Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

Feature Head to head

Should we consider a boycott of Israeli academic institutions? Yes

BMJ 2007; 335 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.39266.495567.AD (Published 19 July 2007) Cite this as: BMJ 2007;335:124

Rapid Response:

We should boycott israeli medical and academic institutions

Can anybody imagine living in a state of war for more than 60 years?
Who is responsible for the killing of everyday basis of ordinary
civilians? I know it's hard to convince colleagues their knowledege based
on local news. The reality that palestinians are facing serious tragedy
which their hopelessness status might affect the whole region!! We have
wittnessed the suicidal phenomena which was a response to 50 years of
occupation, destruction of infrastucture, eradicating people from their
homes and building settelemnts in palestinian land. It's easy for Dr
Michael Baum to call for balance and cooperation, but why he ignores the
fact that there are more than 500 UN resolutions related to palestine
never been implemented by Israel? Why in the 21st century there is a
people under occupation? Do they really believe that the apartheid wall
which separate children from their schools, men from their place of work
and farmers from their land, Is this about security?

I am appealing to all colleagues to vote 'Yes' for the debate . Israeli
doctors, and academics needs to realise that their position is important
to us, this why we call to boycott them because they can't be part of a
military state their agenda to kill the palestinians or to transfere them
to no were.

Israeli doctors should condemn the daily killing, they should call to stop
the suffering of the palestinians on checkpoints, they should facilitate
building the health services which destroyed by the army. Israeli
academics should call for the Palestinians refugees right for return .
I believe it's the time to give the palestinian people the hope of living,
by making the initiative to boycott the Israeli institutions a reality.

Competing interests: I am Palestinian in origin, a qualified medical doctor, and a consultant psychiatrist.

Competing interests: No competing interests

25 July 2007
Amin Elhihi
consultant psychiatrist
Lister Hospital, hertfordshire SG1 4AB