Palestine: the assault on health and other war crimes: "But about who's suffering worse--there's no argument"

doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7474.1101-b

BMJ 2004;329:1101-1102 (6 November), doi:10.1136/bmj.329.7474.1101-b

Letter

Palestine: the assault on health and other war crimes

"But about who's suffering worse—there's no argument"

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Few, including those responding on bmj.com, seemto dispute the mortality and morbidity statistics presentedby Summerfield.¹ Many respondents, however, dispute how hisdata should be interpreted.

To my mind, the most eloquent and precise interpretation ofthe Palestinian disaster was written by Derfner, a Zionist andJerusalem Post feature writer. In March 2004, he wrote: "Wecan argue with the Palestinians about who's to blame; but aboutwho's suffering worse—there's no argument. They are adestitute nation living in an elaborate prison under the gunsof the Israeli army. We are a bourgeois, well-travelled nationthat spoils its kids and, while being vulnerable to violentdeath by terror, is most vulnerable to violent death by trafficaccident."²

The elegance of Derfner's summation is that it reconciles Summerfield'sstatistics and the views of his antagonists. The subtext ofDerfner's summary is clear. He is asking the question: "Israeli. . . [Full text of this article]

A M Rouse, consultant

Heart of Birmingham Primary Care Trust, Birmingham B16 0PA andrew.rouse@hobtpct.nhs.uk

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