Mads Fredrik Gilbert (born June 2, 1947, Porsgrunn) is a Norwegian doctor, solidarity worker and a member of the communistparty Red. He received his PhD at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. He is a specialist in anesthesiology and a leader of the emergency medicine department of University Hospital of North Norway, and has been adjunct professor (professor II) of emergency medicine at the University of Tromsø since 1995.
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Gilbert has broad range international experiences, in particular from locations that merge medical and political issues. He has done volunteer work at a kibbutz. Later he became actively involved with solidarity work concerning Palestinians since the 1970s, he has served as a doctor during numerous periods in the Palestinian territories and Lebanon. His efforts have been central to the efforts that have led the city of Tromsø, since 2001 a twin town of Gaza, to claim to be the city that has sent more health workers to the Palestinian territories than any other in the world. And all that was a volunteer work.. Simply it's humanity.
Gilbert arrived on emergency assignment for the Norwegian Aid Committee (NORWAC) with the surgeon Erik Fosse to support the humanitarian effort at al-Shifa Hospitalduring the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict,a period when foreign journalists were barred from entering the Gaza Strip. As international media reported from outside the conflict zone, Gilbert maintained frequent contact with Norwegian media, as well as segments of the world press, including CNN, BBC, ABC and Al Jazeera.
Following a grenade strike to a Gaza City vegetable market on January 3, Gilbert sent an SMS text to his Norwegian and international contacts, with an appeal for all who read it to pass it on.
| “ | From doctor Mads Gilbert in Gaza: Thanks for your support. They bombed the central vegetable market in Gaza city two hours ago. 80 injured, 20 killed. All came here to Shifa. Hades! We wade in death, blood and amputees. Many children. Pregnant woman. I have never experienced anything this horrible. Now we hear tanks. Tell it, pass it on, shout it. Anything. DO SOMETHING! DO MORE! We're living in the history books now, all of us! | ” |
—Mads G, 3.1.09 13:50, Gaza, Palestine.
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The ensuing response sparked reports of Gilbert's message on a global scale, and scores of declarations of support to the Norwegian Palestine Committee.
Asked about this incident in an interview with Al Jazeera, Gilbert answered: "...people in Gaza must know that they are not on their own, many people are with them, although we are not there but we are with them and they must not give up, for the people of the free world ponder on your patience and inspire from your strength. If you give up then the people behind you will give up..."
The doctors were "received as heroes" by the Norwegian public, and received praise from several commentators. Among critics were right-wing Norwegian FrP party leader Siv Jensen who described Gilbert as a "local politician from Rødt", criticizing that he has been permitted without censorship to act as a voice of anti-Israel propaganda. Melanie Phillips, a columnist for The Spectator and Jennifer Lawinski for Fox News, voiced criticism similar to Siv Jensen's.
Jensen's statements have in turn been strongly criticized by Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre, who called her statements "confused" and said that "It is outrageous that she puts into question the integrity of practitioners, who I am sure treat the wounded and injured as they need it. Gilbert and I could completely disagree on political matters, but not on the matters at hand [treatment of civilian casualties].
On January 5, after 10 days of the Israeli heavy air bombardment on Gaza strip, BBC news reporter Rushdi Abu Alouf in Gaza interviewed Dr. Mads Gilbert on the status inside Gaza's AL-Shifa Hospital. In the interview Dr. Gilbert stated that an overwhelming majority of the casualties he had treated were civilians, and women and children alone made up 25% of the death toll, and 45% of the wounded.
On January 8, 2009, while in Gaza, Mads Gilbert was in a video which appeared on CNN which showed the brother of a Palestinian TV producer dying while Gilbert and another doctor worked to save him. This video became subject to controversy as several pro-Israel bloggers made accusations that the scene was staged. World News and Features, the camera crew's employer, and the producer himself denounced the allegations. CNN also stated on their web site that they stand by the video. Two weeks later, the CNN published a video report on their website refuting the bloggers' allegations point by point. Two independent doctors who were shown the video said that they had no doubt that the hospital scene and Gilbert's work was genuine.
Source (h/t: Wikipedia)
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