Great March injuries pushing Gaza's hospitals to brink of collapse

Staff in Gaza’s hospitals scramble to treat the Great Return March protesters who end up suffering infections and losing limbs

Palestinian Eyad Dawahid, 28, who was shot by Israeli forces during a protest calling for the right to return on the Gaza-Israel border, lies at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City on 10 April 2018 (AFP)

Halla al-Safadi-Thursday 3 May 2018

GAZA STRIP - The scenes at the emergency entrances at Gaza's hospitals are not for the faint-hearted. They have been especially dreadful on Fridays when the number of injured protesters participating in the Great March Return intensifies at the Gaza-Israeli border. 

Wailing ambulances rush into hospital emergency gates and bloody casualties who were given quick first aid treatment are pulled out of the vehicles, each person hoping to be saved and not fall victim to Gaza's poorly equipped hospitals. 

A Palestinian, who was wounded at the Israel-Gaza border, is carried into a hospital in Gaza City on 27 April 2018 (REUTERS/Mohammed Salem)

Mohammed Aslan is the dedicated ward nurse in the orthopaedic unit at al-Shifa Hospital. He has been working around the clock on Fridays.

I feel like I am stranded on the beach, and there is this huge wave in front of me. I can do nothing but swim

- Mohammed Aslan, nurse

“When injuries start coming in, I feel like I am stranded on the beach, and there is this huge wave in front of me. I can do nothing but swim,” Aslan described. 

The injured are usually scattered around the 31 hospitals in the strip that are either run by the government, or by non-governmental organisations (NGOs). 

Since the Great Return March started on 30 March, calling for Palestinian refugees' right to return to their former homes now inside Israel, more than 7,000 Palestinians have been injured and at least 45 have been killed. The rapid increase in the number of injuries is a conundrum for hospitals running on an insufficient number of staff, drugs and operating rooms.

According to Ashraf Qedra, the Ministry of Health’s spokesperson, Israeli forces follow a shoot-to-kill or leave with a disability order, which only adds salt to injury considering the state of Gaza’s healthcare system. 

The Israeli army says its forces only open fire on "instigators" or to stop protestors approaching the fence separating Gaza from Israel.

However, rights groups have said that Israel is carrying out a policy of deliberately targeting protesters with live fire and using "excessive and lethal force". As a result, the death and injury tolls are expected to rise, making an already dire situation at hospitals even worse.

Rationing painkillers

According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the majority of injuries being attended to are in the lower limbs, and while most of the wounds are considered serious, hospitals run on a case-by-case basis.

Life-threatening injuries are prioritised, while others are given over-the-counter painkillers to wait out the pain until it is their turn for treatment, which sometimes might be more than 24 hours. 

“We deal with the patients who have to wait for their operations with painkillers until we go through the first hours of the injuries. Priority is for the life-saving operations. Then we can work with the rest,” Aslan said.

Bashar Wahdan, 12, is being tended to by his aunt, as he lies in the hospital bed with an external fixator on his left leg (MEE/Halla al-Safadi)

Twelve-year-old Bashar Wahdan was shot on the first day of protests on 30 March, and had to endure the pain of his injury for 24 hours until he was admitted into surgery. He was shot in the left leg, causing multiple bone fractures that required the installation of an external fixator.

I had to wait for 27 hours in the corridors of the hospital before I had my operation

- Mohammed al-Masawabi, injured protetser

He is now stable, but he will not be able to use his leg until the external fixator is removed in one month’s time. The boy cannot bear to look at the foreign object sticking out of his leg, so his family covered his injured limb with a blanket.

In order to get a good night's rest, he saves his share of painkillers for nighttime. 

“The only painkiller we have at the hospital is ibuprofen. This is the only painkiller I can give to the patients. I have to ration what I have among patients,” Aslan stated.

Wahdan says he took part in the protests with his friends. His mother told Middle East Eye that she had never expected to get a phone call informing her that her son was injured and in the hospital. 

“The protests were meant to be peaceful. We did not expect Israeli soldiers to open fire on protesters. This is why we allowed him to participate,” Wahdan’s mother added.

Long wait 

In the corridors of al-Shifa, Gaza’s largest hospital, injured protesters can be heard moaning from severe pain as they lie on rusty stretchers awaiting surgery. Some of the injured are accompanied by weeping family members, while others are forced to wait alone.

The fear is palpable, as they look for their loved ones amid the many injured. The busy hospital does not have a moment to spare to contact the families of the wounded. Nurses and doctors are rushing around helping save lives, administering first aid, and distributing painkillers until the operating rooms are finally empty and exhausted medical personnel can resume a normal pace.

