ERASMUS IN GAZA

 

 

 

New Weapons Research Group è un gruppo di accademici, ricercatori medici e attivisti che si occupa di studiare e denunciare gli effetti delle armi più recenti sulle persone, in particolare donne e bambini.

Gli ospedali della striscia di Gaza, in particolare i reparti di maternità e pediatria, sono carenti di attrezzature e farmaci, indispensabili per la cura dei bambini. Questa situazione è dettata dal blocco a cui Gaza è sottoposta da anni.

Per questo, in occasione della proiezione del film a ingresso libero “Erasmus in GAZA”, lanciamo questa raccolta fondi che ha come obiettivo l’acquisto di farmaci e attrezzaturedestinate all’Ospedale Rantissi – Unità di dialisi pediatrica – Gaza.

Qualsiasi contributo è importante e può fare la differenza, sostieni anche tu gli ospedali di Gaza.

Cogliamo l’occasione per invitarvi alla proiezione del film “Erasmus in GAZA” di Chiara Avesani e Matteo Delbò, a cui seguirà dibattito, presso la Sala Polivalente San Salvatore in Piazza Sarzano 8 a Genova il giorno 21 marzo 2023 dalle ore 17:00 alle 20:00. L’evento è gratuito ed è accreditato come Attività Didattica Elettiva del Corso di Laurea in Medicina e Chirurgia.

Il film racconta di Riccardo, studente di Medicina, che ha trascorso un semestre a Gaza, tra reparti e pronto soccorso degli Ospedali. Una testimonianza diretta della drammaticità della guerra, un’esperienza di formazione, di amicizie, un viaggio in una città sotto assedio, uno sguardo inedito sulla Palestina.

Aiutaci a portare farmaci e attrezzature negli ospedali di Gaza, insieme possiamo donare speranza e cura

“Israeli forces made sure that many of the injured lost their lives”: The barriers to emergency healthcare in the West Bank

16 February 2023


International law requires that health workers operating in occupied territory be permitted to conduct their life-saving work without fear of attack or obstruction. Violations against Palestinian healthcare workers and facilities, however, have long been a feature of Israeli military violence in the occupied Palestinian territory.

In 2022 alone, 105 health workers were injured, including by live ammunition and rubber-coated steel bullets, 77 ambulances were obstructed from accessing the wounded and 44 were damaged. This trend sadly persists in 2023. From assaults against medical teams to the obstruction of ambulances, the health and wellbeing of staff and patients is being put at risk.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) documented 11 violations against their medical teams in the West Bank in January alone. Israeli soldiers delayed or denied PRCS medical teams from reaching injured Palestinians 10 times and – on 13 January in Beit Ummar [Hebron] – fired rubber-coated steel bullets which damaged one of their ambulances.

During the recent Israeli military raid on Jenin refugee camp, which killed 10 Palestinians including a 61-year-old woman, all six of the PRCS ambulances that responded to the emergency were prevented from accessing the camp. “Two hours later, and in light of the increasing numbers of casualties and injuries, our crews were allowed to enter after coordinating through the International Committee of the Red Cross. As we moved into the camp, we still experienced warning shots near the ambulances,” said Azzam Nimer, Head of the Emergency and Ambulance Department at PRCS.

“Israeli forces allowed our medical teams in after they made sure that many of the injured lost their lives. This is not the first or last time that Israeli forces will impede the access of medical teams and wait until the injured bleed to death.”
“We expect cities to be closed and an influx of injuries at any moment”

As well as escalating violence, Israeli forces have further restricted Palestinians’ freedom of movement, including health workers and patients, and even closed off cities completely. In occupied East Jerusalem recently, PRCS medical teams faced prolonged inspections by Israeli forces at checkpoints, delaying their access. This threatens the lives of patients for whom every minute counts.

On 6 February, Israeli forces shot dead at least five Palestinians during a raid on the Aqabet Jabr refugee camp in Jericho, which was closed off for more than a week. PRCS medical teams were prevented from reaching the injured and their ambulance came under attack.

This follows a previous Israeli military raid two days before, where PRCS reported that their ambulances were blocked from treating the injured Palestinians, including three Palestinians who were shot with live ammunition.

Then, on 13 February, an Israeli military vehicle was filmed blocking PRCS paramedics from helping Palestinians injured during an Israeli military raid in Nablus, which killed one Palestinian and injured seven others.

