This is a recurring theme. Palestinian leaders yell and scream about Israel and call for boycotting Israel (which in reality is not possible for them since they use Israeli currency, electricity, etc.) - and even prosecute and persecute the average Palestinian if he/she does anything with Israel (like selling land to a Jew which is a capital punishment). Yet when they personally need Israel, suddenly there is no boycott, no sanctions, no impediments and no qualms.
The latest story involves Saeb Erekat, the Secretary General of the Executive Committee of the PLO and the former lead negotiator of the Palestinian Authority during the Oslo Accords. Erekat contracted COVID-19 and due to having received a lung transplant a few years ago, his case is quite serious. So who brought him in and took care of him? Israel of course. He is receiving top-of-the-line care at Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. Some of you may have been there before but not as a patient; as a tour guide of Israel I often bring people there to see the beautiful stained-glass windows in the synagogue which were made by Marc Chagall. https://www.timesofisrael.com/intubated-and-on-life-support-palestinian-adviser-erekat-undergoes-bronchostomy/
He is not the first one to receive treatment in an Israeli hospital and it cuts across party and ideological lines. When Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas' wife needed treatment she came to Israel. When former Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh's daughter needed treatment, she was brought to Israel. Of course, perhaps if they spent their money on building top hospitals and not paying them to the families of "martyrs" or those in Israeli jails for terrorism - or on weapons, tunnels, etc. - they could have top level hospitals in their own areas.
Israeli hospitals, by the way, are the perfect place for anyone who thinks that Israel is an apartheid state. There you will see Jewish and Arab doctors and nurses working side-by-side with Jewish and Arab patients in the same rooms together. One anonymous Palestinian leader who was treated for cancer at Haifa's Rambam Hospital actually gave a sizable donation to the hospital in recognition of this very fact.
The sad truth about all of this is that the Palestinian Authority refused to accept two shipments of coronavirus aid that came from the United Arab Emirates via Israel - months before the peace deal was announced - all because Israel was involved. This included ventilators, etc. which could have been used to help people like Erekat. Even more so, they "canceled the arrangements by which Palestinians needing medical treatment not available in PA areas can be transferred to Israeli hospitals." But for Palestinian leaders, of course, that ruling is irrelevant...
For a great take on all this, click here:
Erekat, meanwhile, is a proponent of the "pay for slay" program of the Palestinian Authority, in which terrorists receive money for killing Jews. The amount actually increases, the more people one has killed. Whenever the Palestinian Authority faces budget shortfalls, civil servants - teachers, doctors, etc. - can find their salaries being halved, but the one group whose benefits never get cut, are the "martyrs." A scathing rebuke of Harvard University for offering him a position this past September can be found here: https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/287115
The fascinating thing is that the Palestinian leadership is getting lambasted in the Arab World for this. https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/hypocrite-arab-media-mocks-palestinian-official-for-seeking-israeli-help/
I believe Israel is doing the right thing in treating him. But it should never had to come to this, and for that Erekat himself is much to blame.
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