Mohammed al-Masawabi, 26, in the corridors of al-Shifa hospital with his eight-month-old daughter (MEE/Halla al-Safadi

Mohammed al-Masawabi, 26, is father to an eight-month-old daughter, and only got married 18 months ago. He was shot by Israeli forces in the right leg on 30 March during the first Friday of the rallies.

Israeli troops opened fire at him and a group of protesters as they carried an injured protester towards the ambulances near the Gaza-Israeli security fence. Masawabi needed immediate care and a medical transfer to the West Bank to treat his injury. However, Israeli forces denied him entry to the West Bank for treatment. 

The Israeli military said that apart from “exceptional humanitarian cases,” medical treatment would not be provided to Palestinians who took part in the protests.

The only painkiller we have at the hospital is ibuprofen 

- Bashar Wahdan, 12-year-old child

“It was decided that any request for medical treatment by a terrorist or a rioter who took part in violent events would be denied,” an army statement said. “Foreign residents have no vested right to enter Israeli territory, including Palestinians living in the Gaza Strip.”

Masawabi was transferred to al-Shifa hospital. Due to the influx of patients in comparison to the small number of rooms available on Fridays, Masawabi, like many others, had to stay on a hospital stretcher in a corridor of the unit. His father brought him a clean blanket and Masawabi's little baby girl kept him company on his stretcher.

“I had to wait for 27 hours in the corridors of the hospital before I had my operation,” he said. After the long wait, he was finally admitted to surgery.

“By the time I underwent my surgery, I had lost a lot of blood,” al-Masawabi added. Fortunately, his leg was not amputated, but he will not be able to walk until his months-long recovery is complete.

Doctors prematurely discharge most patients after a few days to free up more space before they are faced with a new wave of casualties on Fridays.

“There are patients we discharge after two or three days of their injuries. If this patient were outside Gaza, he would stay at least for a month in the hospital,” Aslan said.

Because the patients are not getting sufficient time to heal and receive adequate medical care, this can result in severe infections, which forces many patients to return to the hospital and possibly face amputation, according to Aslan.

Yasser al-Mabhouh, 27, in al-Shifa Hospital after his surgery (MEE/Halla al-Safadi)

Yasser al-Mabhouh, 27, was shot on the second Friday of the rallies. The sniper's bullet targeted his left leg, resulting in a 20-centimetre wound and bone loss. He was discharged from the hospital only to return three days later with a severe infection. According to his doctor, he is at risk of losing his leg.  

“We have to deal with at least 1,000 serious limb injuries which need medical intervention while we have very limited resources,” said Mahmoud Matar, an orthopaedic surgeon.

Shortage in staff and drugs

The scenes do not look any better at al-Shifa hospital's intensive care unit. The head of the ICU, Gihad al-Geady, said that there are only nine beds available in the ICU, but the number of patients needing to be admitted is much higher. 

“We are also short on the number of ICU nurses and physicians. The overstretched doctors have to work for longer shifts and are sometimes forced to handle multiple cases at once,” he added.

Al-Shifa's intensive care unit lacks medical supplies and equipment and is under constant strain (MEE/Halla al-Safadi)

According to al-Geady, the ICU is short on 41 types of medical supplies and equipment, some of which are life-saving necessities. These include haemodialysis machines, which filter blood for patients with severe kidney diseases; nebuliser flow selectors used for the treatment of respiratory problems, and colistin, an antibiotic.

We at least have to deal with 1,000 serious limb injuries which need medical intervention while we have very limited resources

- Mahmoud Matar, orthopaedic surgeon

The Great Return March started on 30 March to coincide with Land Day. The series of peaceful rallies are scheduled to continue until 15 May, which is the day that Palestinians commemorate the Nakba (the catastrophe). More than 750,000 Palestinians were forcibly displaced from their towns and villages in the Palestinian territories in the wake of Israel's establishment in May 1948.

In 1948, the right of return was granted to Palestinian refugees by UN General Assembly Resolution 194. Later in 1967, the UN Security Council passed Resolution 237, which demands that Israel facilitate the return of refugees to their lands.

Health sector on verge of collapse

After a decade of an Israeli-imposed blockade and the aftermath of three deadly wars, the last of which was in 2014, hospitals in Gaza have been suffering a severe shortage of medical supplies and consumables. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported in February that 42 percent of drugs were totally depleted while 23 percent of needed disposables are at zero stock. Since the Great Return March began, Gaza's Ministry of Health has been calling on medical and international organisations to intervene in the critical situation and provide hospitals with needed medical supplies.

