He now has more time to think abstractly and write blogs.
I grew up in Oceana in a relatively poor family with no radio, bathroom and an outside toilet. A toilet, that when the bucket was full, was emptied into a hole dug specifically for that purpose. As soon as we were old enough, old enough to dig, this became one of my chores. We all lived in a small country cottage, a bed for the parents, a smaller bed for the kids; a large enough yard to play cricket and kick a football – all you could ever need as a small boy growing up in the country. Continue reading “Introductory Regime”→
I have previously written a list of things which relate positively to the Israeli side of the present ongoing but centuries old war between the Ishmael and the Isaac descendants of Abraham – that is between the Jews and the Arabs. Initially we need to differentiate between the words “Philistines” and “Palestinians”, because there is overwhelming evidence that the Philistines lived for some centuries BC in what is now called Gaza.
The Land – Many remember the story of the Israeli David fighting Goliath, the champion of the Philistines. The Bible record states that there were another four giants of the same family as Goliath, and they all had the chance to fight against David and Israel and were defeated. There was no boundary marked on a map, but the areas controlled by both sides varied according to who was winning the skirmishes. As I can understand from secular reading the people called ‘Philistines’ exist no more. The first Palestinians were in fact Jews. The Romans were ruling over the lands where the Jews lived. Because of the troublesome nature of their subjugated people, ‘the Jews’, and with the thought of rubbing the Jewish noses in a hated concept, the Romans called a large area both to the East and the West of the Jordan river ‘Syrian Palestine’. The population at that time was overwhelmingly Jewish. The term covered what had been known by the inhabitants as Judea and Samaria i.e. Southern and Northern Israel. The trouble with the name and population has ‘grumbled along’ for centuries.
Muhammed is said to have had his first contact with the Angel Jibril in a cave called Hira, located on the mountain Jabal An-Nour near Mecca in 610 AD (CE), and from that ‘revelation’ Islam was born – the cave was in Saudi Arabia near Mecca. Jerusalem was conquered by Muslims about 635 AD and has been under the control of various power groups ever since. After WWI the Balfour declaration created the state of Palestine for a national home for the Jewish people! This was approved by the League of Nations in 1922.
The Zionist movement began in 1897 because Theodur Herzl believed the Jews needed a homeland – and the Zionist movement became very strong after WWII. At the time that Palestine was created as a home for the Jewish people, the population was part Arab, part Jew. Thus, this is a complex situation with Jewish heritage going back from Abraham’s time through Roman times, but with strong Arabic (often Islamic) control from 635 to WWI.
When did the present war begin? The Arab/Jewish antagonism has continued since 635AD as both a religious and cultural war. Could this be described as an unfinished war with many battles on the way? I think it helpful to look at it that way and to see the present situation as a battle. Both sides must accept their responsibilities in the ongoing war. But this battle was undoubtedly begun by a brutal terrorist act of Hamas. Am I surprised that Israel wants a decisive victory? Are hostages, including infants, the sick and the elderly legally held in modern warfare? Are civilians able to be used as shields for the army in modern warfare? Are armies allowed to shelter behind educational and health facilities to make attacking the enemy illegal? Has Hamas undoubtedly done all these illegal things? Is an opposition nation ever expected to feed the enemy civilians?
War
Civilian deaths
Army deaths
WWI
9.7 million
10 million
WWII
44 million
15 million
NATO in Yugoslavia
4
1 (ratio)
First Chechen war
40,000
4000
Second Chenchen war
13000
3000
What is an acceptable civilian to army death ratio?
It seems very reasonable to aim at zero civilian casualties. But one’s tongue must be in the cheek to say you believe that possible. It is very difficult to get accurate figures when one side is trying to prove that they are being treated poorly and the other side is trying to make themselves out as heroes!
