Aussie Arabs back Rozana
THE mother of a Palestinian girl who inspired a multifaith charity, which fundraises for Palestinian healthcare and training programs at Israel’s Hadassah Hospital, has asked the Australian Arabic community for support.
THE mother of a Palestinian girl who inspired a multifaith charity, which fundraises for Palestinian healthcare and training programs at Israel’s Hadassah Hospital, has asked the Australian Arabic community for support.
Launched in Australia last month, Project Rozana is a joint initiative of Hadassah Australia and Anglican Overseas Aid.
Funds raised will go to the treatment of critically ill Palestinian children at Jerusalem’s Hadassah Hospital and train Palestinian doctors, psychologists and trauma counsellors from the Gaza Strip and West Bank to work in their communities.
Speaking to Australian Arabic-language newspaper Al-Mustaqbal, Palestinian journalist Maysa Abu Ghannam praised the skill and kindness of the doctors who saved the life of her daughter Rozana Sawalhi last year after she fell from an apartment building.
“The Israeli government supervises [Hadassah] hospital and there is not any difference between the [treatment] inhabitants of the area [receive],” Ghannam, who insisted Rozana receive treatment at Hadassah after her accident, told Al-Mustaqbal.
“There is no ethnic, racial or religious discrimination.
“All people are at the same level.
“My only daughter fell nine storeys from a window and all her body was broken, but because of the technology and skilled doctors available at Hadassah Hospital, she is now completely recovered.”
Ghannam told Al-Mustaqbal she was also grateful for the “excellent” treatment she herself received at Hadassah for breast cancer. She said she is now “fully recovered”.
“For all these reasons, I want to promote this important project and Hadassah’s work [to the Arabic community],” she said.
Al-Mustaqbal chief editor Joe Khoury told The AJN that readers had responded “very favourably” to the story.
“The reaction to the story has been very positive,” Khoury said.
“Hospitals and schools are important cornerstones for any community and should always be supported.
“I personally endorse [Hadassah’s] work 100 per cent and many readers have taken great interest in [Project Rozana].”
For more information, please visit http://www.projectrozana.org.
ALEXANDRA ROACH
President of Hadassah Australia Foundation, Ron Finkel speaking at Project Rozana’s Melbourne press conference. Photo: Peter Haskin.
comments