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An Israeli physician who reported abuses against Palestinian detainees described the conditions at the Sde Teiman centre for Gazans in southern Israel, as evidence that severe human rights abuses have taken place at the centre piles up.
The source told The National they felt “complicit in war crimes” after a visit to a field hospital attached to the centre.
Sde Teiman holds "terrorist suspects," most of whom are thought to be classified as unlawful combatants, which allows Israeli authorities to bypass the rights afforded to prisoners of war, according to NGO Physicians for Human Rights Israel, which researches medical abuses at Sde Teiman. As one of the Israeli military's detention centres, it is intended to hold suspects for a maximum of 45 days before they are transferred to the prison service or released.
“Once we got inside, we were immediately asked to speak anonymously. Each physician should not ask the name of other physicians,” said the source. “There were maybe 15 beds on the side of the tent. One thing you noticed was that everything was relatively clean and very quiet.”
The physician said that every detainee had “each arm and leg handcuffed to the sides of the bed”. Every one was blindfolded, and “all the patients I interacted with were naked besides a diaper [nappy] and a fleece blanket for little warmth. Besides that, they were completely exposed,” said the source, who is one of many whistleblowers.
“The thing I recall the most is dealing with blindfolded patients. You don’t look them in the eye, it’s just someone lying on a bed, unable to move, unable to see. You don’t talk to him, you don’t ask him how he’s doing, you just ask if he has pain.”
A report released in April by Physicians for Human Rights Israel said the field hospital at the centre was set up because civilian hospitals in Israel refused to admit Gazan detainees after the war broke out in October.
It said that “medical staff working in [Sde Teiman] face a significant risk of committing severe violations of medical ethics” and that the centre should be closed. It is unclear how many detainees have passed through.
Israel's Channel 12 recently published a video that purportedly showed soldiers sexually assaulting a detainee, an incident that the US State Department described as “horrific”. It was the latest example of alleged abuse at the facility, which is causing disquiet in Israel’s medical community, the source said.
Although the physician was critical of many colleagues who appeared to tolerate abuse, they drew attention to an open letter signed by more than 1,300 medical professionals calling for Sde Teiman to be closed. Despite that, the source still believed the wider medical profession was complicit in war crimes.
“If you accept something like Sde Teiman as a physician, it means you are setting the bar as low as it can get.”
The source, who treated Israeli patients during the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, said that “it’s not easy to treat someone who you know could have done the worst things imaginable. All of us were extremely emotionally charged.”
“I think that you still need to recognise that there’s some humanity in someone you might consider your enemy. I think October 7 doesn’t justify by any means breaking medical ethics.”
Also in August, Israeli legal experts called on the public to stand by the country’s judicial system amid anger that military authorities are investigating five soldiers accused of sexually abusing a Gazan detainee at Sde Teiman.
Despite the severity of the allegations, scores of campaigners and politicians have criticised legal officials and called for the investigations to stop. Demonstrators have gathered outside the home of Israel's military advocate general Maj Gen Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, prompting police to increase her security. Crowds even broke into Sde Teiman soon after the arrests were made at the end of last month.
“I think I’ve lost almost all hope of change coming from within Israel,” said the source.
“I hope that external pressure might get Israel to change some of its ways. I don’t think Israeli physicians are above judgment or above public opinion and the discourse you find today. We’re very much part of it.”
MATCH INFO
Everton 2 (Tosun 9', Doucoure 93')
Rotherham United 1 (Olosunde 56')
Man of the Match Olosunde (Rotherham)
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1st Test: Brisbane, Nov 23-27
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3rd Test: Perth, Dec 14-18
4th Test: Melbourne, Dec 26-30
5th Test: Sydney, Jan 4-8
Elvis
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Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
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F1 The Movie
Starring: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Javier Bardem
Director: Joseph Kosinski
Rating: 4/5
Key facilities
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- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
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- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
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- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Email sent to Uber team from chief executive Dara Khosrowshahi
From: Dara
To: Team@
Date: March 25, 2019 at 11:45pm PT
Subj: Accelerating in the Middle East
Five years ago, Uber launched in the Middle East. It was the start of an incredible journey, with millions of riders and drivers finding new ways to move and work in a dynamic region that’s become so important to Uber. Now Pakistan is one of our fastest-growing markets in the world, women are driving with Uber across Saudi Arabia, and we chose Cairo to launch our first Uber Bus product late last year.
Today we are taking the next step in this journey—well, it’s more like a leap, and a big one: in a few minutes, we’ll announce that we’ve agreed to acquire Careem. Importantly, we intend to operate Careem independently, under the leadership of co-founder and current CEO Mudassir Sheikha. I’ve gotten to know both co-founders, Mudassir and Magnus Olsson, and what they have built is truly extraordinary. They are first-class entrepreneurs who share our platform vision and, like us, have launched a wide range of products—from digital payments to food delivery—to serve consumers.
I expect many of you will ask how we arrived at this structure, meaning allowing Careem to maintain an independent brand and operate separately. After careful consideration, we decided that this framework has the advantage of letting us build new products and try new ideas across not one, but two, strong brands, with strong operators within each. Over time, by integrating parts of our networks, we can operate more efficiently, achieve even lower wait times, expand new products like high-capacity vehicles and payments, and quicken the already remarkable pace of innovation in the region.
This acquisition is subject to regulatory approval in various countries, which we don’t expect before Q1 2020. Until then, nothing changes. And since both companies will continue to largely operate separately after the acquisition, very little will change in either teams’ day-to-day operations post-close. Today’s news is a testament to the incredible business our team has worked so hard to build.
It’s a great day for the Middle East, for the region’s thriving tech sector, for Careem, and for Uber.
Uber on,
Dara
MATCH INFO
Europa League final
Who: Marseille v Atletico Madrid
Where: Parc OL, Lyon, France
When: Wednesday, 10.45pm kick off (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
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GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
'Nope'
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