“Given the situation in the West Bank now, we expect cities to be closed and an influx of injuries at any moment,” said Azzam. “We are now treating each city as an isolated territory. I have to make sure that each city has a separate warehouse with enough emergency disposables and medications that can last for three months. The Israeli army can just close a city for weeks, like [last year] in Nablus, and this makes our medical response very complex.”

In the neighbourhood of Shu’fat, in East Jerusalem, PRCS also reported how their emergency teams recently faced delays and hostility from Israeli forces. Soldiers demanded to see their ID cards and interrogated them over the cases of patients they were trying to respond to.

Palestinians are segregated by an ID system, meaning those with a green West Bank ID must obtain a permit from Israeli authorities to cross the separation wall and access East Jerusalem. According to PRCS, paramedics who have West Bank ID cards have recently been barred from immediate entry into Shu’fat refugee camp, despite having permits that allow them to cross any other checkpoints.

The ID system has also impacted patients. Injured Palestinians or their family members have opted to take private cars instead of ambulances, as they fear that being in an ambulance and facing interrogations and ID checks could delay their journey to emergency care.

In 2021 and 2022, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) provided two fully-equipped ambulances and a field hospital tent to the PRCS in East Jerusalem, as well as other essential supplies and equipment. We have also provided primary trauma care training for PRCS paramedics. But, as Israeli military and settler violence continues to occur on an almost daily basis, the PRCS needs more medical supplies, equipment and ambulances to respond to increasing violence.

But as well as urgently responding to the critical health needs, Azzam says urgent action is needed from the international community: “Even if we have all the requested needs, we will still face the obstacles and violations against our teams that come from working under occupation. We need your support to protect our health workers and ensure Israel is held accountable for violating their basic rights so that they can continue to save lives without coming under attack.”

International Childhood Cancer Day: for “Better Survival,” PCHR Demands Better Access to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health for Gaza Children with Cancer

International Childhood Cancer Day: for “Better Survival,”
PCHR Demands Better Access to the Highest Attainable Standard of Health for Gaza Children with Cancer

February 15th marks International Childhood Cancer Day (ICCD), a global collaborative day created as an annual event by the Childhood Cancer International (CCI) in 2002. This year’s campaign is launched under the theme “Better Survival” to raise awareness about the risks of cancer, the challenges facing children with cancer through prevention, early detection and appropriate treatment of cancer as well as supporting their families.

On this occasion, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) draws attention to the suffering of the Palestinian children with cancer, including 350 children living in the Gaza Strip and facing a difficult and lengthy journey of treatment due to the Israeli occupation authorities’ practices and the repercussions of the Palestinian political division. These children suffer from the Israeli-imposed restrictions on their travel with their companions for treatment outside the Gaza Strip. They also suffer from lack of specialized medical personnel, poor diagnostic equipment, and lack of many treatment protocols and medical supplies.

Children with cancer receive medical care at Al-Rantisi Hospital, the only hospital that provides pediatric cancer treatment in the Gaza Strip yet suffers from a perpetual shortage in the list of essential drugs and many important medical equipment used for diagnosing cancer, as the hospital services are only limited to chemotherapy, supportive treatments and other healthcare services. This forces patients to complete their treatment in hospitals outside the Strip, and so their suffering from the Israeli restrictions on their travel begins. Leukemia is the most common cancer affecting children in the Gaza Strip, where 86 children with leukemia received treatment last year while 182 children continue treatment in the post-recovery phase on a regular basis at Al-Naser and Al-Ranitisi Pediatric Hospitals. [1]

The restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation authorities on the travel of children and their companions for treatment abroad are among the most prominent obstacles that prevent children from receiving treatment. In 2022, IOF obstructed 272 out of 1000 requests (i.e. 28% of the total number of applications[2]) for children referred for treatment abroad, leading to the death of 3 children due to obstructing their travel by the Israeli occupation. Meanwhile, in the same year 16 children died with cancer in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli authorities prevent a number of parents from accompanying their children for treatment outside the Gaza Strip. Since the beginning of 2018 to 2021, 43%[3] of the children referred for treatment abroad had to travel without one of their parents because their requests to travel via Beit Hanoun “Erez” crossing were denied or delayed. This hereby affects the mental health of these children who already suffer from serious health conditions and in dire need of one of their parents as a companion during their treatment.

