Doctor honours his oath

2010/06/07
By V. Shuman

Dr Syed Muhammad Haleem Syed Hassan says he did not hesitate to treat injured Israeli soldiers

SEPANG: Treating the "enemy" was not a problem for Dr Syed Muhammad Haleem Syed Hassan as his responsibility as a doctor goes beyond any form of hatred towards the Israeli commandos who had stormed their humanitarian aid ship.

The doctor accorded medical treatment to two Israeli soldiers -- one who was shot in the leg and another in the abdomen -- as he did to his fellow comrades.

Relating his experience at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport yesterday, Dr Syed Muhammad Haleem said he was in the middle deck of the aid ship MV Mavi Marmara when Israeli commandos stormed the ship.

"There were sounds of gunshots and soon, the whole deck became a makeshift hospital with the dead and wounded people everywhere.

"It was then that my colleagues brought the two soldiers for treatment. I did so without hesitation because if they were not treated, they might have bled to death," said Dr Syed Muhammad Haleem, who joined the flotilla as a member of the pro-Palestine Malaysian non-governmental organisation Haluan Malaysia.

He added that he watched two people take their last breath on the deck -- a memory he said would haunt him forever.

Another volunteer, Mohd Nizam Mohamad Awang, said he had mixed feelings about having safely reached home, as he "should be in Gaza helping my fellow Muslims who are being unjustly punished by the Zionist regime".

The engineer, who is also a member of Haluan, said he was not surprised when they came under the Israeli attack as he had physically and mentally prepared himself to deal with any kind of situation.

"God willing, I will be going back to Gaza soon," said the father of four children, aged between 7 and 14.

His wife, Wan Haliza Abd Majid, 44, said the youngest boy, Ahmad Ziyad, found out about his father's predicament through news reports on television and asked when he was returning home.

"He asked me 'What will I become without my father?', which broke my heart but I reassured him that his father would return.

"His elder siblings got constant updates about the situation in Gaza via the Internet but Ahmad Ziyad depended on me for strength. I'm so glad my husband is back home safely," said the university lecturer.

About her husband's willingness to return to Gaza, she said: "If that is his wish, who am I to stop him?"

Sumber http://www.nst.com.my/