By these figures The Rwanda figures of 800,000 civilian deaths from a population of 5-6 million is fairly obviously genocide, as were, one suspects, the Chechen wars. The Israeli – Hamas (Palestinian) conflict is obviously an extreme urban based war with underground tunnels at multiple levels. Hamas undoubtedly, as proven by the verbal and photo presented evidence, is using several illegal methods of shielding their terrorists. With Hamas figures, a total of 30,000 are dead, and, with Israeli figures 12,000 of those are Hamas soldier deaths. Both sides publicly question the figures presented by the opposition. If accepted they give a ration of 3/1.2 civilian to army. Certainly, that isn’t genocide, and I don’t believe the figures are totally honest.
How much help do the Hamas get? Hamas gets many instruments of war sent in ‘free’ by Iran. Some of the surrounding nations are paid to be actively involved (eg Hezbollah in Lebanon) and are stocked up, armament-wise, by the same nation which uses Hamas as an extended arm of their anti-Jewish hatred. UN aid to Gaza adds up to many billions. Has any of this AID money been used by Hamas in preparing for war?
The Battle cry ‘The river to the sea’, conceptually embedded in Hamas’ constitution, is absolutely disgusting. It is a statement of genocidal intent!
The non-Hamas-aligned Palestinians have my heartfelt sympathy. They are living in an environment of hatred; they have been educated to hate and destroy; they are being used as tools by an evil terrorist regime. I find it surprising that there are any Gazans not aligned with Hamas as I read the educational material taught in UNWA controlled schools. In polls taken inside Gaza, Hamas is well supported and thus in fact it is uncertain how many Gazans are not siding with Hamas.
The Israelis don’t need me (I’m a retired surgeon) to go there, although they may need soldiers from elsewhere. If I was 40 years younger, and if I could persuade Hamas to have a hospital apart from their war extensions inside the hospital, I would go to Gaza to offer my help. My required situation would be relatively easily provided, with an army field hospital and I cannot see any reason why the UN or the USA couldn’t supply it. Surely MSF would be happy to supply other staff unless they are committed to Hamas.
During a sensible and healthy discussion this week, I was ‘accused’ of being one-eyed. The person then went on to say that probably all of us are one-eyed, I think acknowledging that they were themselves. It got me to thinking about the issue. Where does sitting on the fence come into the argument? Sitting on the fence for too long gives one a severe pain in the area of pressure, particularly if the top strand is barbed wire! You must make decisions in life. But there are at least three varieties of one-eyedness. There are people who jump onto one side of the fence (or sometimes are born in that paddock) without ever seriously looking at what is on the other side of the fence – truly cycloptic. There are those who think hard and long, make a choice, get off the fence, and become almost hysterically committed not only to one side of the situation but are vitriolic against those in the other paddock – another form of cycloptic. Then there are those who get off the fence, standing on one side of it, but are honest enough to see the strengths of the other side of the argument – after all that is what we are really talking about! In other words, they know what side of the fence they want to be but seek to build a style over the fence so that there can be useful contact – bi-optic!
In the Israeli Gaza war there are many issues to cause disagreement but there are as far as I can root out several true facts. No doubt can you can list a few more.
Philistines lived in an area very similar to Gaza. Israel and the Philistines were frequently in war as Israel occupied the portion of Cana which the Bible indicates that God had promised Abraham. The Palestinians are not a continuation of the Philistine tribes, who are thought to be completely ended. As I understand it, Palestine (Syria Palestina) was named after the Philistines by the Romans (Hadrian) about 135AD. They changed it from Judea to rub it in the nose of the Jews who actually lived there and who were a thorn in the Romans’ side. The Philistines were already not in existence.
There has been continuing rumbling war between Israel and Gaza for years, but this war was started by, what is called by all honest people, a terrorist attack.
There is no doubt that billions of dollars given to Gaza, meant to help the people of Gaza, have been used to prepare for a war against Israel. Much of this money has been by the UN and Iran.
People are still called refugees whilst many are in their fourth generation in Gaza. The population of Gaza has grown from about half to seven and a half million in the past 70 years.