Moreover, the ongoing Palestinian political division causes the level of health services provided by hospitals and healthcare centers for cancer patients in the Gaza Strip to deteriorate, impeding the localization of health services, the adoption of a medicines policy that ensures the availability of treatment for all citizens, and the provision of all medical equipment for the governmental health facilities. All of this is due to not allocating sufficient and necessary budgets to cover the shortage of essential medicines and medical equipment needed for the treatment of cancer patients. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MOH) in Gaza, the list of essential drugs used for the treatment of patients with cancer and blood disorders that are at zero-stock reached (37%), as 23 out of the 63 types of essential drugs ran out in December 2022.

Around 9,000 cancer patients in the Gaza Strip suffer from disastrous health conditions due to the acute shortage of medicines and medical supplies required for their treatment at Gaza hospitals. On the other hand, the Israeli occupation authorities continue to impose restrictions on the entry of new medical devices and laboratory materials necessary for cancer patients’ tests. These challenges deny patients’ access to treatment services appropriate to their serious health status. Also, the MOH expects to record (2000) new cancer cases in 2023 while the number of cancer patients recorded in 2021 was 1952 in the Gaza Strip. Additionally, there were 610 deaths recorded in the same year.

PCHR emphasizes that cancer patients in the Gaza Strip, including children, should enjoy their fundamental rights, including the early and accurate diagnosis, right to have essential life-saving drugs, right to receive adequate and qualitative treatment, and to have “better survival” opportunities for recovered patients. On this occasion, PCHR is deeply concerned over the lives of children with cancer in the Gaza Strip. Thus, PCHR:

Appeals the international organizations, including the World Health Organization, to support the health system in the Gaza Strip in order to improve its current capabilities relevant to diagnosing and treating sick children, and provide necessary medicines and medical devices to ensure high recovery rates among children with cancer in the Gaza Strip.
Calls upon the international community to exert pressure on the Israeli occupation authorities in order to end all restrictions imposed on patients’ travel, especially children with cancer.
Calls upon the international community to exert pressure on the Israeli occupation authorities in order to allow the entry of Radiology devices necessary for diagnosing cancer.
Calls on the Palestinian Ministry of health in Ramallah and Gaza to coordinate with each other and work on allocating operational expenses to purchase medicines and medical consumables for cancer patients to end their shortage, and to ensure that patients receive their right to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental healthcare.

for more information, please call PCHR office in Gaza, Gaza Strip, on +972 8 2824776 – 2825893

Gaza- Jamal ‘Abdel Nasser “al-Thalathini” Street – Al-Roya Building- Floor 12, El Remal, PO Box 1328 Gaza, Gaza Strip. E-mail: pchr@pchrgaza.org, Webpage http://www.pchrgaza.org

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[1] An interview by PCHR’s researcher with Dr. Mahmoud Shubair, Head of the Hematology and Oncology Department at Al-Nasr and Al-Rantisi Pediatric Hospital, 08 February 2023.

[2] Press releases published by the World Health Organization office in the Gaza Strip

[3] WHO factshees, 15 Years of Blockade and Health in Gaza.

Media Watch – February 1, 2023

Israeli settlers attempt to establish a new settlement in response to the killing of two settlers the night before, near the illegal settlement of Itamar, West Bank, October 2, 2015. All settlements are illegal under international law. 
This month we are focused again on the impact of the new government of terror and racism in Israel on Palestinians in Israel and the oPt affecting health and human rights.

Of note: The Israeli campaign in the West Bank and Gaza, to provoke, attack, injure, and kill Palestinians continues in full fury, raising the suspicion that the new rightwing government is going to continue these provocations until there is a more militant response from Palestinians and then use that to justify an all-out war. This has certainly happened before and Palestinians are facing horrific grief and dangerous collective punishment. The Israeli rightwing coalition is fulfilling its promises on multiple fronts from hate crimes to violence to subjugating anything and anyone that is not Jewish, Orthodox, or male. While much of the international community is trying to get along with and possibly weakly contain Netanyahu, the power of the Israel hasbara industry was challenged by the recent drama with Kenneth Roth and the Harvard Kennedy School. These are frightening and deadly times and we must not be silent.

MONTHLY HUMAN RIGHTS HERO AND VIOLATION

HERO: UN General Assembly resolution to International Court of Justice

Israeli settlers attempt to establish a new settlement in the northern West Bank in October 2015. Yotam Ronen ActiveStills

UN General Assembly passed a resolution asking the International Court of Justice to give an advisory opinion on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestine. Netanyahu called the request a “despicable decision”.

Legality of Israel’s occupation referred to UN court
Last week, the UN General Assembly voted in favor of requesting an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the legality of Israel’s occupation of the West Bank – including East Jerusalem – and Gaza.

