Mahmoud Qab, 71

My wife, Fawziya, 66, and I lived in the eastern section of Deir al-Ghuson. On 14 February, around 13:30 P.M., my wife said she felt a pain in her chest and left hand, and had trouble breathing. She sat on the bed and asked me to call a doctor. I called to a relative of mine who is a doctor, ‘Abd al-Fatah a-Dark, but I didn’t manage to talk with him. After that, I called the Palestinian Red Crescent Hotline, 101. I told them my wife was very weak and I gave them my address.

The clerk at the Red Crescent trauma department told me that an ambulance from Tulkarm would come to us and that we should get ready. It was about 1:45 P.M. A few minutes later, they called and said the ambulance couldn’t enter Deir al-Ghuson because the soldiers at al-Jarushiya Checkpoint aren't letting anyone cross. They ordered me to bring my wife by taxi to the checkpoint, and that the ambulance would wait on   the other side, by the Barakat Gas Station, a few meters from the checkpoint.

I called the taxi office of Deir al-Ghuson and asked them to send a taxi to come and take my wife to the checkpoint. The taxi came within less than five minutes. The driver, ‘Abd a-Rahman al-Qab, a relative of mine, and I put my wife into the taxi. We drove to the Jarushiya checkpoint. ‘Abd bypassed the many cars that were in line. We got there about 2:10. There were three soldiers standing near boulders that blocked the road, and alongside them was an army jeep. I got out and went over to them. I spoke with the one who looked as if he was in charge and told him my wife was in very bad condition. I pointed to the taxi she was in and told him that I wanted to take her to the hospital. The soldier was dark-skinned and of average build. I didn’t see him carrying a weapon. I begged him to let me take my wife across, but he said, “Let her die, let her die, it doesn’t interest me, it is forbidden to cross.”

I tried to kiss the chin of the soldier to get him to let my wife cross. I said, “For God’s sake, let me cross and take her to the ambulance,” but it didn’t help. He refused and told me to go back to where I had come from. I begged him for fifteen minutes and I realized the soldiers would not let me cross. My begging didn’t make them feel an ounce of compassion.

I decided to take my wife to another doctor. Within 2-3 minutes, we were at the home of Dr. ‘Azmi a-Zanabit. I called him to come to the taxi. He came with a stethoscope and instrument to check blood pressure. He checked her pulse, took her blood pressure, and gave her an injection. She was lying in the back of the taxi and couldn’t talk. The doctor checked her for 5-10 minutes, but they were apparently the last minutes of her life, because she was dead when we got home.
 
My wife and life partner did not receive a fair chance to get medical treatment because the soldiers prevented her from reaching the hospital. I am sure that if she had gotten to the hospital, she would have received proper treatment. The soldiers at the checkpoint didn’t have any human feelings. In an emergency, it is necessary to act according to the laws of heaven and ease the suffering of the sick, even at checkpoints.

Mahmoud Yusuf Mahmud Qab, 70, widower and father of six, is a pensioner and a resident of Deir al-Ghuson in Tulkarm District. His testimony was given to 'Abd al-Karim Sa’adi in Deir al-Ghuson on 15 February 2008.