Author: Andres-Papazian

REVERSING THE DEPOPULATION OF ARMENIA: PEOPLE NEED REASONS TO STAY
By Gabriel Armas-Cardona

11:28, November 27, 2012

Armenia has a people problem. While many Hayastancis may be proud
of their country, they’re leaving in droves, having less children,
and aren’t hopeful about their futures.

Emigration and a low birthright are existential challenges for
Armenia that its leaders are not able to face. Instead of promoting
bad policies like paying for families to have children, we could use
those resources to make Armenia a country people want to live in.

Since the fall of the Soviet Union, Armenia has had an emigration
problem. The World Bank estimates the peak of Armenia’s population at
3.54 million in 1990. Now there are 3.1 million. During the Soviet
Union, Armenia had a growth rate of 1.5%. If Armenia had the same
growth rate since 2003, when the population started to increase
again, Armenia would have 3.5 million people. We’re missing 400,000
people. Where are those people?

Emigration and a dropping birthrate are the key explanations. The
birthrate per woman was 1.74 in 2010, below the approximately
2.1 children needed to sustain a population. It’s estimated
that 97,000 people have left Armenia as of September, with
about 39% ofHayastan’s wanting to leave permanently. Fortunately,
Armenia’s emigration rate is improving, as it is currently -3.35 per
1,000 people instead of 2010’s net migration rate of -4.9 per 1,000
people.

 [chart-pop.jpg]

What the government has done hasn’t helped

The government has tried to limit emigration through ineffective
mechanisms. The government can’t stop people from leaving, but it
has tried to make it harder for people to leave rather than try to
make them want to stay.

This summer, the government instituted a new policy
requiring Hayastancis that leave the country for six months to tell
the local embassy or be fined 3,000 dram. The fine, for now, isn’t
large, but the concern is the government is keeping watch over the
people that leave, maybe to dissuade them from leaving. Some even
say the government delayed giving passports to children during the
summer to stop families from leaving.

The government’s single-shot solution of paying people for having
children is a much worse waste of government money. Armenia has been
paying people to have children for a long time. The government is
currently planning to start paying in 2014 a massive 1 million and 1.5
million drams payment to families for any child past the second child.

This is an expensive policy is a terrible waste of money because
there is no multiplier effect. In any policy, the government should
try to increase its multiplier effect. If building a new road costs
50 million drams but creates 300 million drams worth of activity,
then it has a multiple effect of six. The money given for a first
child will likely go to buy new clothes or items for the child. This
has a multiplier effect of one. For the third and fourth child, the
family already has many of the items they need, so they’ll buy fewer
things, causing a multiplier effect of less than one. Considering
the abundance of challenges Armenia faces, to promote a policy with
a multiplier of less than one is a waste.

Even worse, the poor families that are most incentivized to take
advantage of the million dram offers are the least able to afford to
have children. Poor families desperate for money might have a child
primarily for the money. The million drams can help the family to
live for at most a year or two. Afterwards, the family may still be
poor and won’t be able to take care of the new baby. The baby may
be sent to an orphanage or maybe worse; poor children are the most
vulnerable to being trafficked by criminal groups.

Government must pursue a different approach

What the government needs to do is to make people not want to leave
and feel confident about their futures to want to raise families in
Armenia. To do that, the government needs to focus on why people are
leaving. From 2002 to 2007, 94% of Hayastancis left to find better
work. In 2010, 89% of Hayastancis said that unemployment, poverty or
low income was the most pressing issue for their families. Without
increasing employment options, Hayastanci will continue to leave,
no matter what stopgap policies the government attempts.

Increasing the number of jobs in Armenia is hard but doable. Use the
millions of dram that would have gone to the third or fourth child and
use that money on policies with high multiplier effect, or institute
(free) policy choices that open up the market to newentrepreneurs,
or make sure that foreign investors have redress for any fraud or
corruption to encourage more investments. Any of these things will
promote the economy and allow Hayastancis to stay.

