Disabled Gaza baby lives in Israel hospital
RAMAT GAN, Israel (AP) In his short life, Palestinian toddler Mohammed al-Farra has known just one home: the yellow-painted childrens ward in Israels Tel Hashomer hospital.
Born in Gaza with a rare genetic disease, Mohammeds hands and feet were amputated because of complications from his condition, and the 3 ½-year-old carts about in a tiny red wheelchair. His parents abandoned him, and the Palestinian government wont pay for his care, so he lives at the hospital with his grandfather.
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Mohammeds plight is an extreme example of the harsh treatment some families mete to the disabled, particularly in the more tribal-dominated corners of the Gaza Strip, even as Palestinians make strides in combatting such attitudes.
It also demonstrates a costly legacy of Gazas strongly patriarchal culture that prods women into first-cousin marriages and allows polygamy, while rendering mothers powerless over their childrens fate.
Mohammed was rushed to Israel as a newborn for emergency treatment. His genetic disorder left him with a weakened immune system and crippled his bowels, doctors say, and an infection destroyed his hands and feet, requiring them to be amputated.
In the midst of his treatment, his mother abandoned Mohammed because her husband, ashamed of their son, threatened to take a second wife if she didnt leave the baby and return to their home in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis, al-Farra said. In Gaza, polygamy is permitted but isnt common. But its a powerful threat to women fearful of competing against newer wives.
http://www.boston.com/news/world/middle-east/2013/05/03/disabled-gaza-baby-lives-israel-hospital/bakb3MvDGLtkW4LLHaZ7FL/story.html