Political divisions have also played a role in the deterioration of Gaza's health system. According to the WHO, more than 6,000 doctors and medical personnel have not received salaries since July 2014. Moreover, the PA continues to impose a 30 percent wage cut on 60,000 civil servants, which has been implemented since April 2017. 

Yet Palestinians in Gaza say they refuse to give up, and will always stand tall - even if they are on crutches. 

Is Israel Leading the U.S. to War?

Trump is set to do what his Zionist handlers want him to do: confront Iran and cancel the deal.

Cdr. W.L. McGonagle points out damage on USS Liberty, June 1967, when Israel attacked the American Navy ship without provocation, killing 34 men and wounding 174

May-09-2018 

(OCCUPIED PALESTINE) - An Israeli newspaper (Haaretz) had an opinion piece titled "Trump Tells World to Drop Dead as Netanyahu Dictates His Nixing of Iran Deal". But it is not just Netanyahu.

No, it is the whole Zionist establishment that took the decision to challenge a deal agreed to by much of the world and continue to try to start new wars and sacrificing gullible gentiles on the alter of Zionism.

Most of the world now understands the ramifications. Israel has nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, violates international law, invades other countries. Israel is still illegally occupying the Syrian Golan and colonizing Palestine.

It violates international law with impunity and engages in war crimes and crimes against humanity. But its attack on Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, and Yemen (by proxy) will now escalate to direct confrontation with Iran. Israel hopes Trump will provide all needed military cover even at risk of WWIII.

The much maligned Jeremy Corbyn's Labour Party scored significant wins in British elections. The media, heavily infested with supporters of the Colonial settler Israeli regime, spun this win negatively even after they failed in all their desperate attempts to stop British voters choosing what is best for them instead of what is best for greedy Zionists.

The much maligned resistance axis similarly scored significant wins in Lebanese elections. This despite over one billion dumped by the Saudi regime to prop-up Israel friendly candidates like Saad AlHariri.

The Saudi operated media, like Al-Arabiya, do everything they can to hide the crimes against humanity in places like Yemen and Palestine to normalize the apartheid regime occupying Palestine while continuing to try and vilify anyone who stands up against US and Israeli imperialism in Western Asia.

In Syria, there are desperate US/Israeli attempts to keep the war going. Russia, Iran, China and others are taking control and insist on ending the war. Trump is set to do what his Zionist handlers want him to do: confront Iran and cancel the deal.

This sets the stage for a law of the jungle (but jungles are very nice compared to human greed an war). Oil prices are set to sky rocket and the global economy to nose-dive.

Here in Palestine, we had dispensed with elections all together! No elections were held for 12 years for the so called "Palestinian authority".

The Palestine National Council has now moved to become more a cheerleader club for the current 82-year old elder Mahmoud Abbas. The latter is forced to apologize to "the Jewish people" (see Shlomo Sands' book "The invention of the Jewish people"), but has never apologized to the 12.5 million disheartened Palestinians for the treachery otherwise known as "the Oslo Accords".

In his article, Dear Occupiers, Sorry if We Hurt Your Feelings, author Gideon Levy explains, "Not one Israeli statesman today intends to apologize for the Nakba – not for the ethnic cleansing, nor for the exiling. But Abbas had no choice but to apologize for his Holocaust remark."

As the US moves its Embassy to Jerusalem against International law, take a moment to remember the US Servicemen killed by the deliberate attack of Israel on their ship in international waters, 34 Americans killed in Israel's attack on The USS Liberty.

Then, ask yourself, "who is set to benefit most from these actions?" Ignorance may be bliss, but overlooking the obvious is nothing short of complicity, and this is life and death.

SEE ALSO: The History of US-Israel Relations: Against Our Better Judgment, The hidden history of how the United States was used to create Israel

Professor Mazin Qumsiyeh, PhD (formerly of Yale and Duke universities) teaches at Bethlehem and Birzeit Universities in occupied Palestine and chairs the Palestinian Center for Rapprochement Between People. Professor Qumsiyeh has authored over 110 scientific papers in areas of mammalogy, biology, and medicine including mammalian biology and evolution, clinical genetics, and cancer research. He has published over 100 letters to the editor and 30 op-ed pieces in International, national, regional and local papers on issues ranging from politics to environmental issues. His appearances in national media include the Washington Post, New York Times, Boston Globe, CNBC, C-Span, and ABC, among others. He is the founder and president of the Holy Land Conservation Foundation and ex-President of the Middle East Genetics Association, and Prof. Qumsiyeh won the Jallow activism award from the Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee in 1998. Those are just a small list, visit Mazin Qumsiyeh's amazing and informative Website to learn more: qumsiyeh.org, and also pcr.ps.