The Diaspora also needs employment prospects

On a personal note, I want to mention how much more the government
could do to encourage the Diaspora to return to Armenia. I am a
member of the Diaspora who was able to come and live in Armenia for
six months thanks to Birthright Armenia. I was a fellow at theHuman
Rights Defender’s Office through the coordination of Armenian Volunteer
Corps. As my time was reaching an end, I spoke with as many people
as possible to find a job that could keep me in Armenia longer.

I was unsuccessful and still have yet to secure anything that can bring
me back. I don’t deserve a job more than any Hayastanci, but without
opportunities for young members of the Diaspora to work in Armenia, we
can’t and won’t come back to live in Armenia. New programs like Repat
Armenia are helping solve this problem, but the government could do
more to encourage this immigration and help repopulate Hayastan.

Gabriel Armas-Cardona is a graduate from New York University Law
School and was a legal fellow at the Office of the Human Rights
Defender of the Republic of Armenia. He regularly comments
on the politics and human rights situation of Armenia on his
blog

From: A. Papazian

HAYKAKAN ZHAMANAK: RUSSIAN MIGRATION SERVICE SUSPENDS ADMISSION OF DOCUMENTS FROM ARMENIANS

27.11.12

The Russian Federal Migration Service’s Yerevan office has suspended
the admission of documents from the Armenian citizens, the paper says,
citing BBC News.

The Armenians seeking permanent residence and employment opportunities
in Russia in the frameworks of the Compatriots program have been
reportedly asked to wait until January 10.

Earlier, dozens of Armenian citizens would queue up outside the
office to register for the program to pave their way out of Armenia,
the paper says further, citing the report.

“Although the Armenian authorities are said to be against the program,
with Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan considering the office’s operation
of unacceptable (as it contributes to emigration), the Russian
authorities continued it. The program, launched in 2006, expires in
2012, but Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a special decree
on September 15 to prolong the timeframes of its implementation. So
the decision to suspend the admission of the documents is thought to
have its reasons and is of a temporary natures. Hence, it may hardly
have anything to do with the Armenian authorities’ complaints,”
the paper comments.

From: A. Papazian

AZERI BOXERS ARRIVE IN ARMENIA FOR WORLD YOUTH CHAMPIONSHIP

BOXING | 27.11.12 | 11:57

The World Boxing Youth Championship will be held in Yerevan November
28- December 8 with the participations of 600 athletes from 55
countries.

Among them is an Azerbaijani team, whose participation was under
question for some period of time, however, boxers arrived in Armenia
after the receiving party provided security guarantees for them.

As Vice-President of the Armenian Boxing Federation Derenik Gabrielyan
said the Azerbaijani team is lodged in a specially isolated residential
area and the security of their residence is guaranteed by appropriate
services.

“When Armenian boxers were in Azerbaijan, everything possible was
done for their security,” said Gabrielyan. “We have now to do the
same and provide their security. This is also a requirement from the
[Amateur] International Boxing Federation. The Azerbaijani boxers
live in an isolated area. It’s their demand. Their team member will
not communicate with the other participants.”

The Azerbaijani delegation includes a head coach, his assistant,
a doctor, and seven athletes. As 1news.az reports Azerbaijani side
recognizes that all prerequisites are met by the Armenian side.

The Championship will be held at the Yerevan Sport and Concert Complex
named after Karen Demirchyan, entrance is free.

From: A. Papazian

AZERBAIJANI MP: RUSSIA AND AZERBAIJAN COME TO CERTAIN AGREEMENT ON GABALA RADAR STATION

arminfo
Tuesday, November 27, 16:53

The Russian-Azerbaijani talks on the Gabala radar station are in the
last phase, and the sides have reached certain agreement, Zahid Orudj,
member of the Azerbaijani Standing Parliamentary Commission on Defense
and Security, said.

SalamNews quotes Orudj as saying: “It is hard to say that everything
has been agreed upon during the talks. This is a geopolitical problem
rather than an issue of technical use of the radar station. However,
in early December all these issues will be clarified. Russia is
unambiguously interested in prolongation of the agreement, but
official Moscow will try to reduce the price for the use of the radar
station. According to the initial information, an interim agreement
will be signed. The sides will sign the agreement for at least three
years. There is no other way out”.

