Baptiste André, 35 years old
On the ship Madleen of the humanitarian organization Freedom Flotilla Coalitionkidnapped by the Israelis to prevent the blocking of humanitarian aid in Gaza, among the twelve members of the crew, in addition to the best known, the Swedish activist Greta Thtuberg, there was also the young French doctor Baptiste André, 35 years old, returned last night in France. We reached his father Pascal Andrè on the phone, 62 years old, also a doctor and like his son engaged in humanitarian projects. Pascal has made several missions in Palestine and is back from a hunger strike to bring the attention of French politicians on the violation of human rights in the Gaza Strip ».
You are a doctor, your son is a doctor: do you share the same sensitivity on this theme?
«As doctors we are linked to the oath of Hippocrates, who invites us to take care of the wounds, but also to reflect on what causes them. So denouncing what hurts, what causes disease, what generates suffering. This, in our profession, do it every day. My son Baptiste has been doing it for years as an internist in Marseille. I, in addition to carrying out my profession in France, with the organization Médecins du monde I have carried out humanitarian missions a little worldwide and for three years I have also been working in Palestine, where the violation of human rights has dramatic consequences. I am convinced that if as a doctor you visit a woman victim of violence or an abused child and do not accompany them to file a complaint, you become an accomplice. For me it is the same for what is happening in Palestine. It is our duty, it is our ethical commitment to denounce. There are many French citizens and from all over the world that can no longer bear the silence that surrounds us on this tragedy, and my son Baptiste has decided to do something first person by embarking on the Madleen ».
Are you a believer?
“Yes. I am a Christian, I was subscribed to Famille Chretienne For years. But on the theme of human rights they are critical with the leaders of the French Church. Since I returned from Gaza and the West Bank I have been trying to meet priests, bishops, even the president of the Episcopal Conference, but I do not find a feedback on my appeals. On the seventh day of hunger strike I intervened in a church in Toulouse, publicly reading the letter that the bishops of Palestine, Israel and the Middle East wrote to the French ones, asking that it was widespread. But the voice of the Christians of the Middle East continues to be ignored. Yet Pope Francis had been very busy on this forehead, and the current Ponteficie seems to be it too ».
The cover of Famiglia Cristiana on newsstands Thursday 12 June.
Also in Italy much of the policy is silent, but there has been a great mobilization of the square in Rome to end the Palestinian massacre in which 300,000 people participated.
«Fortunately, citizens are mobilizing all over the world, because politicians with their silence are accomplices. And fortunately there are people like Francesca Albanese and many officials and employees of the European Commission who are making the hunger strike, in a non -violent way, for peace. Every time I went to Gaza and West, the Palestinian medical colleagues thanked me, but then they said to me: “Go back to your home. We know how to cure, we know how to live, we know our freedom, our respect, our dignity. Return to your countries, change your policies and apply the right, because we are dying because of your lack of application and yours hypocrisy “».
Was his son to his first experience in Palestine?
«It was his first humanitarian mission, he couldn’t even enter. He had been preparing for six months to leave with a German association off Libya to save shipwrecked and refugees. Then the mission was canceled, and Baptiste left for Sicily. There he was offered to embark on the Madleen. I myself had to leave, but I could not for health and work reasons.
Did you feel during the trip?
«The experience was very hard. The drones supervised them at night, they lived constantly under stress. When they were intercepted, it was all very tense and violent, in his first statements he said he had suffered physical abuse. Even in prisons the psychological pressure is very high. My son chose to return. He was asked to sign a declaration in which he admitted that he entered the illegally in Israel, a false thing, and with that signature he will be banned for over 100 years. It is the emblem of a perverse system ».
Some of the activists remained in Israel to be subjected to trial …
«Baptista also wanted to stay, but he had to go back to work. In France there are no doctors. I also had to stop the hunger strike to return to work. He knows that in ten days he has to resume service, and cannot afford three weeks in prison ».
In your opinion, was this journey useful?
«Yes, absolutely. Useful for the Palestinians, useful for the international cause. Perhaps someone will consider it only as a demonstration action. But it is important that consciences move. Many are preparing legal actions against those who, in Europe, are responsible for non -compliance with international law. And it is essential to remember that living together requires rules, and respect for differences is our wealth. All this has a lot to do with the message of Jesus, not only with the oath of Hippocrates. How can you read the Holy Scriptures without being indignant for what happens? I can’t there anymore. This is the shipwreck of our European civilization. In France – as probably also in Italy – we are becoming racists. During my hunger strike, I met many French of colonial origin who said to me: “We no longer recognize ourselves in the values of France and Europe”. We are building walls at sea, leaving people who flee from wars to die of which we are responsible. Dying at sea or your own home should not make a difference. But for someone yes: there are lives that are worth and others that do not matter. I thank you a lot for your work and for this interview, for having given voice to our commitment for human rights, for Palestine, for those who suffer in the world ».
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In the photo under the title Pascal André with Mons. Marc Stenger, former president of Pax Christi, a priest very busy for the rights of the Palestinians