Football dreams battle Israeli bullets

Muhammad Khalil Obeid has not given up on his dream to play football internationally, despite being shot in both his knees.Amjad Ayman Yaghi

 Amjad Ayman Yaghi-8 May 2018

Muhammad Khalil Obeid is refusing to abandon his dream of becoming a professional football player.

After being shot in both knees by an Israeli sniper on 30 March, Obeid requires major surgery to have any chance of resuming his beloved game. Doctors have told the 23-year-old he would need to travel from Gaza to Germany or Turkey for that surgery.

Overcoming initial despair and determined that the operation take place, he has decided to search for a charity that will pay his costs.

“I dream of playing in Europe, I will not kill my dream,” he said. “And I will not let the Israeli occupation kill my dream.”

Obeid had been part of al-Salah club in Gaza since he was 17. As well as being a talented football player, he finished first in a Gaza marathon that he ran last year.

He is one of 27 competitive athletes injured during the Great March of Return between late March – when the protests began – and late April, according to Gaza’s youth and sports ministry.

A video which Obeid made capturing the moment he was shot during the protests has been widely viewed on the Internet. Obeid was accompanied by several other sports enthusiasts from the Deir al-Balah area of central Gaza at the time he was shot.

Life-changing injuries

A recent investigation by Amnesty International concluded that Israel may be deliberately causing life-changing injuries to people such as Obeid, who have taken part in the Gaza protests.

Amnesty has also cited evidence that Israel is using high-velocity rifles and bullets that expand on impact to cause maximum harm against protesters. Many of the weapons used by Israel against protesters are US-made.

Ata Ahmed Abu al-Hossna was shot by Israeli forces on Friday, 6 April – one week after Obeid.
The 27-year-old spent much of that day at a protest tent near Jabaliya, northern Gaza. When he saw youth burning tires – an effort to thwart Israel’s detection of targets for sniper fire – Abu al-Hossna decided that he should join them. Shortly afterwards, Israel began shooting live ammunition in the direction of demonstrators.

As he tried to flee for safety, Abu al-Hossna was shot in the left leg. “I do not remember what happened after that,” he said.

Athlete Ata Ahmed Abu al-Hossna wants the leadership of global sports bodies to visit Gaza to see how Israel “destroys our dreams.”Amjad Ayman Yaghi

When he regained consciousness the following day, Abu al-Hossna was in the intensive care unit of Gaza’s Indonesia Hospital. As the bullets had caused severe damage to the arteries in his legs, he needed prompt surgery, which took place that Sunday.

He is waiting for a follow-up operation.

Abu al-Hossna has learned from his doctors that it could take 18 months before he will be able to walk on his left leg again.

The likelihood that he will have to give up football has depressed him so much that he cannot even watch the sport on television. “I sit alone in my room,” he said.

As well as playing as a forward for the Namaa football team, Abu al-Hossna had taken part in running and table tennis competitions.

He argues that representatives of the world’s major sporting organizations should visit Gaza. “These envoys should come and see how the Israeli occupation destroys our dreams,” he said. “We try to follow our dreams despite being under siege.”

Deep sadness

Alaa al-Dali, a 21-year-old cyclist, had qualified to represent Palestine at the Asian Games being held in Indonesia this summer.

Going there will not be possible. On 30 March, he was shot in his right leg by an Israeli sniper. The damage caused was so severe that the leg later had to be amputated.

Al-Dali had gone to the first Friday in the Great March of Return with some friends. They joined the protest in Rafah, a city in southern Gaza. Al-Dali had gone to the protest by bike and was dressed in cycling shorts and jersey.

He was shot below the knee that afternoon.

Cyclist Alaa al-Dali’s leg was amputated weeks before he was set to represent Palestine at the Asian Games.Amjad Ayman Yaghi

The al-Dali family has accused Israel of denying Alaa permission to leave Gaza for specialist treatment in the occupied West Bank. After he was denied permission to travel, doctors decided it was necessary to amputate his leg. The amputation took place in mid-April.

The thought that he won’t be able to attend the Asian Games makes him “go into a deep sadness and cry,” al-Dali said. He is nonetheless determined to have a prosthetic leg fitted so that he can resume cycling.

With bitter irony, al-Dali was shot at a time when Israel was courting cycling fans internationally. The 2018 Giro d’Italia – a major bike race – recently opened in Jerusalem as part of an Israeli propaganda exercise.

Al-Dali stressed it is necessary that the focus on Israel’s human rights abuses be maintained. “The Israeli occupation has committed brutal crimes against us,” he said. “The world needs to know that the Israeli occupation is cruel.”

Amjad Ayman Yaghi is a journalist based in Gaza.