The Azeri MP added that the talks are still going on, but their
details are kept secret, as Russia has not yet agreed to the initial
terms and offers an alternative position and other options and even
exerts pressure on Azerbaijan in this regard.

From: A. Papazian

STEPANAKERT-BOUND FLIGHTS TO OPERATE, REGARDLESS OF BAKU’S VIEWS

November 27, 2012 – 17:42 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs’ visit to the region
hasn’t affected the issue of Stepanakert airport operation, former
Foreign Minister of Artsakh Republic said.

Arman Melikyan stressed the need for the Co-Chairs to have expressed
a clear stance on the issue during their visit.

“U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier called for a
solution in line with the international legal documents and practice,”
Melikyan said, adding international practice dismisses restrictions
on operations of flights by civil aircrafts.

“The flexibility of the Armenian side may play a significant role in
problem solution, despite the unfavorable situation for us.

Stepanakert-Yerevan flight may operate without the Azerbaijani
leadership’s consent. However, there would be no such problem if
Armenia started Artsakh recognition campaign and concluded relevant
agreements,” he said, adding that Turkey operates flights in the
direction of the unrecognized Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

New Times party leader Aram Karapetyan, in turn, noted that OSCE
Minsk Group Co-Chairs are trying to avoid any issue that may signal
a renewal of war.

“They aim to avert the transformation of the Middle East crisis to
the South Caucasus,” he said, deeming operation of Stepanakert-bound
flights possible from another country.

From: A. Papazian

MARTIROS SARYAN’S POET. ON THE SLOPES OF ARAGATS SOLD FOR RECORD HIGH 623,700 POUNDS

YEREVAN, November 27. / ARKA /. A painting by prominent Armenian
artist Martiros Saryan “Poet. On the slopes of Aragats” was sold for
a record 623.7 thousand pounds at Sotheby’s in London on the first
day of Russian art auction.

Executed circa 1906, The Poet is among the earliest works by Martiros
Saryan ever to come to auction and was published in Apollon magazine in
1913. It was originally in the famous Moscow collection of Nikolai
Ryabushinsky (1877-1951) -son of a millionaire, bon viveur and
passionate collector.

A painting by another Armenian artist Dmitry Nalbandian “Daisies”
was bought for 175.3 thousand pounds.

Russian RIA Novosti reported that the Portrait of Praskovya Mamontova’
painted by Valentin Serov was sold at the auction for 1.2 million
pounds, a record price for the artist. The painting’s preliminary
estimate was 300-500 thousand pounds. This exceptionally rare work
from a private collection was in a private collection ever since and
was the most important portrait by this artist ever to have come to
the market. Painted when the artist was just 22, it is one of Serov’s
earliest finished paintings and dates from the same year as his famous
portrait of the sitter’s young cousin, Girl with Peaches (Portrait
of V.S.Mamontova), 1887, now in The State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow.

Transportation of the Wounded, one of the largest works by Vasily
Vasilievich Vereshchagin was sold for 937,300 pounds. This magnificent
military scene, inspired by the Russo-Turkish war, was exhibited
widely in Europe and the United States in the 1880s. It was acquired
by the New York collector and merchant Samuel Ullman at the sale of
the artist’s works held in New York by the American Art Galleries
in 1891, and has remained in private collections since then. The
painting’s preliminary estimate was 800,000-1,200,000 pounds. Today
is the second day of the auction. -0- 16:17 27.11.2012

From: A. Papazian

FIGHTING CORRUPTION AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS
Maria Titizian

Monday, November 26th, 2012

When Investigative Journalism Pays Off

Anyone who lives in Armenia or who follows politics in this country
understands that impunity is one of the causes of widespread
disillusionment, distrust in the justice system and the prevailing
cynicism. These sentiments are grounded in facts and not perceptions
as some things invariably can be in societies where there is no
cohesion or solidarity. There have been countless cases where those
with powerful connections to the ruling regime have been able to
manipulate the system and escape prosecution squandering all hope
for the application of the fundamental precept of equality before
the law for all.

