Gulf News reported a claim by Dr Al Saqqa, Head of the Emergency Unit of El Shifa Hospital, Gaza on 7-07-06 that the Israeli Occupation Force was using a new 'chemical' weapon.

He has worked at El Shifa for ten years. He had noted that two hundred and more casualties of Summer Rain (sic) had unusual wounds. These numbers included about fifty children. Later evidence from Dr Al Saqqa described surface wounds as having the general appearance of those due to 'shrapnel' – fragments from shell, missile or bomb casings – but no fragments were to be seen on Xray. There were usually entry and exit wounds. When the wounds were explored no foreign material was found. There was tissue death, the extent of which was difficult to determine. It is vital, especially with deep wounds, to excise all dead tissue. A higher deep infection rate resulted with subsequent amputation. In spite of amputation there was a higher mortality.

The 360 square kms of the 'Strip' represent 1.5% of 'mandate' Palestine. Another 3 million Palestinians live in the ineptly named 'West Bank', and in East Jerusalem. This represents about 11% of mandate Palestine.

Two thirds of the 1.4 million population in the Gaza Strip are refugees and their offspring. The former had fled southwards from their homes and land in 1948 before and during the Arab-Israeli war. The massacre of Deir Yassin on April 4th was a central cause of the panic that drove that mass migration, as well as overwhelming force of arms. The refugees were given materials for building concrete shelters in 'camps' throughout the Strip. They were cheek by jowl, and cold in winter. In spite of UN resolution 242 and others, they have remained trapped in an utterly oppressive environment. Since the start of the second intifada – 'shaking loose', in September 2000, the standard of living has dropped steadily. Unemployment has been over 50% and is rising quickly now. 78% of the population are living under the poverty line of less than US $ 2.1 per person per day, and 10% of children under the age of five suffer from chronic malnutrition. (1) A study in late 2002 found that 17.5% of children aged 6–59 months suffered from chronic malnutrition 53% of women of reproductive age and 44% of children were found to be anaemic (2 )

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"Actions are held to be good or bad, not on their own merits, but according to who does them. There is almost no kind of outrage - - - - torture, imprisonment without trial, assassination, the bombing of civilians - - - -  which does not change its moral color when it is committed by our side. The nationalist not only does not disapprove of atrocities committed by his own side, he has remarkable capacity for not even hearing about them." -George Orwell

Palestine - the hinge of our humanity? The Middle East in Flames
3-08-06 Totnes Civic Hall

Why am I here and not making something good in my workshop?

1. Taught to be truthful, a lesson which obviously passed over most of the political class. Being truthful also means speaking out.

2. I cannot stand seeing underdogs kicked around

3. As an orthopaedic and trauma surgeon all my efforts, and those of the good people with me, were devoted to healing tissue and in relieving pain – not in blasting bodies apart.

4. The bombing of the Afghan people by B52s from 32,000ft in the Autumn of 2001 galvanised me; I have not rested since.

5. My central motivation is the love of the child. We have two happy grand-daughters, Isabel and Nel. I look into their beautiful eyes and see the two billion other children on our planet. They are all equally precious; not one should be harmed.