Gaza Facilities
* In “Davis Tackles Middle East Politics” (Oct. 28), Yasser Arafat is quoted as saying that no hospitals or schools have been built in Gaza in the last 30 years--that is, during the period when Israel administered the area. This is inaccurate; Gaza’s only university, Al-Ahzar University, was established in 1978 and the number of primary, preparatory and high schools nearly doubled between 1967 and 1994.
As for health facilities, the Israeli Civil Administration oversaw the addition of 26 community clinics in Gaza. (There were only three in 1970.) These clinics, providers of basic health needs, offer mother and child health services, family care units and pharmacies. Several offer around-the-clock facilities and emergency services and minor X-ray units. Under Israeli administration, the Shifa Hospital in Gaza City has been transformed into a modern medical center. It boasts a new dialysis department, a new building with 157 beds, a modern surgical suite, recovery and intensive care units, orthopedics, surgical and radiology departments. The Ophthalmic Hospital in Gaza City was renovated and reequipped in 1989.
TAMAR STERNTHAL
Senior Research Analyst
Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America
Boston
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