A case in point was the appointment of Gagik Beglaryan as Minister of
Transport and Communication, a potentially “lucrative” posting after
he was forced to resign as mayor of Yerevan for beating up a member
of President Sargsyan’s protocol office. The violence was motivated
because this official asked Mr. Beglaryan’s wife to change her seat
at a Placido Domingo concert in Yerevan a few years ago.

This is not breaking news, nor has Mr. Beglaryan misbehaved recently,
at least not to my knowledge. However, men like Gagik Beglaryan
(Chorni Gago), Ruben Hayrapetyan (Nemets Rubo), Suren Khatchatryan
(Liska) and many others with similarly colorful nicknames continue
to operate, conduct business, maintain relationships and steer clear
of any recrimination through their very powerful connections and by
having a plethora of volunteers to act as their fall guys. And those
who wield no influence, who do not have access to unlimited amounts
of cash and resources, who are not related to anyone who can provide
them with protection are the ones upon whom the heavy hand of the
law comes to rest.

As long as there is an absence of political will, as long as the
justice system is not independent, as long as society tolerates this
kind of behavior, and as long as mainstream media does not report on
it these men who hold the levers of power are free to act in a manner
which they feel entitled to. It doesn’t have to be so. Recently, events
unfolding in Brazil have underscored how persistent, professional and
relentless investigative journalism can bring those whom the justice
system hasn’t been able to touch to answer.

On November 12, 2012, Jose Dirceu, former chief-of-staff (2003-2005)
of Brazil’s former President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (Lula) was
sentenced to almost 11 years for corruption by the country’s Supreme
Court. He is known to be the mastermind behind Mensalao, a massive
corruption scheme that diverted public funds to pay legislators in
the ruling coalition to vote in favor of government initiatives.

The verdict was significant for Brazil who suffers from a long
tradition of impunity and absence of freedom of expression and even
more so because it was handed down seven years after the scandal
first broke (and which almost cost Lula his re-election in 2006)
and five years after the Supreme Court decided to hear the case.

Reporting on the verdict, an article in Al Jazeera stated: “The high
profile sentences have been seen by many in Brazil as evidence that
politics is no longer immune from punishment.” Reuters reported
the following: “The corruption trial, which has been running live
on Brazilian TV for the last two months, could have repercussions
for future trials involving senior politicians, who have long been
regarded as untouchable.”

About a month ago, Transparency International and the Instituto Prensa
y Sociedad (Press and Society Institute, IPYS) gave three Brazilian
journalists, Andreza Matais, Jose Ernesto Credendio and Catia Seabra
the annual Latin American Investigative Journalism Award for their
reporting on the scandal that eventually led to the resignation of
another chief-of-staff, Antonio Palocci (of current president Dilma
Roussef). Their investigative journalism in Folha de Sao Paulo began
with a story about a questionable purchase of a luxury apartment. “As
they followed leads and pieced evidence together, a complex network
of illicit activities came into view, much of it centering on a
consultancy firm in which Palocci was involved.”

According to Global Investigative Journalism Network, none of this
would have been possible without the tenacious and fearless reporting
of Brazilian journalists.

Addressing the Latin American Investigative Journalism Conference in
Bogota, David Kaplan of the Global Investigative Journalism Network
said, “If you invest in investigative journalism, you get dividends
in democracy, transparency and accountability.”

Could exposing real cases of corruption lead to fundamental changes
in our own country? Perhaps, but it is also true that there have been
cases where criminal activity among the so-called elites of Armenia
have been made public with the same disappointing result  – a slap
on the wrist, a forced resignation coupled with a convenient loss of
memory and a promise of a better, more influential appointment at a
later date.

