It's been a whirlwind trip that just didn't stop - we've gotten a lot to eat and not as much sleep as I'd like, but there just wasn't anything I would have wanted to miss. Our last morning was just as full as every one previous. First we went to the Augusta Victoria Hospital located in East Jerusalem, where we met Drs. Tawfiq Nasser and Jacob Assaf. Dr. Nasser is a Palestinian-Christian and Dr. Assaf an Israeli-Jew (whose actual hospital affiliation is with Hadassah in West Jerusalem). These two men were without a doubt the most inspiring of all that we've met. Dr. Nasser is the CEO of Augusta Victoria and in addition to running the hospital itself, he is committed (along with Dr. Assaf) to bringing quality health care to the Palestinians in the occupied territories. In addition to bringing mammograms and other important screenings to the Palestinian people (actually, bringing the Palestinian people to AV to be screened - including making bus arrangements that allow them dignity in the midst of the difficult border issues), they are training Palestinian doctors and sending them back into the territories to work with the people, thus providing them with both skills and opportunities for leadership. Their whole goal is to develop a win/win strategy, something that they do not see happening with the American political leadership. They agreed that what they are doing with and through the AV Hospital is not only providing great health benefits to the people, but perhaps the personal connections forged are even more important. It was a wonderful meeting, particularly after spending more than a week seeing and hearing about all the difficult aspects of the situation - and living in and through the developments along and within the Gaza Strip.
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