EU rushes to arrange crisis meeting with Iran over nuclear deal

Foreign ministers attempt to soothe fears after Trump threatens to hit European businesses trading with Tehran

 What is the Iran nuclear deal? – video
Hassan Rouhani, the Iranian president, holds a press conference about Donald Trump pulling the US from the nuclear deal. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

Patrick Wintourdiplomatic editor, and Julian Borgerin Washington-Wed 9 May 2018 18.24 BST

The European Union is scrambling to arrange a crisis meeting with Iran after Donald Trump pulled out of the nuclear agreement, as the Iranian president Hassan Rouhani said Europe had a “very limited opportunity” to save the deal.

A day after the US president broke with the landmark 2015 agreement and warned he would seek to hit European businesses that continued to trade with Tehran, the EU vowed to take steps to immunise firms from any US sanctions.

Foreign ministers aim to reassure Tehran that the nuclear deal is salvageable at a meeting currently slated for Monday in London which they are expecting their Iranian counterpart Mohammad Javad Zarif to attend.

In a phone call on Wednesday between Emmanuel Macron and Rouhani, the French president stressed his willingness “to continue enforcing the Iran nuclear agreement in all respects”, the Elysée said in a statement. The statement added that Macron had “underlined the importance that Iran do the same”.

The Iranian Students’ News Agency quoted Rouhani as telling Macron: “Under the current conditions, Europe has a very limited opportunity to preserve the nuclear deal, and must, as quickly as possible, clarify its position and specify and announce its intentions with regard to its obligations.”
EU ministers hope to put forward a credible package to soothe Iranian fears about the effect of Trump’s decision on EU-Iranian trade.

The ministers recognise that Iran will only stay inside the deal if they are confident that the promised economic benefits can survive an American sanctions assault. But they were keen to stress that Trump’s move had not necessarily dealt the agreement a fatal blow.

“The deal is not dead. There is an American withdrawal from the deal but the deal is still there,” Jean-Yves Le Drian, the French foreign minister, told RTL radio.

Tehran had complained in recent weeks that the EU had gone too far to appease Trump. But it appeared on Wednesday that, after the failure of its diplomatic charm offensive with Washington, Europe was going to unite to protect the deal, even if it meant putting its member states on an economic collision course with the US.

Work on the package being coordinated by the European Union is at an early stage, but the EU is being urged to warn the US it will impose countersanctions if the US attempts unjustifiably to cripple EU firms trading with Iran.

In his phone call with Rouhani, Macron also underscored the intention to have a broader discussion with all the relevant parties on the development of Iran’s nuclear programme after 2025, when key elements of the current deal expire, as well as Iran’s ballistic missile programme and wider Middle East issues.

The UK also believes a wider package, originally designed to form a follow-on nuclear disarmament agreement with Iran, still needs to be agreed, even though its specific proposals were rejected by Trump.

Many European diplomats believe that Washington has no plan in preparation on how to contain Iran, apart from placing such intense economic pressure on Iran that a popular rising leads to regime change.

Asked about his next steps, Donald Trump appeared uncertain at a cabinet meeting.

“They’ll negotiate or something will happen,” the president said, warning that if Iran resumed the nuclear activities, there would be “very severe consequences”.

Senior diplomats from the US, the UK, France and Germany talked on Wednesday in a pre-arranged conference call which European officials had thought would be a last-ditch effort to salvage the nuclear deal.

They had not expected Trump to make the announcement of his intention to abandon the agreement until the end of the week. Instead of focusing on ways of saving the Iran nuclear deal with a supplemental agreement, the discussion focused largely on sanctions the US would be imposing on European companies dealing with Iran.

The breadth and severity of those sanctions have taken the Europeans by surprise, as it was unclear until the last moment how far Trump would go in breaking with the Iran deal.

“We did not talk about a Plan B in our discussions because we were focused on negotiating a supplemental agreement, so we did not – we did not talk about Plan B,” a senior US administration official said.

“We believe that by getting rid of the JCPOA [the Iran nuclear deal], we can come up with a more comprehensive deal, a more comprehensive approach that doesn’t just focus on the nuclear file,” the official said.

However, analysts said it would now be extremely hard, if not impossible, to rally the same international solidarity in putting pressure on Iran that had made the Iran deal possible in the first place.

“Trump claims he is going to pursue a better deal, which is a long-held myth,” Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, said. “He doesn’t stand a chance of getting the requisite international support for sanction pressure or a negotiating strategy to make that a realistic goal.”

The three EU countries with the deepest exposure to Iran are France, Germany and Italy, but the UK has also been trying to build its business links to a country with 80 million, mainly young, customers.
Late on Tuesday night, the UK Foreign Office issued revised recommendations to British firms investing in Iran, urging them to consult the US Treasury sanctions plans, as well as to seek their own legal advice on them.

