Associate Editor

Dr. Hiyam Marzouqa, a pediatrician at Caritas Baby Hospital in Bethlehem, said his facility needs more pediatricians with subspecialties, including cardiology, gastroenterology and hematology.

The medical needs identified by Dr. Hussein Elyan, a hematologist at Beit Jala Hospital, also in the West Bank, are even more extensive. Elyan said his hospital lacks "state-of-the-art drugs," modern diagnostic equipment, and even a blood bank "which could potentially save many lives."

The laundry lists assembled by these two Palestinian doctors were not presented to an official of the Palestinian National Authority or even a United Nations functionary responsible for Mideast refugee care. Rather, their requests were directed to an 81-year-old Jewish businessman from Washington, D.C. His name is Leo Kramer, and his long-standing involvement in international politics and commerce has just taken a fresh twist.

The founder of KAI Corp., a District-based business specializing in global trade and marketing, Kramer is spearheading what he believes is an unprecedented effort to improve medical care among Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

The cross-border humanitarian undertaking was originated by Israeli Maj. Gen. Yossef Mishlev, the coordinator of Israeli government activities in Palestinian areas. Mishlev and the physicians recently selected Kramer to chair a committee charged with identifying specific Palestinian medical-care needs, formulating a plan to meet those needs and raising enough money to implement the plan.

Kramer said the entire project will cost will cost at least $100 million. Although the major fund-raising push has barely begun, he said, "I think we can raise that." As of early this week, Kramer said he has garnered about $50,000 of an estimated $250,000 in start-up funds.

"It's a wonderful thing for a Jew to do," added Kramer, who emphasized that a jointly initiated upgrade in medical care among Palestinians can benefit Israelis, as well, by demonstrating that cooperation between the two peoples is possible.

The first step in implementing the program was assembling a group of 20 doctors, half of them Palestinian and half Israeli, to triage medical needs on the far side of the Green Line, the border separating Israel proper from the West Bank, Gaza and other Palestinian areas. That meeting took place on March 6 at Hadassah Ein-Karem Hospital in Jerusalem.

"I trust them as doctors, and I didn't ask what their political affiliations were," said Kramer, who has participated in several Mideast peace initiatives over the years. "When people come together like that to make a difference, it's wonderful. There are good people everywhere, but not enough of them."

The Palestinian and Israeli doctors suggested focusing attention on several areas (in addition to those mentioned above), including the treatment of children with cancer, continuing education programs for doctors and other professional and para-professional staffers, bone marrow transplants, preventing the spread of bird flu, treating pediatric developmental problems such as muscular dystrophy, providing pediatric dialysis and catheterization and procuring more sophisticated equipment (such as a microscope for neurosurgery).

Kramer said he is intent on avoiding the "blame game" and thus politicizing the issue. Still, he said deficiencies in medical care in the West Bank and Gaza can be traced primarily to Israeli-imposed restrictions that impede the flow of goods and services across the Green Line as well as funding cutoffs from both the United States and Israel that began last year when the terrorist group Hamas won control of the Palestinian government.

"I try to teach the Palestinians not to think of it as hate, but as indifference," Kramer said of the restrictions.

Asked how he might try to circumvent such impediments, Kramer said he will not do business with Hamas, "but I will talk with them. I don't break laws, but I might try to get them changed or adjusted."

Kramer said those who assert that the Palestinians are partially to blame for their medical-care woes due to internal corruption and financial incompetence are attempting to absolve Israel of its responsibility to help rectify the situation. "That's political name-calling," he said. "According to the Torah, you can't not do what's right because the other guy is not doing good."

Abraham Foxman, national director of the Anti-Defamation League, characterized Kramer as a visionary and lauded his efforts to upgrade health care in the territories. "I endorse this program; it is real and serious and honest," he said. "Leo is one of those people in the community who can not only focus on the big issues, but how they affect real people on the ground."

However, Foxman said it is "nonsense" to contend that the Palestinians are essentially blameless for substandard medical care in their midst. "Both parties are at fault," he added, referring also to the Israelis. "The corruption in the Palestinian Authority has permeated everywhere, and I wish we could say that the Palestinian medical establishment has been immune."