The resolution asks the court to set out the legal consequences of Israel’s violation of Palestinians’ right to self-determination and its prolonged occupation, settlement and annexation of Palestinian land since 1967.

This includes “measures aimed at altering the demographic composition, character and status” of Jerusalem and the “adoption of discriminatory legislation and measures.”

The resolution also asks the court to determine “the legal consequences that arise for all states and the United Nations” as a result of its findings.

The International Court of Justice is the UN’s tribunal for settling legal disputes submitted by states and requests for advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it through the UN system.

Though both are based in The Hague, the International Court of Justice is a separate body from the International Criminal Court, which opened an investigation into the human rights situation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip last year.

Advisory opinions issued by the ICJ are non-binding.
Ignored

This will not be the first time that the ICJ has weighed in on Israel’s activities in occupied Palestinian territory.

In 2004, the court ruled that Israel’s construction of a massive wall in the occupied West Bank was illegal and must be stopped immediately and that reparations should be made for damage caused.

The 2004 advisory opinion had little effect on the ground in Palestine and is one of many recommendations made by UN organs concerning Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights that has gone ignored – both by Israel and third states.

Ahead of last week’s vote, the Palestinian Human Rights Organization Council stated that despite the limited material effect of the 2004 advisory opinion, “the case supported the undeniable right of the Palestinian people to their self-determination under international law and emphasizes the illegality of all annexations and settlements.”

Additionally, the court’s 2004 ruling found that Israel’s wall in the West Bank amounted to de facto annexation of occupied territory.

Al-Haq, a leading Palestinian human rights group, said that the new advisory opinion “may incur, for the first time, important obligations on third states and the international community to bring the occupation to an end.”

Palestinian human rights groups championed the resolution, which was drafted by the UN’s Special Political and Decolonization Committee and then submitted to the General Assembly.

Al Mezan, a Palestinian rights group based in Gaza, said that the adoption of the resolution “is a significant milestone in the struggle against Israel’s apartheid settler-colonial regime.”
The rights group noted that many European states either abstained or voted against the measure despite it coming “at a critical time when a new far-right Israeli government has been installed.”

That government, Al Mezan noted, has “vowed to legalize dozens of illegal settlements and annex the West Bank as a top priority.”

Indeed, Israel is seeing through with those pledges by destroying Palestinian structures in Jerusalem and the South Hebron Hills and issuing forcible transfer notices affecting 1,000 people in the Masafer Yatta area of the southern West Bank this week.
European double standards

The failure of many European states to support the resolution seeking an advisory opinion on Israel’s prolonged occupation throws the double standards by which international law is applied into sharp contrast.

While imposing unprecedented sanctions on Russia over its invasion and occupation of Ukraine, European states have paid only lip service to opposing Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

European Union officials even welcomed the new Israeli government led by extremists who have pledged to formally annex West Bank land and complete the ethnic cleansing of Palestine that began in 1948. Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief, has stated that he plans to work with the new government on “further improving” relations with Israel.
While Borrell continues to talk about promoting a two-state solution, Zvika Fogel, a member of the new Israeli parliament, said that “the occupation is permanent.”

Fogel belongs to the Jewish Power party headed by Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s new national security minister who now oversees Israel’s police and paramilitary Border Police that operate in the West Bank.

Fogel is former chief of staff of the Israeli military’s “southern command,” which includes the Gaza Strip.

In 2018, soon after the launch of Great March of Return protests along Gaza’s boundary with Israel, Fogel championed the use of lethal force against Palestinians who approach the boundary fence, including children.

He said that shooting and killing children was a reasonable “price that we have to pay to preserve the safety and quality of life of the residents of the state of Israel.”

More than 215 Palestinian civilians, including more than 40 children, were killed during those demonstrations, and thousands more wounded by live fire during those protests between March 2018 and December 2019.

A UN commission of inquiry found that Israel’s use of lethal force against protesters warrants criminal investigation and prosecution and may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The UN investigators called for sanctions on those responsible and for the arrest of Israeli personnel “alleged to have committed, or who ordered to have committed” international crimes in relation to the Great March of Return protests.

Those recommendations went ignored by the same states who have thrown their support and money behind war crimes trials and other punitive measures after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Congress members urge removal of UN official for antisemitism exposed by ToI

11 House representatives call on UN chief to oust Palestinian rights official Francesca Albanese for comments, saying her anti-Jewish bias ‘undermines credibility

UNITED NATIONS — US Congress members on Monday called for the removal of a UN Palestinian rights official over antisemitic comments exposed by The Times of Israel.

