It is NOT Just Another Appeal

By the time you are reading this, you might have already received or will receive NAAMA’s appeal letter to raise funds for the “Emergency Medical Relief” to the Arab World.  This fund was initiated in response to the events in Tunisia and Egypt to quickly evolve to become widespread to include the whole region.

Of course, it is not unusual for NAAMA to call upon its members and friends to help in times of need.  But this time it is different.  The magnitude of needs in Libya, the intricacy of forecast in Syria, the inference of a resolution in Yemen or the lack of access in Bahrain adds a third dimension to any stand or effort taken by NAAMA.

NAAMA has always walked a fine line between being dragged into politics and maintaining our neutrality as a non political and non profit organization.  All statements issues in the past were carefully crafted to convey our concerns as medical professionals with a hint to our dismay and condemnation.  And many times neither stand was satisfactory to some of our members.  Many of you feel that words are not sufficient, or too direct.  But this is not what NAAMA is all about.

Regardless whether you are pro or against whatever is happening in our homeland today, and whether you call it a revolution or a conspiracy does not matter.  What matters is that your response to this appeal is a statement that humanity is at stake and whoever suffers from violence regardless of who is inflicting it deserves humane treatment and the right of dignified medical care.  In fact, this appeal helps us here as much as those overseas.  It gives a sense of activism to heal the helplessness despair that some of us are going through.  

A wise man once said “It is a thousand folds better to light a candle than to curse the darkness” by the same wisdom, it is more effective for NAAMA to find ways to help the victims than to condemn the slayer.

Let us all pray for peace.

To Go or not to Go …That is the Question

Ever since the first flame was sparked in Tunisia then started spreading east and west, Arabs everywhere in the world are watching in anticipation and apprehension as events evolve in our homeland.

We are glued everyday to our TVs with one hand on the remote control and another on our heart.  At work we gaze at our smart phones, tablets, Facebook pages or any device that can provide any more information on what REALY is happening.  We analyze and search for any hint or innuendo in our “coded” brief calls with our families back home looking for answers.   But, deep inside many of us wish that we can be there, whether consciously or subconsciously.

Amongst all this, rumors have been circulating for a while now, that NAAMA is canceling our yearly international medical convention held in Amman, Jordan this year.  And as much as these rumors are not true, they are undeniably justified in light of the unpredictable and fluid situation in the Arab World. 

Reports of empty hotels and meager tourist activities in the whole region especially in traditionally “hot” destinations are unquestionably direct consequences of the uncertainty and perceived safety risk for tourists. 

But, the difference is that WE ARE NOT TOURISTS.  When we as NAAMA members go to an Arab country, we are going HOME.

In the past decade, we held three of our conventions in Lebanon in spite of a 6 year long travel advisory, we conducted 6 post convention workshops in Palestine regardless of blockades and restrictions, in addition to countless humanitarian missions and charitable projects. So why is this year different?

   

Now many will argue that Jordan is currently calm, but can’t be predicted, and others will use cancelled family vacations to their other countries after as a justification.  But, the issue is that regardless of which country is safe and which is not, we need to go back home for the sake of our own safety and peace of mind.   

We need to go to be with our families in their most times of need.  We need to go to find out what is truly happening and how can we do to help as humanitarians.  We need to go to support our colleagues and extend a helping hand as professionals.  We need to go to comfort our friends and offer them a strong shoulder to cry on as humans. But above all, we need to go because we are Arabs first and Americans second. 

If we become tourists and turn our backs on them, then they have no one left.  If we don’t go, then who will?

p.s. NAAMA’s 33 International Medical Convention in Amman on June 25^th to July 1 with a post convention extension to Jerusalem from July 1- 3, 2011 is still happening as planned.  To register please go to www.naama.com.  I look forward to greet you personally in Amman soon.