SPRINGFIELD — When Dr. Norbert Goldfield sees patients at Baystate Brightwood Health Center, he’s doing what he can to help children and families who need free or low-cost care.
But his concern for people living on the margins doesn’t end in Springfield. It is transcending borders and helping the “marginalized communities of Israel and Palestine,” he told The Republican and MassLive.
Goldfield founded Healing Across the Divides in 2004, a nonprofit based in Northampton. As with his service in greater Springfield, the nonprofit works at the grassroots level in the downtrodden communities and poorest neighborhoods of Israel and the West Bank.
“There are many divides,” said Goldfield. “It’s not just Israelis and Palestinians, rich and poor. It’s not just male, female or religious.”
Healing Across the Divides works with community organizations focused on the health of Palestinians and Israelis. The nonprofit helps fund those groups, which are run by Israelis and Palestinians. The program’s teams on the ground help local leaders manage their organizations.
Goldfield said his group’s mission is “shaped by a fundamental belief in better health as a catalyst for peace.”
“We want to help these groups have a greater impact on the communities they serve to the extent they work together across the many divides. Some of these leaders could be tomorrow’s political leaders, and they will be the ones that will make peace in this challenged part of the world,” said Goldfield.
Healing Across the Divides has a broad mandate, supporting mental and physical health, pre-natal care, youth sports, providing safe spaces in the face of violence, reproductive rights and a farm run jointly by Israelis and Palestinians.
“The outcome they were looking at on the farm was improved communication and nutrition,” he said. “Overall, we have measurably improved the health of more than a quarter million people in the last 20 years.”
Norbert Goldfield visits with participants in a Healing Across the Divides program in the north of Israel.Photo provided by Norbert Goldfield
But while Goldfield looks back on the group’s successes, he peers ahead at a future fraught with violence. “Now is frankly the worst of times. It’s certainly the most challenging time since the founding of the state of Israel. No question about it,” he said.
The nonprofit survives on donations from individuals and a limited number of grants from foundations. It is wrapping up an emergency fundraising drive now because the need is severe and unprecedented.
“The campaign was successful, sadly in the sense it’s the kind of work that needs support all along. But the reality is, when there’s a crisis, people are more willing to donate,” said Goldfield.
Ongoing work
Healing Across the Divides is continuing to fund health-related programs, but there is now a critical new need to fund services that go beyond what the organization traditionally supported.
“We are now funding emergency mental health services for staff because they are really stressed out, as are the grantees who run the community groups,” said Goldfield.
The program is able to directly fund work in the West Bank and Israel. But supporting the people of Gaza is nearly impossible.
“A U.S. law bans funding any groups in Gaza. There are all sorts of forms that have to be filled out indicating you’re not a terrorist. There’s a paper flow that doesn’t allow you to work within Gaza unless it’s a very unusual situation,” said Goldfield.
Healing Across the Divides has funded more than 50 community-based projects, but only one benefitted Gazans. Work was done to help people with diabetes. That program has ended and future assistance to anyone there is unlikely.
“I’m not the kind of person that gets frustrated, otherwise, I would burn out, whether it’s work I do in the Middle East or my clinical work in the United States. I try to deal with reality. I try to engage in a way that bridges divides,” he said.
Personal mission
Goldfield, who is Jewish, has been traveling to the Middle East for decades. He worked in a Jerusalem hospital in 1996 and treated patients living in the West Bank. He was also a featured speaker on a tour sponsored by Physicians for Human Rights.
Two decades ago, Goldfield wanted to find and join an organization working toward health and peace in the region. He wanted to build bridges a world away.
He never thought he would start his own group, but did when he found no one doing the kind of work he envisioned.
“I feel compelled to be involved. I ask myself, ‘What is it that I can do that will make a concrete difference?’”
Goldfield will continue practicing medicine and see patients in Springfield, while fighting to build peace through health care in Israel.
“There are 10 or 15 people in the world at the top that can make a difference. Since I’m not one of them, I’ve worked from the bottom up,” said Goldfield. “What that means for me is helping groups working to improve healthcare for marginalized people.”
