You can help Palestinian hospitals battle coronavirus

Update: April 2, 2020

Thank you for your help in this emergency

One of the best things about AFEDJ donors is the passion you feel for the people and institutions you support in the Holy Land. When the call goes out, you respond.

Thanks to your generous support of our appeal to help the Diocese of Jerusalem respond to COVID-19 outbreaks in the West Bank and Gaza, we wired $150,000 to Jerusalem this week. These funds provide critical emergency support to Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, St. Luke’s Hospital in the West Bank city of Nablus, and to Archbishop Suheil Dawani’s fund for COVID-19 response, which will be used to assist vulnerable people affected by the sudden collapse of the tourist industry in the region. As your additional donations come through, we will wire the funds as quickly as possible.

Salwa Khoury, the public relations director at St. Luke’s Hospital, told us, “We were very upset thinking about how we would begin to prepare the ward and the isolation unit for coronavirus patients and how we would buy the needed equipment. But then we received your email about the incoming emergency fund of $50,000. We read it with real happiness and gratitude because it gives us the hope for going forward in this critical time.”

Suhaila Tarazi, Director of Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, wrote to us, “On behalf of everyone at Ahli Arab Hospital, I would like to thank you for the grant to enable us to meet the new challenges of COVID-19. Indeed we are in dire need of the medical supplies that are essential to protect our patients and our staff, as much as we can, from the spread of the virus.”

Archbishop Suheil Dawani wrote to AFEDJ board chair, Bishop Greg Rickel of Olympia, “I greatly appreciate your unwavering support of our ministries here in the midst of this crisis. I can assure you that we will put these funds to immediate use as the needs are both pressing and dire…both for our hospitals’ work in stemming the pandemic and in our relief work among the larger population whose lives have been thrown into economic disarray. May God bless you and the work of our American friends.”

Our work in supporting our brothers and sisters in Palestine continues as the pandemic grows in the region. We are grateful for your prayers. We invite you to share the news of this need with your congregations, friends, and wider networks. And we welcome your financial gifts, large or small at www.afedj.org/give/give-online.

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March 22, 2020

Dear Friends,

Think about the overwhelming, life and death battle being waged against the coronavirus in the U.S. and other countries that have sophisticated public health systems.

Then think about Gaza. 

For a while it seemed that Gaza’s isolation from the world might protect its people from the virus. But the virus doesn’t respect closed borders. The first cases of COVID-19 in Gaza are now confirmed. The prospect of an unimaginable humanitarian tragedy in Gaza is real.

2.1 million people live in Gaza. This tiny strip of land is just 25 miles long and 7 miles across at its widest point. Gaza is one of the most densely populated places on earth. Its borders are closed, its sea coast blockaded. After years of war and conflict, much of Gaza remains in ruins. The sewage system is not functional, potable water is trucked in and electricity is on 3-4 hours a day. Poverty, food insecurity, record levels of unemployment and environmental degradation leave Gazans anxious, fearful and traumatized. 

Life in Gaza already is precarious and dangerous. The people of Gaza are trapped. The presence of the coronavirus in this crowded, impoverished strip of land quickly will become a full-blown crisis.

The Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem’s Ahli Arab Hospital is on the front line in Gaza. As Ahli Arab Hospital prepares for an unprecedented emergency, we are asking you to help.

Suhaila Tarazi, the director of Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza, told us last week,

“Social distancing and isolation of the infected is impossible for most Gazans. Families are large, often confined to a few rooms and live in close quarters with neighbors. We are preparing as best we can. We are training our staff, bringing on additional staff and changing the hospital layout to accommodate COVID-19 cases.

“We need protective clothing, respirator masks and equipment for staff, sanitizing supplies and triage tents. I thank all of our American friends for your help. Without your love and support we would be forced to close Ahli’s doors. Thank you for remembering us in Gaza. God’s blessing on you.”

The Diocese of Jerusalem owns and operates two charitable hospitals – Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza and St. Luke’s in the West Bank city of Nablus. Nablus and other West Bank cities have been in lockdown for weeks. St. Luke’s Director, Dr. Walid Kerry, said,

“We are under a state of emergency in all Palestine due to coronavirus. We appeal to you our dear American friends to help St. Luke’s respond to a COVID-19 outbreak by providing care and treatment for the neediest coronavirus  patients, and to enable us to get the needed medical equipment and supplies, medicines, protective gear and sterilization materials.

We are a charity hospital and barely cover our costs in normal times. God bless you and thank you for your friendship. Please continue praying for St. Luke’s Hospital.”

Suhaila and Walid are embodiments of Christian service. In a region where few Christians remain, they stand on our behalf, ready to do what they always do for the vulnerable Palestinians they serve. They will do what their faith asks of them. Continue to serve everyone, regardless of religion, nationality or ability to pay. 

During these days of tragedy and panic, we ask your prayers for Ahli Arab Hospital and St. Luke’s Hospital. And we ask for your gifts to support their heroic work. Please help us send a strong message to Suhaila and Walid and their teams that their brothers and sisters in America stand with them as they prepare to bravely confront this pandemic. 

We pray that you and your families are safe and well. We pledge to stay in touch with our friends in the Holy Land during these strange and anxious days and we will keep you updated. 

Thanks to your faithful support, Ahli and St. Luke’s will continue to serve, as they have for more than 100 years, as powerful examples of Christian witness in this troubled, overwhelmed region. With your help, desperate Palestinians will see a trace of light and hope at the doors of these remarkable ministries. 

It’s easy to give at our website. Please give generously. Please donate now.

Gratefully,

John Lent, AFEDJ Executive Director

Greg Rickel, AFEDJ Chair
Bishop of Olympia