The value of trade between the EU and Iran has soared from $9.2bn (£6.8bn) in 2015 to $16.4bn in 2016 after the deal was signed. In 2017, trade reached $25bn.

Patrick Pouyanné, the chief executive of the French energy firm Total, has already called for the EU to pass a blocking statute, similar to that passed in the 1990s to protect EU firms from US sanctions. Total is working on the $3.8bn South Pars project, in the world’s largest gas field.

In Germany, where trade with Iran has risen by 42% since 2015 to €3.4bn a year, Dieter Kempf, president of the Federation of German Industries (BDI), said the country was not prepared to give up on Iran as a market. “Our firms have invested a lot of hope in the market openings that resulted from the lifting of the economic sanctions,” he said. “Now these prospects have been considerably dampened.”

Additional reporting by Kate Connolly in Berlin

Don’t Overestimate the Power of Historic Summits

The potential for progress on the Korean Peninsula is real, but the pitfalls are plentiful.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, speaks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, left, at the Peace House in Panmunjom, South Korea, on April 27. (Korea Summit Press Pool/Getty Images)

The game of summits has begun.

BY MICHAEL H. FUCHS, ABIGAIL BARD-MAY 8, 2018

The meeting last month between South Korean President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un kicked off a series of summits that could determine the future of the Korean Peninsula.

As the world anticipates the upcoming meeting between Kim and U.S. President Donald Trump, the Moon-Kim meeting can provide some clues about where the situation is headed and about what might happen when the leaders of the United States and North Korea meet for the first time.

Both North and South Korea clearly wanted to use the inter-Korean summit to convey a sense of historic progress. They built up extensive hype in the run-up to the summit — South Korea even created a website to unveil details of the event, such as images of the meeting room and the banquet menu. Every detail was imbued with symbolism, from the width of the conference table to the sourcing of the dinner beef and noodles. Both sides played to the cameras: As each leader stood on either side of the boundary between the Koreas, Moon reportedly asked Kim when he could visit the North, and Kim responded, “Why don’t you just come over to the North side now?” — and the two stepped over the border. Kim is on a charm offensive, perhaps trying to suggest that North Korea can now be trusted to make good on its promises. For the moment at least, both sides are invested in the appearance of success.

The joint statement contains genuinely good news. In the Panmunjom Declaration, the two sides agreed on a wide range of goals, including working toward a formal end to the Korean War, pursuing denuclearization, and resuming family reunions. While most of the declaration’s promises are not new, the fact that they were all put to paper during a truly historic meeting is no small feat and could be the beginning of positive change.

The North and South developed little understanding of how to meet their goals. Many of the issues Moon and Kim discussed have been on the table before, and previous agreements have not resulted in substantive change. North Korea has promised to stop its nuclear program time and time again, and now North Korea believes it has fully achieved its goal of obtaining a nuclear deterrent. The two countries have promised to not use force against one another before, and previous talks have reaffirmed a commitment to peace on the peninsula.

The ambiguity raises concerns. For instance, what does creating a joint liaison office for the Kaesong region and recommitting to economic development projects from the 2007 inter-Korean summit mean for the international economic pressure campaign? (The Kaesong industrial complex — a joint North-South economic project that mostly employs North Korean workers and made up the largest component of inter-Korean trade — was closed in 2016 to impose economic pressure.) Why was there no explicit agreement to end nuclear or missile testing? The joint declaration is good, but the details — and how they are implemented — are what really matter.

It’s impossible to know what this all means until the upcoming Trump-Kim summit has concluded — and likely not until long after that.

The biggest outstanding question, on which the success of the diplomatic process will likely hinge, centers on language from last month’s declaration: Both sides “confirmed the common goal of realizing, through complete denuclearization, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.” It’s unclear whether North and South Korea agreed privately on any details about the fate of North Korea’s weapons programs. It’s unclear what North Korea expects in exchange for “denuclearization.” It’s unclear what Trump will accept from the North. And it’s unclear whether or not South Korea and the United States have matching expectations.

Some believe it was a success for the denuclearization language to be included at all and that the nuclear issue is one for the United States and North Korea to handle directly. And perhaps the inter-Korean summit was short on details because the North is saving its big news — a process for the North to give up its weapons, a freeze on nuclear and missiles tests, and other big changes — for the Trump-Kim meeting. But it’s anyone’s guess what happens at that summit: Genuine progress? A “huge” deal that lacks accountability? A failure that leads to military action?

