[Boycott - Euro News]

UK doctors call for boycott of Israeli Medical Association

IRNA, London
22 April 2007

"The IMA has forfeited its right to membership of the international medical community," said the doctors, led by Professor of Surgical Science at University College of London Colin Green and award-winning Dr Pauline Cutting.

"The Israeli Medical Association has a duty to protest about war crimes of this kind, but has refused to do so. Appeals to the World Medical Association and the British Medical Association have also been rebuffed," they said.

The call comes after 18 leading Palestinian health organizations appealed to fellow professionals abroad in March to recognize how the IMA has forfeited its right to membership of the international medical community.

In a letter to the Guardian, the doctors expressed grave concern about the health-related impact of Israeli policy on Palestinian society.

Their letter reported that instead of being given immunity, medical staff had been killed with hundreds of ambulances fired upon by Israeli troops.

"Desperately ill people, and newborn babies, die at checkpoints because soldiers bar the way to hospital. The public-health infrastructure, including water and electricity supplies, is willfully bombed," it said. The doctors further warned that the passage of essential medicines like anti-cancer drugs and kidney dialysis fluids were blocked, while in the West Bank, the apartheid wall has "destroyed any coherence in the primary health system."

In Gaza, UN rapporteurs have repeatedly described the situation as a humanitarian catastrophe, with 25 percent of children clinically malnourished.

Calling for a boycott of the IMA, the doctors said that there had been a precedent set for its expulsion from the WMA set during the apartheid era when the Medical Association of South Africa was expelled.

"A boycott is an ethical and moral imperative when conventional channels do not function. Otherwise, we are merely turning away," they warned.

Source: http://www2.irna.ir/en/news/view/line-20/0704211248173847.htm

UK Doctors letter calling for boycott of Israeli Medical Association

Letter to the Guardian newspaper from 130 British Doctors
A watered down version appeared in the paper, this is the full version
2007-04-21

Palestinian ambulance in Gaza
destroyed by Israeli tank

In 1996 Amnesty International concluded that Israeli doctors working with the security services "form part of a system in which detainees are tortured, ill-treated and humiliated in ways that place prison medical practice in conflict with medical ethics".

Your leader (April 20) suggests that in voting to boycott Israel, the NUJ strayed too far from its legitimate business. We do not think such arguments apply to our grave concerns as doctors about the health-related impact of Israeli policy on Palestinian society. Persistent violations of medical ethics have accompanied Israel's assault and occupation of Palestinian society over many years.

In 1996 Amnesty International concluded that Israeli doctors working with the security services "form part of a system in which detainees are tortured, ill-treated and humiliated in ways that place prison medical practice in conflict with medical ethics". The Israeli Defence Force has systematically flouted the Fourth Geneva Convention guaranteeing a civilian population unfettered access to medical services and immunity for medical staff.

Ambulances are fired on (hundreds of cases) and their personnel killed. Desperately ill people, and newborn babies, die at checkpoints because soldiers bar the way to hospital. The public health infrastructure, including water and electricity supplies, are wilfully bombed, and the passage of essential medicines like anti-cancer drugs and kidney dialysis fluids blocked. In the West Bankthe apartheid Wall has destroyed any coherence in the primary health system. For several years United Nations rapporteurs have been describing Gaza as a humanitarian catastrophe, with 25% of children clinically malnourished.

The Israeli Medical Association has a duty to protest about war crimes of this kind, but has refused to do so. Their President's response to the mountain of documentation by human rights organisations (Amnesty alone has published over 500 reports since 2000) was to call it "anti-semitic lies and filth" in the British Medical Journal.

18 leading Palestinian organisations in the health field have issued a joint appeal to fellow professionals abroad to recognise how the IMA has forfeited its right to membership of the international medical community. We, the undersigned 130 UK doctors and medical scientists, are calling for a boycott of the IMA and its expulsion from the WMA. There is a precedent for this: the expulsion of the Medical Association of South Africa during the apartheid era. A boycott is an ethical and moral imperative when conventional channels do not function, for otherwise we are merely turning away. It is not contrary to 'academic freedom', as some assert, but in its very spirit. We appeal to colleagues to join us.

