Tuesday, August 14, 2007

PBS is Still in Gaza

Here's the NYTimes review of a new PBS 'documentary': In Gaza, Even a Hospital Is a Battlefield

“Gaza E.R.,” by Olly Lambert, looks at the goings-on inside Shifa Hospital, the largest in the Gaza Strip, over the last eventful year or so. American hospitals may be maddening in many ways, but at least heavily armed thugs aren’t generally trying to bully doctors in the hallways. At least gun battles aren’t regular occurrences.

The film, which picks up a few months after Hamas came to power in early 2006, captures such episodes and more, as various factions and families carry their disputes inside the hospital when their wounded are brought in for treatment. The hospital becomes a battleground even as it is running out of medicine and supplies, Hamas seeming not up to the task of governing.

...a 12-year-old boy who sells coffee and tea to patients and staff members to help his family get by. The youngster wins us over with his dedication and cute marketing gimmicks. Then, late in the film, as victims of an Israeli strike are being brought in, he is heard to say, “Sometimes I get to pick up the martyrs’ body parts.” His pride is evident, and so is the likelihood of an ever-bleaker future for this part of the world.

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