The potential for progress is real, but the pitfalls are plentiful. With no sense as to what the United States is offering in return for its demands, public focus has shifted to the U.S. military presence in South Korea. White House chief of staff John Kelly reportedly had to convince Trump to not withdraw the U.S. military presence from the Korean Peninsula, and there is a report (which the administration denies) that Trump ordered the U.S. Defense Department to develop options for troop withdrawals. What will Trump do if Kim asks him to withdraw U.S. troops? If Kim is genuinely considering giving up his nuclear weapons, perhaps this is the price he expects Trump to pay.

Another pitfall is the widening gap between expectations and the reality of progress. In recent days, news sites have run headlines such as “Kim, Moon Pledge Denuclearization Of Peninsula And End To Korean War”; Trump tweeted, “KOREAN WAR TO END!”; and some, including 18 Republican members of Congress, have even called for Trump to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. And Trump appears focused on the spectacle of the summit — noting an interest in being able to have a “celebration” in the Demilitarized Zone between the two countries — while there’s little sense of the substance to be achieved. To date, the hype is far outpacing the tangible results.

If nothing else, the events of recent weeks confirmed two realities: The United States and South Korea are in the midst of necessary diplomacy with North Korea that could reduce tensions and address the threats it poses, and it is still unclear how any of that progress will happen or the degree to which it is even sustainable.

This week, the leaders of South Korea, Japan, and China will meet to discuss North Korea. On May 22, Trump will meet Moon to confer about next steps. Then Trump is set to meet with Kim. Moon has agreed to visit Pyongyang this fall. All this pageantry and summitry is important and sends signals from the top that all countries involved want genuine progress. And the parties are on a much better path than they were just months ago, when there was regular talk of war. But success comes down to the details, and only a good, verifiable deal with North Korea will hold up to scrutiny. This process will be a marathon, not a sprint. And the games have only just started.

Hundreds protest attack on journalist in Montenegro

Montenegro man holds banners reading "Stop violence," left, and "For a life without fear," right, during protest in Montenegro's capital, Podgorica, on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. Some hundreds gathered outside the Montenegrin government building, carrying protest banners after unknown assailants shot and wounded a prominent crime reporter, Olivera Lakic, the latest attack on journalists in the small Balkan country.(AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

By Associated Press- 9 May 2018

PODGORICA, Montenegro (AP) - Hundreds protested in Montenegro on Wednesday after unknown assailants shot and wounded a prominent crime and corruption reporter, the latest attack on journalists in the small Balkan country that is seeking EU membership.

Carrying banners reading "Stop violence," or "For a life without fear," the protesters demanded that the authorities find the assailants who opened fire late Tuesday on Olivera Lakic, who works for the independent Vijesti daily.

Lakic, 49, was shot in the leg outside her home in Podgorica, the capital. She remains in a local hospital following the attack which has drawn U.S. and European Union concern.

Protesters who gathered outside the government building in Podgorica accused the authorities of doing little to solve a series of attack on journalists in recent years. Those included another attack on Lakic six years ago and a bomb explosion outside another crime reporter's home last month.

Zeljko Ivanovic, general manager of Vijesti, said there have been a total of 25 attacks on the paper's journalists and offices. The daily is known for its independent and critical journalism.

"They (government) created an atmosphere in which there are state enemies and traitors," said Ivanovic. "Can this society survive without a single free media, journalist or intellectual?"

Olivera Ivanovic, a fellow journalist from the national TV Montenegro, said the attack "is not just a message to her, it's a message to the entire media community."

"We need to unite and confront this danger," she said. "We are all exposed."

The man who beat Lakic six years ago was briefly jailed and she had police protection for a while. But Ivanovic said those behind the attack have not been named.

Lakic has written about alleged murky businesses involving top state officials and their families. Montenegro's long-ruling Democratic Party of Socialists have faced repeated accusations of corruption and crime links, which they deny.

The party on Wednesday announced plans to introduce tougher sanctions for attacks on journalists, saying they "must be most harshly punished."

Montenegro last year joined NATO and has promised to boost media freedom and the rule of law, and implement other reforms necessary for the country to join the European Union.

Top Montenegrin and international officials in Montenegro condemned the attack on Lakic and urged a swift investigation.

U.S. embassy Charge d'Affaires Judy Kuo, who visited Lakic in the hospital Wednesday together with the top EU official in Montenegro, said "this crime requires a swift, determined investigation to bring those responsible to justice."

"The United States calls on Montenegro to foster a safe environment for journalists to fulfill their important role," she added.

Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjorn Jagland said Wednesday he is "shocked and saddened" by the shooting.

"The work of journalists and free media are essential to the functioning of any democracy," he said. "Attacks on journalists are therefore also an attack on democracy."

