British lawmaker suffers stroke in Ramallah

British Member of Parliament Dr. Ian Gibson is recovering in a Jerusalem hospital after suffering a suspected mild stroke during a “fact-finding” meeting yesterday with Palestinian officials.

Gibson, 66, was taken to the 220-bed Makassed Hospital on the Mount of Olives after reportedly fainting during a visit to meet Palestinian officials in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

Gibson, who claims his ambulance was held up for over an hour when it reached an Israeli army checkpoint on his way into Jerusalem, said, “[The stroke] was probably caused because I had overstretched myself and I was also suffering from dehydration. I have had a busy week, with visits to Liverpool and Manchester, all the fox hunting business and flying out here on Wednesday night, when I had a full day without any sleep.”

He said, “We got an ambulance which was Palestinian and it was held up for an hour and a half at an Israeli checkpoint. It was pretty scary.”

Palestinian ambulances are occasionally stalled at Israeli checkpoints because the Palestinians have used ambulances to shoot at Israeli soldiers and transport weapons into the Jewish state.

Officials at Makassed Hospital said Gibson was making good progress.

Nursing supervisor Yousef Murar told reporters: “His health is fine; he is progressing well and is much better. He had a slight stroke, but his condition is good and he is now resting and getting some sleep in our medical department.”

Gibson was meeting Palestinian officials as part of a “fact-finding” mission regarding the “ongoing cycle of violence in the Middle East.”

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and President Bush have been trying to isolate Yasser Arafat and key PLO officials who they say are involved in terrorism, and have been encouraging international leaders to not meet with members of the PLO.

An Israeli government official who asked that his name be withheld told WorldNetDaily: “I can tell you what he discovered on his so-called fact finding mission – that when you have a stroke deep inside Palestinian territory, you had better get to Jerusalem if you want medical treatment.”