Who calls? Who calls, calls N. L. Cohen from North-West London.
Some people may consider it the height of gall … but I was one doctor
who made the call. I was called by the appalling plight of the Palestinian
people. The horrific oppression of the Palestinians at the hands of the
freedom loving democracies of Israel, the US and the EU called me like a
siren song out of the black smog of war, out of the bleak war on terror.
Doctors are powerful moral and ethical representatives of their
country and community. By seeking to divert world attention from the human
rights abuses in the occupied territories, the Israeli Medical Association
(IMA) has shamed the profession. All appeals to conscience are failing:
naturally, I made the call. I am one of the original 130 doctors who
called for the expulsion of the IMA from the WMA (World Medical
Association).
As a non-Jew, I was privileged to study as a medical student in
Israel many years ago – and I write from this calling, perspective and
experience. My memories are vivid still: I slept on the beach by the Sea
of Galilee, floated in the Dead Sea and snorkelled in the Red Sea. I was
shocked by the vitriol of some young Jewish medical students and horrified
by their virulent hatred towards the Palestinian Arabs. I stayed on a
kibbutz on the Lebanese border near Qiryat Shemona, I climbed Masada,
visited Nazareth, Bethlehem and the holy places of Jerusalem. I took
advantage of the peace with Egypt brokered by Jimmy Carter at Camp David
in 1978 and travelled through Gaza and on overland via Port Said to Cairo.
In 1980, I was impressed by the State of Israel and its astonishing
achievements and had high hope of a peaceful future for all in the Middle
East. Sadly, in the last quarter century, Israel has determinedly taken
the wrong road to peace and failed at every step to act in good faith
toward international law, international convention and the Palestinians. I
now believe that the Zionist project has been a terrible mistake that
threatens us all.
In the final paragraph to his book, ‘Palestine: peace not apartheid’,
Jimmy Carter wrote,
“It will be a tragedy – for the Israelis, the Palestinians, and the
world – if peace is rejected and a system of oppression, apartheid, and
sustained violence is permitted to prevail.”
I call on Israeli doctors to act: the Israeli Medical Association has
an important responsibility to help avert such a tragedy.
Rapid Response:
Re: Who calls?
Who calls? Who calls, calls N. L. Cohen from North-West London.
Some people may consider it the height of gall … but I was one doctor
who made the call. I was called by the appalling plight of the Palestinian
people. The horrific oppression of the Palestinians at the hands of the
freedom loving democracies of Israel, the US and the EU called me like a
siren song out of the black smog of war, out of the bleak war on terror.
Doctors are powerful moral and ethical representatives of their
country and community. By seeking to divert world attention from the human
rights abuses in the occupied territories, the Israeli Medical Association
(IMA) has shamed the profession. All appeals to conscience are failing:
naturally, I made the call. I am one of the original 130 doctors who
called for the expulsion of the IMA from the WMA (World Medical
Association).
As a non-Jew, I was privileged to study as a medical student in
Israel many years ago – and I write from this calling, perspective and
experience. My memories are vivid still: I slept on the beach by the Sea
of Galilee, floated in the Dead Sea and snorkelled in the Red Sea. I was
shocked by the vitriol of some young Jewish medical students and horrified
by their virulent hatred towards the Palestinian Arabs. I stayed on a
kibbutz on the Lebanese border near Qiryat Shemona, I climbed Masada,
visited Nazareth, Bethlehem and the holy places of Jerusalem. I took
advantage of the peace with Egypt brokered by Jimmy Carter at Camp David
in 1978 and travelled through Gaza and on overland via Port Said to Cairo.
In 1980, I was impressed by the State of Israel and its astonishing
achievements and had high hope of a peaceful future for all in the Middle
East. Sadly, in the last quarter century, Israel has determinedly taken
the wrong road to peace and failed at every step to act in good faith
toward international law, international convention and the Palestinians. I
now believe that the Zionist project has been a terrible mistake that
threatens us all.
In the final paragraph to his book, ‘Palestine: peace not apartheid’,
Jimmy Carter wrote,
“It will be a tragedy – for the Israelis, the Palestinians, and the
world – if peace is rejected and a system of oppression, apartheid, and
sustained violence is permitted to prevail.”
I call on Israeli doctors to act: the Israeli Medical Association has
an important responsibility to help avert such a tragedy.
Competing interests:
None declared
Competing interests: No competing interests