While the Brazilian experience is encouraging, to expect mainstream
broadcast media in Armenia (who is only as free as the president’s
office allows it to be) or semi-independent print and web media outfits
to engage in such investigative journalism where we would see the
departure of people who abuse their positions of power and influence
might be premature because of the atmosphere of fear which persists.

Forcing accountability and “encouraging” the executive branch of
government to release the chains around the judiciary’s neck so that
it can ensure the equal application of the law will come about when
we liberate the individual, the reporter, the anchor, the editor,
the writer, the media mogul from the chains of their own forbearance.

Investigative journalism, citizen journalism, and social media will
be effective tools only when we begin to believe that we are free.

The consequences of that freedom might be threats and intimidation
which might deter the journalist from reporting on cases of abuse
and blatant corruption. However, if all those who report the news,
also support one another, exercise their civic rights, express their
solidarity with one another, mobilize society to join forces, then
not even the long arm of our privileged elite can touch them. Yes,
the Brazilian example is encouraging and we should learn from it by
applying constant, consistent and unrelenting pressure by reporting,
elucidating and enlightening fearlessly. The dividends for democracy,
transparency and accountability will far outweigh the consequences
for all of us.

From: A. Papazian

COMMISSION SET UP TO ORGANIZE FUNERAL OF ARMENIAN CELEBRITY FOLK SINGER

news.am
November 27, 2012 | 18:24

YEREVAN. – Under the decision of the Armenian PM Tigran Sargsyan,
a commission has been set up to organize the funeral of the Armenian
celebrity folk singer Flora Martirosyan. The commission is headed by
the Minister of Culture Hasmik Poghosyan.

“All the expenses regarding the transfer of the body to Armenia, and
the funeral will be covered by the Government,” Ministry of Culture
representative Hasmik Hakhverdyan said, adding the day of the transfer
is not yet fixed.

To note, Flora Martirosyan died in Los Angeles on Nov. 20 as a result
of the complications following a gall bladder surgery.

From: A. Papazian

ARMENIA NOT FOUND AMONG FAVORABLE COUNTRIES TO BE BORN IN

arminfo
Tuesday, November 27, 19:57

The experts of The Economist Intelligence Unit have published the
list of the best countries to be born in.

The Economist Intelligence Unit looked at GDP, life expectancy,
political freedom, job security, climate and gender equality to
compile a list of 80 countries ranked by their general quality of life.

Neither Armenia nor Georgia has found itself on the list. Azerbaijan,
however, is ranked 70th. Among the countries of the region, Iran is
in the 58th place, and Turkey is in the 51st place.

Switzerland, Australia and Norway have the highest quality of life
and are the best countries to be born in

Among the CIS countries, Russia is ranked 72nd, Kazakhstan – 74th,
and Ukraine – 78th. The other countries of Middle Asia and Belarus
have not found themselves on the list either. It is noteworthy that
in the report of 1988, the USSR was in the 21st place, sharing it
with Argentina and outstripping Denmark, Greece and Israel.

The US found itself in the 16th place, having dropped from the leading
position of the previous report due to the economic instability in
the country.

The UK was in 27th place, just behind France and one place ahead of
the Czech Republic and Spain in the joint 28th position. Falling at
the very bottom of the list were Kenya and Nigeria.

In general, The Economist Intelligence Unit experts say that the best
countries to be born in cannot boast of a high birthrate.

From: A. Papazian

150 YEARS ON, ISRAELI HOSPITAL FOUNDED BY EDINBURGH DOCTOR STILL NURTURED BY SCOTS STAFF

Scotsman
November 25, 2012 Sunday
UK

FOUNDED BY an Edinburgh-trained doctor, the Nazareth Hospital
in Israel has treated people of all faiths for 150 years. Chitra
Ramaswamy talks to one of the many Scots who have helped to nurture it

IN her immaculate retirement flat in Edinburgh’s Comely Bank, Dr Runa
Mackay is talking of her long history with a remarkable hospital on
a hillside in Nazareth. In 1955 she arrived in what for centuries had
been a leading centre of Christian pilgrimage to find a struggling Arab
town with a population of 40,000, flooded with Palestinian refugees.