Yours sincerely

• Dr Derek Summerfield, London
  
• Prof Colin Green, London
  
• Dr Ghada Karmi, London
  
• Dr David Halpin. Exeter
  
• Dr Peter Kandela, London
  
• Dr Mamdouh El-Adl, Northampton
  
• Dr Martin Birnstingl, London
  
• Dr Sam Richmond, Sunderland
  
• Dr Andrew Rouse, Birmingham
  
• Dr Nadia Dabbagh, London
  
• Dr Chris Burns-Cox, Wootton under Edge
  
• Dr Anna Athow, London
  
• Dr Pauline Cutting OBE, Bangor
  
• Dr Ben Alofs, Bangor
  
• Dr Mohammed Abu-Hilal, Southampton
  
• Dr Maged Agour, Birmingham
  
• Dr Hhind Khalifeh, London
  
• Dr Ahmed Almari, Bradford
  
• Dr Shaheen Rizwan, Liverpool
  
• Dr Robert Shearer, Chard
  
• Prof K.Cheng, Birmingham
  
• Dr Khalil Elbayouk, Rugby
  
• Dr U Wariyar, Newcastle upon Tyne
  
• Dr Ian Kerr, Sheffield
  
• Dr Suheib Abu-Kmeil, Northampton
  
• Prof Steven Rose, London
  
• Dr N Embleton, Newcastle upon Tyne
  
• Prof Hana Soliman, Rochester
  
• Dr Mustafa El-Zebdeh, London
  
• Dr Kingsley Norton, London
  
• Dr Frederick Holmes, Newcastle upon Tyne
  
• Dr Mamoun Abu-Habsa, London
  
• Dr Tony Davies, Exeter
  
• Dr Jill Donnelly, Hereford
  
• Dr Shanker Vijayadeva, Harrow
  
• Dr Yasmin Sawant, Bradford
  
• Dr Asadullah Reha, London
  
• Dr Hashim Reza, London
  
• Dr Carinne Minne, London
  
• Dr Sami Timimi, London
  
• Dr Husni Al-Robb, Northampton
  
• Dr Mark Struthers, Bedford
  
• Dr Sylvia Watkins, Hitchin
  
• Dr Joseph El-Khoury, London
  
• Dr Mary Brennan, Wirral
  
• Dr Tarek El-Gohary, Birmingham
  
• Prof David Pegg, York
  
• Dr Edward Morris, Witney
  
• Dr Sukaina Hirji, Harrow
  
• Dr Rayaz Malik, Manchester
  
• Prof Pat Bracken, Preston
  
• Dr Joan Giller, Bradford
  
• Dr Saleh El-Hilu, West Bromwich
  
• Dr Arti Maini, London
  
• Dr Simon Kirwin, London
  
• Dr Rania Abu Samra, London
  
• Dr Tim Paine, Bristol
  
• Dr Christina Pourgourides, Birmingham
  
• Dr Helen McColl, London
  
• Dr Hala Hammad, Northampton
  
• Dr Gaurish Gaunekar, London
  
• Dr Akheel Syed, Newcastle upon Tyne
  
• Dr Anthony Ryle, Petworth
  
• Dr Jane Hamilton, Lothian
  
• Dr Saadeh George, London
  
• Dr Syed Jawed, Wallsall
  
• Dr Veronica Chinchon, London
  
• Dr Alec Harden, Brighton
  
• Dr David Nicholl, Birmingham
  
• Dr James Rucker, London
  
• Dr Sameh Hassan, Solihull
  
• Dr Numan Shah, Doncaster
  
• Dr Rashed Akhtar, Leicester
  
• Dr Damian Clifford, London
  
• Dr Khalid Al-Abbadey, Londonderry
  
• Dr Muhammad Dadibhai, Manchester
  
• Dr Saleh Alfulaij, London
  
• Dr Zelana Aziz, London
  
• Dr Gawun Chung, London
  
• Dr Manar Shaheen, Northampton
  
• Dr Mohammad Eddama, Oxford
  
• Dr Aideen Naughton, Abergavenny
  
• Dr Zahid Gufoor, London
  
• Dr Kan Chandradeva, London
  
• Dr Ismail Jalili, Stamford
  
• Dr Amin El-Hihi, Stevenage
  
• Dr Mazhar Chaudri, Birmingham
  
• Dr Aminur Rahman, Birmingham
  
• Prof Philip Thomas, Preston
  
• Dr Diana Alvis, Birmingham
  
• Dr Ameera Al-Kaabi, Manchester
  
• Dr Kathrine Scott, London
  
• Dr Nabil Hisham Nizar, Bedworth
  
• Dr Habibullah Eatamadi, Nottingham
  
• Dr Eileen McGinley, London
  
• Dr Gerald Wooster, London
  
• Dr Riadh Al-Hamdani, Manchester
  
• Dr Ana Rivadulla Crespo, London
  
• Dr Izhar Khan, Aberdeen
  
• Dr Nick Dudley, Oxford
  
• Dr Adnan Siddiqui. London
  
• Dr Sebastian Miller
  
• Dr Abeir Assal, Birmingham
  
• Dr M Aldouri, Maidstone
  
• Dr Laith Alkindi, New Malden
  
• Dr Sushrut Jadhav, London
  
• Prof Mohammed Abou-Saleh, London
  
• Dr Mohamed Ghanem, Northampton
  
• Dr Feras Mustafa, Northampton
  
• Dr Farrah Somani, Baldock
  
• Dr Yasser Tolba, Birmingham
  
• Dr Adel Sobeih, Birmingham
  
• Dr Basil Ammori, Manchester
  
• Dr Maged Sonkor
  
• Dr David Crowley
  
• Dr Elizabeth Gordon, London
  
• Dr Abdallah Al-Mohhammed, Sheffield
  
• Dr Omar Elsheikh
  
• Dr Ahmed Issa, Birmingham
  
• Dr Alex Scott-Samuel, Liverpool
  
• Dr Ahmed Hegab, Manchester
  
• Dr Haitham Nadeem, Manchester
  
• Dr Hussein El-Maghraby, London
  
• Dr Nozrul Islam, Manchester
  
• Dr Omar Mangoush, London
  
• Dr Khairul-Anuar Abdul Aziz, Manchester
  
• Dr Bassam Alkari, Manchester
  
• Dr Osama Makhzoum
  
• Dr Ayman Hamade, Kent
  
• Dr Mohammed Al-Rashedy
  

Source: http://www.bricup.org.uk/downloads/doctors_letter.doc

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