The Government is being urged by Irish healthcare workers to adopt a tougher position on Israel over the bloodshed in Gaza. David Lynch reports
The group Irish Healthcare Workers for Palestine (IHCW4P) is demanding that the Irish Government takes “stronger action” against Israel for its devastating war on Gaza.
“Nothing they have done or said so far has slowed Israel’s genocide,” Dr Angy Skuce, GP and member of IHCW4P, told this newspaper.
On 10 June, IHCW4P members met in Dublin and joined healthcare workers worldwide to launch the campaign, Pledge4Humanity/Pledge2EndGenocide.
Two of its members – Mr George Jefferies, Clinical Nurse Specialist, and Dr Kellie McConnell, Dentist – then travelled to Egypt to join the March to Gaza movement (see photo).
IHCW4P wants the Government to enact an Occupied Territories Bill. This legislation would ban trade in both goods and services between Ireland and Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank, according to the group.
IHCW4P is also calling on the Government to ensure that no arms, munitions, or troops pass through Irish sovereign territory for use by Israel. In addition, all Governmental departments should develop ethical procurement policies in the wake of the crisis, said Dr Skuce.
“Although Ireland has been better than most countries in Europe in speaking out against Israel’s genocide, and in support of the Palestinian people, their [the Government] efforts to date have been ineffective,” Dr Skuce told Medical Independent (MI). “We have definitely not done everything in our power to prevent the crime of genocide.”
Dr Skuce further called on medical professional bodies to do more. This would include issuing “clear statements condemning Israel’s ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people, their systematic targeted destruction of healthcare in Palestine, and their abduction and illegal detention of many hundreds of healthcare workers”.
Procurement
In April, Dr Skuce co-proposed a motion at the IMO AGM calling on the Department of Health (DoH) and Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration, and Youth (DCEDIY) to make public the results “of any due diligence review of their procurement policies in response to the International Court of Justice order of 26 January 2024 (South Africa v Israel)” and to make public any changes made to their procurement policies to ensure they are in accordance with international law. The motion was passed.
A DoH spokesperson told MI it continuously ensures all procurement activities are conducted in accordance with national and European Union law. The DCEDIY spokesperson said it is obliged to use the frameworks put in place by the Office of Government Procurement in relation to common goods and services.
Asked about procurement policies regarding goods and services from Israel, a HSE spokesperson said as a publicly funded body it is “obliged to ensure that all its procurement activities comply with relevant Government guidelines and EU Directives applicable to state bodies”.
Dr Skuce described these responses as “just more smoke and mirrors”. She said the departments and the HSE were hiding behind “EU law”.
“My question to them now is – what have you done to ensure that you are not buying goods or services from organisations that contribute to or profit from human rights abuses?”
Letter to the WMA
Separately, a letter signed by over 30 Irish graduate doctors and published in this issue of MI (click here) is critical of the World Medical Association’s (WMA) response to the devastation in Gaza. The doctors, who all qualified in Ireland in the mid-1980s, have also sent the letter directly to the WMA.
The letter acknowledged that the WMA had “rightly issued a clear statement of condemnation” regarding Iran’s recent attack on the Soroka Medical Centre in Israel, and it welcomed the WMA President’s expression of solidarity with the Israeli Medical Association.
“Therefore, we are concerned at the surprising contrast in your response to the attack of Soroka Medical Centre and the response to the ongoing deadly attacks on almost all hospitals in Gaza,” stated the letter. “We fail to understand why the response to these equally unacceptable actions should be so different.”
The letter’s signatories called on the WMA to “specifically and unequivocally condemn the current unwarranted and disproportionate Israeli aggression in Gaza” with its devastating effects on healthcare and human life.
Dr Siobhan Graham, a retired GP, told MI the letter arose out of a class reunion WhatsApp group. The signatories are 1984 medical graduates of University of Galway and Trinity College Dublin.
“We could see what was happening before our eyes for months and felt helpless especially given the lack of response from the international community,” said Dr Graham. She highlighted the targeting of healthcare facilities and personnel as particular concerns, as well as “more and more reports of doctors being detained and tortured”.
“The last straw was the blockade of aid. At the very least we felt we could not stay silent and apart from individuals going on the marches and donating to charities we felt we might be able to do more.”
Dr Graham and some of her colleagues have sent letters to the media, medical professional bodies, and all TDs, as well as President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, whom she noted is a medical doctor.
The new letter “was an attempt to appeal to our colleagues in the WMA to review its equivocal statements on Gaza and to hope the Israeli Medical Association would examine its conscience”.
Dr Graham said there was strong support among doctors for the letter “and almost immediately [we] had the names in support”.
“I have no doubt that had we shared it more widely, we would have many more signatures. I have to say, though, that we were told some doctors would not sign to avoid difficulty entering or leaving the US, should it be perceived as critical to Israel.”
Irish bodies
In recent weeks, some Irish medical representative bodies have issued further statements on Gaza.
Last month, the new IMO President Dr Anne Dee wrote directly to the Taoiseach, Micheál Martin, expressing “grave concern and fear” amid “mass starvation arising from a deliberate blockade of aid (by the State of Israel)”. In her letter, Dr Dee strongly criticised the actions of Israel.
“We are seeing blatant contraventions of international humanitarian law by the State of Israel, and I urge the Irish Government to do all in its power, nationally and through international organisations, to end this horror and to ensure that Israel honours its obligations under international law.”
She wrote that “we abhor the actions of Hamas and we call for the return of hostages and an immediate ceasefire. But what we are witnessing in Gaza at the moment is mass starvation arising from a deliberate blockade of aid through well-established partnerships, by the State of Israel.”
Dr Dee also highlighted attacks by Israel forces on healthcare workers. “There is no functioning healthcare system in Gaza and many of our healthcare colleagues have died, along with their patients, as healthcare facilities have come under military attack.”
In May, the IHCA repeated its calls to protect the safety of civilians and healthcare workers in Gaza. This followed latest reports of a risk of famine “with the deliberate withholding of humanitarian aid, including food, in the ongoing 11-week blockade of the region”.
“The IHCA reiterates its calls for an immediate ceasefire in the region and for a lasting meaningful, peaceful solution to the conflict,” the Association stated. “We also echo the persistent calls from the [World Health Organisation] and other health organisations across the globe that healthcare facilities, workers, and patients should be off limits during armed conflicts.”
Healthcare workers must be able to provide care to their patients free from the threat of violence. Those responsible for targeting healthcare professionals and facilities must be held accountable, concluded the IHCA.
In a statement in June, the Irish College of GPs stated that the violence in Gaza, Israel, and the surrounding region “has led to a massive humanitarian crisis”, with thousands of deaths and injuries among civilians and medical personnel, following attacks on healthcare facilities.
“The College calls for the protection of healthcare facilities and personnel and the reopening of crossings to ensure humanitarian aid can be delivered safely.”
The College expressed the hope for a “peaceful solution, to end the violence in the region, and support the urgent humanitarian needs of the affected population”.
For more information on Irish Healthcare Workers for Palestine (IHCW4P), see www.instagram.com/irish_hcworkers_for_palestine_/
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