There is no doubt that Hamas has illegally involved both schools and medical facilities as a cover for war activities. As there is no doubt that Hamas has used, on a large-scale, humans as shields to stop Israel continuing its retaliatory war. This is a criminal act.
What country is ever expected to feed the country against which it is warring?
The war could stop in an instant if Hamas released the hostages (holding them is an illegal act) and surrendered.
There would still be many things to be sorted out.
The UN is horribly and in its daily acts anti-Israel. Look at UNWA’s history and the number of anti-Israel decisions which the UN makes compared to what it makes against the rest of the world! In 2023 the UN condemned Israel 14 times compared to the rest of the world 7 times. For instance, there was one against Russia for its invasion of Ukraine!
Organizations like Medicine without Frontiers have continued to work in government knowing that they are covering illegal Hamas activities.
The media is biased heavily against Israel.
You can see that in the fence between Hamas and Israel I have come down on the Israeli side. But note, and I don’t think that I am kidding myself, provided I didn’t have to work where Hamas were involved, I would be there helping the wounded Gazans. There is plenty of room for organizations like MSF to set up army style hospitals. Though I suspect that Hamas wouldn’t agree to it. I am not Jewish though I will confess that my wife has 12% DNA suggesting that she is; both of us are Christians by birth and by choice, and have worked amongst Muslim people medically.
For some years a group of us held the consultant posts in the major government hospital in our city. It was a big hospital (603 beds), but well away (1,500Km) from the capital, and relatively understaffed at the top level. I was a ‘come and go again’ member of the staff as I spent as much time in Ethiopia as Ethiopian politics and my health would allow. In 1976 when I joined the staff as Surgical Supervisor there were basically 3 general surgeons (the Medical Director was a surgeon but an Administrator (who only treated burns) several orthopaedic surgeons, an eye surgeon, and 2 Obstetrician/Gynaecologists, We had 3 senior anaesthetists and 3 general physicians. Gradually a few others were added. Several years later we got a neurosurgeon, a paediatric surgeon and several younger registrars graduated and joined the staff.
Yesterday was the funeral of the neurosurgeon. There was a huge audience with many family but also many people celebrating his bringing neurosurgery to the north of our state about a thousand by a thousand kilometres! (The state is huge!) My wife and I sat behind the paediatric surgeon and another surgeon both of whom I consider young guys, although in their 70s. I didn’t see him but I have good reason to believe there was a younger, now retired surgeon there and I saw a couple of younger, now older, anaesthetists.
One of the physicians is still alive (nearly 90 I think), an eye surgeon is unwell but alive in the capital city as is a healthy anaesthetist. But we three surgeons sitting together felt that we are the only 3 old brigade of surgeons. And I was there when one was a registrar and years before the other came! I hope for their sakes that I’ll be the next one to die. There is a certainty about death. It reminds me of a story that Jesus told about a guy called Lazarus and a beggar. Lazarus was filthy rich and very self-centred but his wealth didn’t allow him to avoid death. He woke up in hell. The story in the Bible (Luke 16: 19-31) gives several major issues to consider but relevant to this situation – talking across the divide of hell and ‘heaven’ he mentioned that he had relatives who lived as he had and he requested Father Abraham to send a dead guy back to warn them. There was a very powerful statement by Abraham – ‘Even if someone rose from the dead, they wouldn’t believe him!’ This weekend is Easter! He is Risen!
I’ve heard that doctors and nurses make the worst patients. I had nearly a month in hospital towards the end of last year. I had a very nasty reaction to a medication which my GP prescribed for me. Everyone was very nice to me apart from me being in a mixed ward where a fairly large (huge) lady liked to undress and scream – the screaming not exclusively but especially at night! I noted several things which were marked changes from my training in the 50’s and 60’s and from how I taught during my stay in Ethiopia. As you can see in the picture below they shaved my head and beard (although the beard is beginning to grow when this was taken!). The rash covered me top to bottom front and back (I was so thankful that it missed out the perineum!) – it was itchy but even much much much worse for me – it was like fire! At any rate I’m better now!
