Fathi Arafat

摘要

Fathi Arafat was the founder and president of the Palestinian Red Crescent, He was much less well known in the West than his brother Yasser, but was a redoubtable figure among the Palestinian people. Despite his protests to the contrary, from lime to time he undoubtedly ― and perhaps inevitably ― strayed from medicine to politics. Nevertheless, even the Jerusalem Post described him as "apolitical." Trained in obstetrics and paediatrics, Fathi took a strong interest in the mental health of survivors of the carnage that has been wrought across the Middle East in recent years, claiming that Israeli suppression of the intifadas had caused as many emotional casualties as physical ones. "Some children refuse to gel out of bed or even to go to the bathroom," he said. "They are afraid because they've seen their mother struck by a soldier, or their older brother taken away to jail." He was quick to add that Israelis were also suffering: "Think how their children feel when they see continuing violence. It is not good for their mental health, any more than for the Palestinian children."