Studies show that US coverage is Israeli-centric. The main bureaus for CNN, Associated Press, Time, etc. are located in Israel and often staffed by Israelis. The son of the NY Times bureau chief is in the Israeli army;"pundit" Jeffrey Goldberg served in the IDF; Wolf Blitzer worked for AIPAC. Because the U.S. gives Israel over $8 million/day - more than to any other nation - we feel it is essential that we be fully informed on this region. Below are news reports to augment mainstream coverage.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

PPS: “More Sick Detainees In Deteriorating Conditions”

IMEMC
A lawyer of the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS) visited a number of sick detainees imprisoned by Israel at a number of detention facilities, and stated that there is an increasing number of detainees who need medical attention but are deprived from this internationally guaranteed right.


The lawyer said that detainee Firas Yousef Qadri, 29, from Salfit, was injured in his eye after a soldier struck him while kidnapping him on February, 13, 2003.

He was sentenced to 17 years, and had one surgery at Al Maskobiyya prison, yet he lost vision in his eye as he was never sent a specialist.

... never received treatment for his pancreas infection.

.....Due to blood complications, he was hospitalized 4 to 5 times and the doctors performed several blood tests and other needed tests, but never informed him of the results. He was never given any medication besides vitamins.

....lost sight in his right eye due to repeated infections and the lack of medical treatment. He was kidnapped by the army on April 27 2004, and was sentenced to eight years.

He needs surgery in his right eye but the prison administration refused to authorize the surgery due to ‘financial considerations”. His family can only visit him once or twice a year due to Israeli security restrictions.

.... lost his sight in prison, and lost one of his feet. His health condition is gradually deteriorating...
... suffering from a psychological condition and is receiving some pills to calm him down. He is still detained without charges or trial and is seeing a psychologist in prison.

... a skin disease in his face but never received any specialized treatment. He was sent to the prison clinic several times, but his condition is deteriorating.

... notices blood in his urine. Prison doctors did not require him to do any tests for this issue and just told him that “he is fine”.

....shot in the neck before he was kidnapped by the army and is suffering from a heart condition.

.... there are more than 7400 Palestinian and Arab detainees currently imprisoned by Israel. The number is constantly changing due to ongoing arrests carried out by the army.

Head of the PPS, Qaddoura Fares, stated that there are more than 315 children and 34 women imprisoned by Israel. He added that the Israeli army kidnapped 2820 Palestinians in 2009. Full story