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Life-Saver Sows Seeds of a Better Future between Israelis and Palestinians
(Globe and Mail-Canada) Patrick Martin - Suad Ghouti's sixth child, nine-month-old Abdel-Rahman, had a serious heart defect, and the family's specialist in Gaza told her the only place the boy could receive the surgery he needed was in Israel. But in the religiously conservative and militant city of Rafah where many senior Hamas leaders were born and raised, Israel is regarded as the enemy. Putting your son's life in the hands of "the Jews" was highly risky and politically inappropriate. An Israeli non-governmental organization called Save a Child's Heart has performed heart surgeries on more than 2,600 children from around the region at no cost to the patients or their families. Some 48% of the children are Palestinian. While SACH's staff and volunteers are almost entirely Jewish, about 90% of the children treated are Muslim.