because I wanted to help,” he added. “But the Egyptian police who had guns were very aggressive. They didn’t want any foreigners to go through, even myself a doctor. They wouldn’t give me a reason. They just said go. I was terribly disappointed.” He added: “The residents in Rafah are virtually imprisoned and rely mainly on UN handouts.”
Dr Shove called on people in Islington to support the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. “The trouble is Israel can do exactly what they like, because they have the power of the United States,” he said.
“But if you imprison a population like this you will get an explosion of violence.
“The answer has to be negotiation. That means talking to Hamas, for example, who control much of the Palestinian community. They are seen by the US as a terrorist organisation, although they include many moderates.”
He believes there are lessons to be learned from Northern Ireland. “There were people on both sides willing to enter into talks,” he said, “And that’s what we need in the Middle East. Sadly, none of the US presidential hopefuls have been particularly helpful to the Middle East conflict so far.”
Yael Kahn, chairwoman of Islington Friends of Yibna, who did manage to get into Gaza last month, will speak of her experiences at Islington Town Hall at 7pm on Wednesday, February 27. |
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