I was given several lotions to rub on the rash and the nurses (gloved of course) would apply it where I couldn’t do it for myself. But I couldn’t persuade anyone to give me strong pain relief as you would for a burn patient. I was very glad when after just over 3 weeks the fire went out. I got relief from hot showers which counteracted the burn. I think that the hospital would have had a huge water bill for that month! I had several other problems with heart, kidneys and lungs. So I had a number of doctors who made me feel a bit as if I was a collection of organs rather than a person – 2 dermatologists (one of whom actually touched me!), 2 geriatricians, a cardiologist, a chest guy, a urologist! I had 2 or 3 CT scans, 2 chest X-rays, 3 special heart studies, a couple of UltraSounds, a reading of my pacemaker, multiple blood tests (daily), a urine and a stool test, frequent (QID) blood pressure and oxygen monitoring. And just when I was about to leave one of the registrars listened to my heart, but through my clothes. Seriously everyone was very nice to me (except one nurse) but I felt that I was untouchable! How I would have loved someone to sit down, talk to me, and with their hands (no doubt hidden in gloves) examine me! Now 3 1/2 months after discharge I feel as if I’m as good as I was when I took that b…..y tablet!
It is several years since I have been involved in my Heatedstew blog. There have been good reasons for that. It was necessary to sell our farm and purchase and move into a suburb. Not surprisingly I’m getting older and there have been a number of health problems. I think that I am getting back onto more level ground. So here goes again!
A few months ago our house was tingling with excitement, and with very good reason. A young man was arriving from America, He’s very short having had both legs cut off when he was run over by a train. He is not one eyed but one armed, and he’s making a great success of his life! My wife and I had hoped to adopt him but our government refused. He was adopted into America where he lives and goes to University. He was on an American wheelchair rugby paralympic team in 2016 but now majors in wheelchair basketball.
Here he is as a young teenager playing outside his adopting parents home in America (??2009).
There are some excellent Ethiopian surgeons, a rare one is not! Accordinging to the boy when he woke after the accident (he was run over by a train when he was doing something maybe considered necessary to survive but stupid and dangerous) he still had both knees and several fingers. His amputations are just below his hips and his elbow. Length is very important for making prostheses work, but I assume that as a poor countryside kid they were looking to make him a successful beggar. This surgeon was in the ‘bad’ group!
When I met him he was still in hospital after his initial surgery. I was told that he was due for discharge back onto the street where he had been living. I immediately asked permission to take him home with me. His amputations were not well done and on his left stump the bone end had not been smoothed and the spicules of the non-well rounded bone end, not covered with muscle were sticking into the skin and he was in agony with every slight movement. As he was not living with his family – his dad was dead and his mother ill – he had been a street kid and there was trouble getting permission to take him home with me.
He at that stage knew no English. But in my very average knowledge of Amharic we got on ok. ‘Do you have to pee at night?’ I asked as if the answer was ‘yes’ I’d have to get up and carry him. ‘No’ he said. ‘Good’ I thought! ‘Do you wake up with horrible nightmares?’ I asked. His reply absolutely staggered me. ‘There is a God in heaven and I’ve put myself into His hands.’ he said.
The weather was drizzly and as we came near Addis the mud thrown up by other vehicles made it necessary to use the windscreen wipers and washers. He had as far as I know never been in a car before, although he was pretty streetwise. When the water was squirted onto the window he asked me where that came from? I said ‘There are two little boys under the hood and I give them a shock and they pee for me.’ A horrified gasp, followed by a healthy laugh ‘Now tell me the truth.’ I knew then that we would get on!
He had several trips into hospital in Addis to have his amputations made more appropriate. He stayed with my wife in Ethiopia for a year while she taught. I was diagnosed with cancer and had to come back to Australia for surgery. Then I returned to Ethiopia and we three made arrangements for a medical visa for him to come here for prostheses but the Australian Government wouldn’t allow us to adopt him. We still consider him as a ‘son’.
Heated Stew 