FILE- In this file photo dated July 20, 2012, Monenegro's prominent crime reporter Olivera Lakic accompanied with her husband walks on a street in Podgorica. Olivera Lakic, a journalist who has written about crime and corruption in the small Balkan country, was wounded in a gun shooting outside her home Wednesday May 9, 2018.(AP Photo/file)

Montenegro people holding banners "Stop violence," left, and "For a life without fear," right, during protest in Montenegro's capital, Podgorica, on Wednesday, May 9, 2018. Hundreds gathered outside the Montenegrin government building, carrying protest banners after unknown assailants shot and wounded a prominent crime reporter, Olivera Lakic, the latest attack on journalists in the small Balkan country. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

A police investigator inspects the scene of a shootout where unidentified assailants on Tuesday shot and wounded a journalist in Montenegro's capital, Podgorica, Tuesday, May 8, 2018. Olivera Lakic, a journalist who has written about crime and corruption in the small Balkan country, was wounded in the right leg outside her home. (AP Photo/Risto Bozovic)

Opposition takes Malaysia in historic polls

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, opposition Prime Ministerial candidate for Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) attends a news conference after general election, in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, May 9, 2018. Source: Reuters

By Emma Richards | 10th May 2018 

Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, opposition Prime Ministerial candidate for Pakatan Harapan (Alliance of Hope) attends a news conference after general election, in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, May 9, 2018. Source: Reuters

IN a truly historic vote, Malaysia for the first time since it’s independence has fallen to the opposition coalition on a day that will live in the memory of all Malaysians for a long time to come.

“The Palace has contacted us to tell us that we have achieved an unofficial majority,” opposition leader Dr Mahathir Mohamad told reporters at a press conference in Petaling Jaya at 2.50am on Thursday.

“PKR (People’s Justice Party) achieved a simple majority a long time before the official announcement, but if you add the 14 from Warisan (Sabah Heritage Party), Pakatan Harapan now has a ‘substantial majority.'”

SEE ALSO: Voting kicks off in Malaysia’s crucial polls, big turnout expected

Pakatan Harapan (PH), the victorious coalition, is made up of several political parties forming an alliance – People’s Justice Party (PKR), Democratic Action Party (DAP), Amanah, Warisan, and Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, known as Bersatu.

It is expected Mahathir will be sworn in as the new prime minister of Malaysia later today.

Mahathir said the party would work on acquiring a pardon for PKR’s official leader Anwar Ibrahim who is currently in prison on sodomy charges. He will require a royal pardon to be eligible to take the position of prime minister, as Pakatan Harapan (PH) plan.

As polls opened at 8am on Wednesday, the mood was hopeful for change, but few expected it to come.

Allegations of spoilt ballots flooded social media, but that wasn’t enough to hold back the wave of support for the opposition coalition.

After a close run race that had the nation on tenterhooks, the outcome started to take form when Barisan Nasional lost a number of key seats. Several party leaders lost their seats, including MIC president Dr S Subramaniam for the Segamat seat, MCA president Liow Tiong Lai in Bentong, and Gerakan president Mah Siew Keong in Teluk Intan.

Then the states started to fall. Negri Sembilan and Johor – a frontline state and birthplace of Umno – fell to PH, and Terrenganu was lost to PAS.

For the first time in 60 years, it looked like the mighty BN may fall.

The night took a dramatic turn when Dr Mahathir called a press conference just before midnight to announce an unofficial victory for PH.

Accusing the Election Commission of dragging their feet on signing off seats, he claimed PH had already reached the 112 parliamentary constituencies needed to form government.

SEE ALSO:  Malaysia decides today in ‘Mother of all elections’

While Mahathir was just falling short of a victory lap, Najib was showing signs of retreat, cancelling a long-awaited press conference to address the incoming results.

At 2.50am on Thursday, the Election Commission announced the 112nd seat in favour of PH, making it official – Barisan Nasional was out, Pakatan Harapan was in. And Mahathir Mohamad would once again take his place as the prime minister of Malaysia, 15 years after he stepped down.

This leaves Najib’s future uncertain. Plagued with corruption allegations and embroiled in the 1MDB scandal, people have been calling for the former PM to be investigated and charged.

“We are not seeking revenge,” said Mahathir when asked whether he would pursue charges against Najib.

“All we want is restore rule of law.”

The significance of today’s result for the country cannot be understated.

“Both the system and the society will be shaken up,” head of political studies at the Penang Institute Wong Chin Huat told Asian Correspondent when asked what we can expect from a PH victory.

“Voters will believe that their votes matters. Bureaucrats and police will ditch partisanship towards professionalism. Corruption will be curbed not least because the old rascals will get kicked out.”