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese, who is tasked with investigating Israeli activities in the Palestinian territories, has a history of antisemitism but has not faced any repercussions from the UN or issued a clear apology.

Albanese said during a 2014 conflict between Israel and Gaza terror groups that the “Jewish lobby” was in control of the United States.
Israel’s Judiciary: Reform or Ruin?

She has also sympathized with terror organizations, dismissed Israeli security concerns, compared Israelis to Nazis, accused the Jewish state of potential war crimes, said Israel controlled the BBC, and claimed that the Jewish state started wars out of greed.

Albanese attempted to distance herself from the comments in a statement to The Times of Israel, but since the report exposing the comments last month, has denied that the comments are antisemitic and brushed off criticism as “yet another politically motivated attack.”

as NWRG Onlus we defend the rights and approach thriugh international law adopted by previousand specialtapporteur and bythe internal special commission of UNHR council on Israel Palestine

campagna ICE stop al commercio con gli insediamenti illegali

L’Unione Europea è contro l’annessione e considera gli insediamenti illegali nei territori occupati un ostacolo alla pace e alla stabilità internazionale. Ma sebbene gli insediamenti illegali costituiscano un crimine di guerra la UE permette il commercio con loro. Questo commercio favorisce i profitti derivanti dall’annessione e contribuisce all’espansione di insediamenti illegali nel mondo. Noi chiediamo una legge della UE che metta fine al commercio con insediamenti gli illegali una volta per tutte. Questa legge si applicherà ai territori occupati ovunque, tra questi il Territorio Occupato Palestinese e gli insediamenti illegali di Israele su di esso. La legge consentirà anche di inviare un forte segnale nel mondo che la UE non riconoscerà più aggressioni territoriali con profitti derivanti dal commercio.

Firma la petizione qui sotto per una storica legge che metta fine agli insediamenti illegali!

copia e incolla il link sul tuo browser
http://www.stopsettlements.org/

RAPPORTO SUI DIRITTI UMANI IN PALESTINA DELLA RELATRICE ONU FRANCESCA ALBANESE

“Per oltre 55 anni l’occupazione militare israeliana ha impedito la realizzazione del diritto all’autodeterminazione del popolo palestinese nei territori che Israele occupa dal 1967, comprendenti Cisgiordania, Gerusalemme e Gaza, violando ogni componente di tale diritto e perseguendo intenzionalmente la ‘de-palestinizzazione‘ del territorio occupato”. A sottolinearlo è stata Francesca Albanese, relatrice speciale delle Nazioni Unite sulla situazione dei diritti umani nei territori palestinesi occupati dal 1967, durante la presentazione alla sala Zuccari del Senato del suo primo rapporto, divulgato all’Assemblea Generale Onu lo scorso fine ottobre.

https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/2023/01/13/palestina-il-rapporto-sui-diritti-umani-della-relatrice-onu-popolazione-vive-in-un-carcere-a-cielo-aperto-amnesty-regime-di-apartheid/6935712/

appello per campagna ICE stop al commercio con insediamenti illegali


La situazione in Palestina ed Israele è sempre più grave. Si susseguono omicidi e violazioni dei Diritti umani da parte della potenza occupante, senza che la cosiddetta “Comunità internazionale” si muova. Al contrario, anche da parte dell’Unione Europea si continuano ad avere 2 pesi e 2 misure nei confronti di uno Stato, quello israeliano, “in cui vige l’Apartheid”, secondo Amnesty International.
Di fronte a questi fatti, c’è bisogno di un rinnovato impegno a fianco della popolazione palestinese e dei settori più avanzati della società israeliana. Un impegno che rompa il silenzio, le complicità e gli affari degli insediamenti illegali dei coloni israeliani.

Tra le tante iniziative internazionali, vi segnaliamo questa importante Iniziativa dei Cittadini Europei (ICE) per chiedere una legge che metta fine “al commercio con gli insediamenti” da parte dell’Unione Europea. Come dice lo stesso appello delle forze che lo promuovono, si tratta di “regolare le transazioni commerciali con soggetti di Paesi occupanti basati o operanti in territori occupati impedendo l’entrata nel mercato dell’UE di prodotti provenienti da tali luoghi.

Infatti, sebbene gli insediamenti illegali costituiscano un crimine di guerra, la UE permette il commercio con loro. Questo commercio favorisce i profitti derivanti dall’annessione e contribuisce all’espansione di insediamenti illegali nel mondo. Noi chiediamo una legge della UE che metta fine al commercio con gli insediamenti illegali una volta per tutte”.

