Volunteers flock to hospitals to console Gazans

Strangers give money and toys to war victims

CAIRO (Marwa Awad)

A mix of dialects filled the hospital rooms and corridors of Nasser and Hilal hospitals in Cairo as a stream of Egyptians came to offer what little they had to the hospitalized victims of Israel’s offensive in Gaza in a show of solidarity and compassion that transcended politics.

In a country where the average monthly income ranges from $100 to $300, Egyptian generosity towards the Palestinian patients was a clear example of the camaraderie many Egyptians feel with their beleaguered neighbors.

Ridah Shihata, Egyptian volunteer

Most of the volunteers came from the lower and middle classes; students, laborers, housewives and professionals trek to Cairo’s hospitals day after day, between jobs and classes, hoping to alleviate some of the suffering of the hundreds of amputees, white phosphorus victims and other injured Gazans who fill the hospital beds across the city.

A group of Egyptian men wearing the checkered Palestinian Kefaya around their necks ran from room to room, handing out extra blankets and passing around free phone cards so patients could call their families in Gaza.

One of the men, entered a room, kissed a Palestinian amputee on the forehead and tucked an envelope containing money under his pillow.

Ridah Shihata, 52, heads an informal group of Egyptian volunteers from an electric company who have made it their mission to visit all the hospitals in Cairo to provide for Palestinian patients in any way possible.

“We are here to assure our brothers and sisters from Gaza that we stand by their side in these difficult times,” Shihata told AlArabiya.net.

Volunteers network with businesses

Dargham Wadhan, Gaza war victim

Shihata said that they visit the injured every few days, make a list of their needs and reach out to members of their community for donations and to pool resources.

“We have a network of businessmen who donate necessary commodities to hospital patients. Last week, we bought 150 shirts at wholesale price and distributed them to the war victims across different hospitals,” he told AlArabiya.net

“Now we are working to get air mattresses for those Palestinian family members accompanying their injured loved ones,” he added.

“People here really feel what Palestinians are going through,” said Dargham Wadhan, a 26-year-old Palestinian medic who lost his arm in an Israeli airstrike on an ambulance that was transporting wounded Palestinians to al-Shifaa hospital in Gaza.

“They keep saying they are our brethren and what ails us ails them,” he told AlArabiya.net.

Rifaa Ali, Egyptian taxi driver

Israel’s war on Gaza, killed more than 1,300 Palestinians and injured 5,000 in the span of 22 days, while air strikes conducted despite unilaterally-declared ceasefires has meant the death toll continues to mount. Thirteen Israelis were killed during the offensive and one soldier died in a border explosion on Tuesday.

“Allah is the Greatest, May He make you and your people victorious. Have patience,” Rifaa Ali, an Egyptian taxi driver and one of the many Egyptians coming to pay their respects to those injured by the Israeli offensive in Gaza said to a weeping Palestinian woman as she lay in the hospital bed.

Ali carried with him a bag of toys and an envelope with some money; he could not visit the hospital empty handed.

“I have three children. When I told my youngest son about Palestinian boys his age lying injured in the hospital, he gave me one of his toys as a present to one of them,” Ali told AlArabiya.net, adding that he also gave money to three Palestinian war victims.

Brave heroes

Salma Mohsin, university student

Many Egyptians say that Gaza’s wounded are brave heroes. Hundreds of visitors flock to Nasser hospital in downtown Cairo every day, taking flowers, toys, cell phone cards and envelopes of cash to express their support of Palestinians.

Two doors down, a group of Egyptian university students from Cairo University were consoling a Palestinian grandmother accompanying her seven-year-old grandchild Noor, who had brain surgery two weeks ago.

Noor Rafih Khalil was playing in her room when an Israeli helicopter bullet penetrated the walls of her home and struck her head, cracking her skull open.

Salma Mohsin, 23, told AlArabiya.net that she visits the sick once a week to assure them during times of war. She considered these visits a spiritual and religious duty.

“This is certainly a good spiritual exercise for me. I learn to not take my health and life for granted when I see my brothers and sisters across the border suffer as they do,” she said.

Sumaya Hatem, university student

Her friend, Sumayah Hatem, said visiting the sick is a tradition of the prophets and a Muslim duty.

“All prophets visited the sick to console them. Prophet Muhammad instructed the umma to visit the sick regardless of their faith or background,” she explained.

Noor’s grandmother, who declined to give her name, expressed deep gratitude for these visits, saying that they gave her and Noor moral support.

“I thank these sisters for taking the time to visit us. They are truly blessed,” she told AlArabiya.net.


* This is Part II in a three part series. Part III will investigate the human toll caused by the white phosphorus bombs used by Israel during the war. Part I examined the injuries and human toll of the war on Gazans being treated in Egyptian hospitals.