It had only been seven years since the foundation of the state of
Israel. Mackay intended to work at the hospital for just six months.

She ended up staying for 20 years.

“I arrived three days later than expected because of terrible fog,” she
recalls. “I had told Dr Bathgate that I’d be wearing a red straw hat,
and three days later there he was, still waiting. He said he had seen
lots of ladies with red hats but somehow knew that none of them was me.

“We set off for Nazareth in the hospital car and every so often he
would stop in front of some shed and say here we are!’,” she remembers
with a throaty laugh. “I was getting worried but eventually we got
to the hospital on the hill and it was lovely. There were two wards,
about 120 beds, one operating theatre, and no running water. Scrubbing
up for an operation meant the nurse coming in with a jug of hot water
to pour over your hands. We would boil instruments on a primus stove
and anaesthetics were a little chloroform sprinkled on a mask.

Politically things were awful, but somehow you just got on with it.”

This year, as the crisis in Gaza continues despite last week’s
ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, the Nazareth Hospital celebrates
its 150th anniversary. It is the oldest hospital in Israel, founded
during the Ottoman Empire. It began its life as just four beds in
a tiny rented house, set up by a missionary doctor and his wife who
treated patients on their floor and tucked them up in their children’s
beds to recover. Today it looks rather different: a sprawling general
hospital with 147 beds and more than 400 staff. Though it remains
Protestant in mission and ethos, these days all the staff are local
and the vast majority are Palestinian Arabs.

The hospital has always, throughout its long and turbulent history,
treated everyone who comes through the door, regardless of background,
ability to pay, or religious beliefs – a reason frequently cited for
its survival against the odds. That it has continued to flourish
through a century and a half of war, political instability, and
religious divide is indeed extraordinary. But equally fascinating
are its enduring links to Scotland.

The story begins with an impoverished Armenian Turk called Pacradooni
Kaloost Vartan or, as his great-grandson John Vartan calls him, PKV.

He was born in 1835 in Constantinople, the son of a tailor who went on
to learn English from an American missionary and work as an interpreter
during the Crimean war. A new book by BBC World Service journalist
Malcolm Billings to commemorate the 150th anniversary describes how
“the expatriate community of Christians in Constantinople, including
significant numbers of Scots, eased his path to Edinburgh”.

And so after the war PKV ended up in Edinburgh, a “new town” with bold
Georgian symmetry and a peerless reputation in medicine. Interest
in medical missionary work was growing, and the Edinburgh Medical
Missionary Society (EMMS), loosely formed in 1841, adopted PKV as
one of its students. He took lodgings in a boarding house on Clarence
Street with various members of the Free Church, attended lectures at
the Royal College of Surgeons, and trained at 39 Cowgate, a dispensary
in an old whisky shop. “I did not see so many drunkards cursing and
swearing in the neighbourhood as I used to in my student days,” PKV
wrote of the Cowgate years later when he returned to visit Edinburgh.

“It was a hugely formative time,” explains his great-grandson, who only
found out in the mid-nineties about his family’s history in Nazareth
when he was handed a carved rosewood camel that once stood on his
great grandfather’s desk in Nazareth. “Edinburgh is the city that
turned him into a doctor. But he found the study difficult. The Latin
names of bones and blood vessels must have been very tricky for him.”

After a spell in Beirut, the EMMS sent PKV to Nazareth. He arrived in
the early 1860s with only his instruments and a small amount of money
from the society. The average life expectancy in the small, neglected
town was 22. The nearest doctor or hospital was in Damascus or Beirut.

“He started treating people immediately in his house,” Vartan says.

“He did all sorts of things; introducing reinforced iron girders to
the building of houses, designing crutches, making his own surgical
tools. He even discovered an iris, which is named after him. He also
ran his own pharmacy and apparently some of his patients dipped the
prescriptions he wrote in water and then ate them, thinking that was
the medicine.”

Is it true he converted far fewer people than he healed? “Absolutely,”
Vartan says proudly. “Which is precisely the way it should be.”

