Further Update: Marya Aman

First posted in September 2007, over a year later the circumstances of seven year-old Marya Aman are still uncertain.

Last week lawyers connected to the case made optimistic noises after the Israeli defence ministry agreed to fund Marya’s treatment in the Jerusalem hospital where she receives 24 hour care.

The ruling next week could prove ground-breaking – not only in terms of its ruling, but also insofar as it would save the life of the young Palestinian girl, and enable her five year-old brother, and her father, to remain in Israel for her treatment.

Hopefully, the court will also order the ministry to pay £10,000 a month to permanently fund Marya’s treatment.

In 2006 Marya was paralysed from the neck down in an Israeli missile strike on her family car in Gaza, last year.

The strike robbed Marya  of her mother, older brother, and grandmother, while Marya  fractured her spine, punctured both lungs, and is confined to a motorised wheelchair which she operates with a mouth stick.

Although the Israeli government initially refused to sustain the funding of treatment, it has since – in the light of much condemnatory publicity, lead by The Times – agreed to pay her medical bills.

What should be a clear-cut case of humanitarian obligation has dragged on for more than a year – a year in which Marya and her family have doubtless continued to grieve in the midst of abject uncertainty.

How the Israeli government can sustain a degree of pride, while quibbling over Marya’s health-care and future is bizarre and distinctly chilling.

Just as we wait with bated breath for the outcome of the highly publicised shoe-gate verdict, so too must we wait for what will hopefully be a positive conclusion to Marya’s case.

Lord knows the Aman family has suffered enough.