Videos abound of the first lady, and also the president, visiting wounded soldiers, families of martyrs, cancer patients, and impoverished Syrians, greeting them with hugs and kisses to their cheeks. It was my crash course. But for her, how could she, for example, delay a child from getting treatment for a hearing aid, or delay a patient from getting medical care, “simply because I was feeling tired.”.Most people who have had a cold or flu would stay home during their illness, justifiably so. "Now, with the coronavirus, everything has shut down, and work at private clinics has stopped so you are only left with the public job," he explained.El-Rabii has worked at Gaza's main hospital, Shifa, for the last 10 years. "Mostly, we got 40% of our salaries. Najla wants to be a lawyer and “give justice to the Palestinians”. This is the case for Syrians now.”.I asked about importing the materials needed for local manufacturing. This makes the doctor look for extra work at private clinics and hospitals," he said.Before he caught the virus, el-Rabii used to work 24 hours in full personal protective equipment in the sweltering summer heat. Few people can move in and out of the territory, and Hamas placed anyone returning to Gaza into mandatory quarantine centers for three weeks.Before last month, the handful of Gaza's coronavirus cases were confined to the isolation facilities. Some of them burned tires, in the hope the smoke would provide cover for saboteurs to destroy and cross the border fence, and threw grenades, pipe bombs and stones at Israeli troops. The film ends on a day like many other days in Rafah, with death - except that on this day, the fallen victim happens to be the man making this film.There's a problem loading this menu right now.Occupation 101 - Voices of the Silenced Majority.To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Immediately after leaving, however, I did jot down as many notes about our conversation as I could recall, and will do my best to do justice to what Asma al-Assad said, sometimes quoting her but in general paraphrasing her words.Also, while I wish to express the respect she deserves in her role as the first lady, and whereas most would call her Your Excellency, I’m also aware that she isn’t fond of titles and fanfare, one of many traits evidencing her humility. Since April 2014, she has visited Syria 12 times. Nor do people know how or when the economy will improve.The shattered economy is largely a product of ten years of terrorism, war, the sanctions, and,, particularly oil. Starting out in the city of Nablus (where as many as 80 percent of suicide bombing plots are planned), James Miller and Saira Shah ended up in the Gaza town of Rafah, one of the most dangerous cities in this volatile region. I would just tag along with one of the many programmes being run in the rural areas. Young people want to leave, to find work or study abroad. She is also keen to encourage people in general, especially children, including her own, to think for themselves.We are trying to encourage young people to ask questions and think critically, which should be in line with democracy and freedom of opinion…”,Encouraging critical thinking and questioning of everything are traits that make for a more open society. The award rightly was given to the amazing journalist, the late Robert Parry [see his work on Consortium News]. Thus, to find middle ground I will either refer to her as the first lady or Asma al-Assad.Finally, although I’ve begun this essay with focus on Asma al-Assad and her character, what follows is really about Syria, through her eyes, and at some points my own. In 2017, she was short-listed for the prestigious Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism. Alaa Asawafiri, a 26-year-old woman who was part of a group of women shouting towards the fence, was shot in the stomach and hospitalised in critical condition.During the protests, the IDF used live fire, leading to 52 Gazan fatalities and injuring more than 1200 (according to Gaza health officials), making it "the bloodiest day in Gaza since the end of the.The IDF said three of those killed had attempted to plant explosives at the border fence, and that in two incidents Israeli troops opened fire after they were shot at.Hamas political bureau member Salah al-Bardawi said that 50 of the 62 killed in the protests from 14 to 15 May were Hamas members – adding that these were "official numbers", though he did not specify whether they were members of Hamas' armed or political wing.This statement started a diplomatic row between Turkish and Israeli leaders, causing the.Protest organizers declared a day of mourning for those killed on the prior day.A group of Palestinians crossed the border fence on 22 May and set fire to an abandoned IDF post near.Some 1,600 Gazans attended the weekly Friday protests in two locations on 25 May.