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Crossing Borders
Hartwell’s DVD tells a story of hope and hardship at Ahli Arab Hospital
[Episcopal Life] Sometimes it's not possible to cross a border. This was our experience, Ed and Karen Hartwell, members of St. James' Episcopal Church in Austin, Texas, when we tried to enter Gaza in April 2004, to visit the Ahli Arab Hospital, our designated partner in the Diocese of Jerusalem. We were in Jerusalem for an international Sabeel conference and we hoped to take back to our church community photos and stories of our visit as a first step to launching a fund drive for the hospital; but the violence taking place in Gaza that week had led to Israel's closing off all entry points.Disappointed but not ready to give up, Ed, a retired Episcopal priest celebrating his 50th anniversary of ordination that year, and his son Tom, a photojournalist in Cairo, came up with the idea of hiring a Palestinian cameraman living in Gaza to shoot film at the hospital. The three of us met with Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal, then bishop of the Diocese of Jerusalem, who endorsed the idea, and we filmed the bishop that day talking about the ministry and immense needs of the Ahli Arab Hospital.
Months later, a Palestinian cameraman with CNN sent Ed seven hours of film in the daily life of the busy hospital: patients of all ages arriving by bus from the nearby villages and refugee camps, the care provided by physicians and other health workers, the provision of food and drink for the families, the bustling Gaza City neighborhood where the hospital is located, and horrific footage of life, suffering, and death in an embattled part of Palestine. Ed watched all seven hours over and over again, identifying scenes best suited for the film. Most touching were the images of the children, some with normal childhood illnesses exacerbated by malnutrition, others wounded or in shock after a particularly destructive bombing. Throughout, the comforting voice of hospital director Suhaila Terazi conveyed a strong sense of Christian compassion and commitment to their patients, Muslim and Christian alike.
Editing was completed in 2006, thanks to the professional expertise of the University of Texas' film department and Austin's Elephant Productions, much of the work donated. Ed's role then shifted from producer to promoter and fundraiser. He has shown the film to numerous churches in the Central Texas area and mailed nearly 500 copies of the DVD to individuals and churches all over the U.S. and as far away as Egypt and Australia. Contributions continue to trickle in to St. James', which in turn wires the funds to the Gaza hospital.
The Rev. Dr. Greg Rickel, rector of St. James', supported the project from its inception. "We pray for this ministry at every service of St. James'," he says. "This film, the making of it, the viewing of it, the distributing of it, has changed us as a people of faith. Even as close as this ministry and project has been to our community, still, once people actually watch the heroic work of Ahli Arab Hospital, they cannot help but be transformed. I have been transformed and I give monthly to the work of this great ministry.
"I wrote this in the letter that we send with the DVDs and I believe it even more strongly now: 'I hope you will see in this short presentation the plight of this small, but persistent band of Christian people living in the heartland of our faith, who dwindle in numbers by the day. I hope you will see that Christians in the West share a complicity in this condition. I hope you will see ways you can get involved with solutions. I hope you will see that we, as the people of the earth, believers in a God that created us all in God's image, are only as strong, and only as faithful, as our weakest links. This presentation will surely reveal a place and a people nearly forgotten. I hope you will see this, and remember so that they are not forgotten.'"
Gaining entry into Gaza is still difficult. Since the 2004 violence, things have become even more desperate for Gazans and the hospitals that serve them. A 2006 bombing that took out Gaza's transformers and cut off electricity to the area continues to disable the work of the hospital. The recent collapse of sewerage tanks, Israel's continued holding of tax income after the 2006 democratic election of a majority of Hamas members to parliament, the closing off of traffic and commerce -- all these things and more increase the suffering of the Gazans and the militancy of the oppressed in a seemingly hopeless cycle of misery and violence.
In the midst of all of this, as the film title states, there is the "Ahli Arab Hospital, A Place of Healing in Gaza." At the conclusion of the film, Suhaila Terazi says to the viewers, "I am inviting those who love peace to come to the hospital to complete our mission of solidarity and share with us in the ministry of our Jesus Christ."
Crossing into Gaza is still difficult and dangerous, but through this DVD one can "virtually" cross the border to see the work of this mission of the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.