All the while, the EMMS was sending over money, books, and medicine.

And the Scottish link would continue to grow. On a brief return trip
to Edinburgh in 1867, PKV fell in love with a Scottish daughter of
the Manse, Mary Anne Stewart. They were married in a house on Scotland
Street on 2 June and left together for Nazareth just a few hours later.

“She was a fantastic woman,” continues Vartan. “She bore him ten
children, five of whom died under five. She would care for her
husband’s patients at home, make flower pictures to raise money, and
teach English. They were devoted to each other and to their mission.

Apparently she once said it was lucky their house had walls made of
elastic because they never turned anyone away. They had huge faith,
and they needed it.”

In his book, Billings describes how Mary Anne was praised by locals for
“introducing a little of the civilisation of Edinburgh into Nazareth”.

In 1906, the 25 acres of hillside land that PKV had been pursuing for
his beloved hospital were finally granted, though he would not get to
see it completed before his death in 1908. The EMMS bought the plot of
land and continued to own it until a few years ago, when it was given
to the hospital. The Nazareth Hospital is still registered in Scotland,
however, and the bond forged more than 150 years ago continues.

“The connection with Scotland is amazing,” says Joy Fraser who in the
1980s worked at the hospital as director of nursing. Like Mary Anne,
she is the daughter of a Free Church minister. “But the real joy
now is that the hospital is run by and for locals. It truly belongs
to the Nazarene people. It was always very modern in its outlook,
which is why it has survived,” she adds.

Vartan agrees. “The familial attitude at the hospital is astonishing.

Nearly everybody in Nazareth has been treated there at some point. A
large proportion of people who work in the hospital were born there.

And several generations of families work there, which is wonderful
to see in such a divided part of the world. It’s a powerful thing
to see Muslims, Christians, Jews, and Druze all standing around the
same table.”

For Mackay, a neat, softly spoken, and steely woman in tartan trousers,
the Nazareth Hospital kick-started a lifelong love affair with the
Middle East. She never married or had family of her own.

Instead she worked as a missionary doctor in Israel, Lebanon and the
Occupied Territories, witnessing everything from the Six Day War to
the birth of the Intifada. At the age of 91 she remains an active
advocate for Palestinian rights and still heads for the east end
of Princes Street every Saturday lunchtime to protest against the
treatment of women in Afghanistan.

Her memories of the Nazareth Hospital could fill a small book. “It’s
always been known as the English hospital, which is rather annoying
for the Scots,” she laughs. “That’s because there was a so-called
Scottish hospital in Tiberias.”

She recalls the hospital doorman translating her morning bible stories
into Arabic “until I learned Arabic myself and realised he wasn’t
translating what I was saying at all”. She encouraged young Arab
women into nursing, and tried to stop mothers in the villages from
applying donkey dung to their babies’ umbilical cords, because it
resulted in neonatal tetanus. She talks of sacks of rice that would
mysteriously appear when the hospital ran out of money, arguing with
patients about paying – “of course if they couldn’t, we treated them
anyway” – and shouting at a man who refused to give blood to his wife:
“I bullied him into it in the end.”

Mackay studied medicine in Edinburgh at a time when penicillin had
just been discovered. Today she feels as much an Arab as she does a
Scot. She last visited Nazareth in September for the 150th anniversary
celebrations, arriving in a wheelchair to reminisce with some of her
surviving colleagues.

“Though I trained as a paediatrician I ended up working in obstetrics
at the hospital because that’s where I was needed,” she says, ever the
pragmatist. “We delivered so many babies that the population actually
spiked. People would come from all over Galilee, often by any means. I
remember seeing a cement mixer pull up in front of the hospital once.”

She laughs and shakes her head. “Of course, they have a big car park
and an ambulance at the hospital now. I suppose it all keeps changing,
which is rather wonderful.”

~U Vartan of Nazareth by Malcolm Billings, Paul Holberton Publishing,
visit nazarethtrust.org for more information

From: A. Papazian