Eyad al-Sarraj
Eyad El-Sarraj (April 27, 1944 − 17 December 2013[1]) was a pioneering Palestinian Gazan psychiatrist. He was a consultant to the Palestinian delegation at the Camp David 2000 Summit. He was a recipient of the Physicians for Human Rights Awards. He was featured in a book about Palestinian female suicide bombers, Army of Roses. In the Palestinian elections of 2006, he headed the Wa'ad list. He died at an Israel hospital, Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem where he received treatment for over a month.[2]
Biography
Eyad El-Sarraj was born in Beersheba, Mandatory Palestine to a Palestinian Arab Muslim family. His family arrived in the Gaza Strip as refugees in 1948 .[3]
On 29 June 2009 Dr El-Sarraj appeared before the United Nations fact finding mission into Operation Cast Lead. He appeared as a witness on behalf of the "Gaza Community Mental Health Programme." stating that 20% of the children in Gaza suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorders.[4][5]
The "Gaza Community Mental Health Programme" (GCMHP) was founded by Dr al-Sarraj, and has 40 members on staff.[6]
El-Sarraj was President of Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace International,[7] and a member of many other health organizations.[8]
Sarraj wrote a personal reflection in 1997 about "Why We Have Become Suicide Bombers: Understanding Palestinian Terror" in which he delineated several factors including living "under Israeli occupation." Among other things, he wrote, it means travel restrictions, having an undefined nationality, being asked to spy on your family, dealing with checkpoints, being belittled, and seeing the prophet being humiliated.[9]
Sarraj was concerned about the "mental health damage caused by political oppression and challenged both Israeli and Palestinian abuses", having been jailed at various times by both Israel and by Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority.[10]
El-Sarraj was diagnosed with Lukemia and sought medical treatment at Hadassah Hospital Medical Center in Israel. He died on December 18, 2013.[11]
References
- ↑ http://www.maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=657912
- ↑ Prominent Palestinian human rights campaigner dies
- ↑ Michael R. Fischbach, 'El Sarraj, Eyad (1944–)', Biographical Encyclopedia of the Modern Middle East and North Africa, 1 January 2008. Accessed 4 June 2012. – via HighBeam (subscription required)
- ↑ Goldstone Report: A/HRC/12/48 15 September, page 349, para 1255
- ↑ web cam of Dr al-Sarraj's evidence
- ↑ http://www.gcmhp.net/en/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=190&Itemid=100 GCMHP About Us
- ↑
- ↑ http://www.maannews.net/arb/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=657912 The Death of Dr. Iyad Sarraj
- ↑ http://www.cie.ugent.be/Palestina/palestina43.htm Eyad Sarraj, "Why We have turned into Suicide Bombers: Understanding Palestinian Terror,"Just Commentary, no.3, September 1997, pp.1-2.
- ↑ http://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-me-eyad-serraj-20131219,0,6815702.story#ixzz2oCQnOVz5 Eyad Sarraj Obituary
- ↑ http://www.latimes.com/obituaries/la-me-eyad-serraj-20131219,0,6815702.story#axzz2oCO4XSgT Eyad Sarraj Obituary
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