Il nostro Partito, da sempre impegnato in battaglie internazionaliste, appoggia la petizione.

L’Italia ha l’obiettivo di raccogliere 55.000 firme entro la fine dell’anno. Vi chiediamo quindi di firmare e fare firmare questa Iniziativa dei Cittadini Europei (ICE) nel più breve tempo possibile, nonché di diffonderla.

Si firma cliccando su questo link

Regarding Ahmad Manasra, aged 20.  Currently held in Beersheva prison

His Excellency Isaac Herzog,
President of the State of Israel,
The President’s Residence,
3 HaNasi Street,
23rd December 2022                                                                Jerusalem, Israel.
                                                                                                    
Regarding Ahmad Manasra, aged 20.  Currently held in Beersheva prison
 
Dear Mr. President,
.
We, the undersigned medical practitioners, are writing to ask you to urgently intervene in the case of Ahmad Manasra, who has been held in Israeli prisons since his arrest in 2015 at the age of thirteen.  We are deeply shocked by the violent and unlawful treatment this young man has been subjected to for the past seven years by the Israeli judicial system, including the manner of his arrest, his illegal interrogation without lawyers or family present, his long periods held in solitary confinement and, now that he has served two thirds of his sentence, the refusal of the courts to even consider the weighty medical and psychiatric evidence which argues for his early release on compassionate and health grounds.

Ahmad Manasra was arrested at the age of 13, for being armed with a knife in the company of his cousin Hassan aged seventeen, who allegedly stabbed and seriously injured a thirteen year old Jewish Israeli boy. Hassan was killed on the spot. Ahmad suffered a skull fracture, having been hit by a car and was severely mistreated by the mob surrounding him. He was later seen being handcuffed in an Intensive Care Unit whilst in an induced coma. He was detained in a closed institution for criminal youths, and then transferred to another prison. A video, accessed by local and international media showed an interrogator bullying and insulting the terrified young prisoner who was completely alone and unrepresented. Ahmad at thirteen year old had not reached the age of criminal responsibility; yet his trial was delayed until he was fourteen years old. He was sentenced to twelve years in prison (subsequently reduced to nine years). It is important to emphasise that the judge at his trial recognised that Ahmad did not participate in any attack on a Jewish civilian.

During his lengthy imprisonment Ahmad Manasra has been deprived of visits from his parents and other relatives. He has been held in solitary confinement which is illegal under international law in the case of minors. All medical and psychiatric experts agree that solitary confinement has devastating and sometimes irrecoverable impacts on the neuro- development and mental health of adolescents. Under international law, solitary confinement for more than fourteen days is considered torture. The Israeli court has recently imposed a further four months of solitary confinement on the basis of ‘secret evidence’. Ahmad’s mental health has progressively deteriorated to the point that he is delusional and suicidal. His condition is worsening but, instead of considering the compelling psychiatric evidence that he can only be effectively treated in a psychiatric facility separate from a prison service, the courts have retrospectively applied anti-terrorist laws to his case, enabling them to refuse to even consider the application for early release to which he would otherwise be entitled. We find it hard to understand the cruelty and vindictiveness that these decisions appear to reveal.

There has been a powerful international campaign for the release of this young man. His case has been taken up by Amnesty International, by the UN Special Rapporteur and questions have been put to UK Government Ministers by Members of Parliament. All of this has been to no avail. We now turn to you.

We join our efforts with all those who have denounced these practices which are unworthy of a government purporting to abide by the rule of law. We ask you to urgently intervene to ensure that Ahmad Manasra is immediately freed and released to the care of his family and to the health professionals who can treat him.

We look forward to your response
Yours sincerely
 Dr Derek Summerfield
Full list of signatories attached:
 
Prof. Dr. Eia Asen, M.D., FRCPsych,  Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families University College London
 
Dr Ragnhild Aarrestad, Psychiatrist, Norway
 
Dr Diab Ahmed Hamid Aburish, PhD, General Director of the Palestine Center for Community Mental Health
 
Dr Hasanen Al –Taiar, Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist; Vice Chair RCPsych South Eastern Division; Chair of the South of England MHA Approvals Panel
 
Dr Mustafa Alachkar, Consultant Psychiatrist, UK
 
Dr Osman Ali, MRCGP, Gough Walk GP Practice
 
Dr Norbert Andersch, Consultant Psychiatrist, Italy
 
Dr Swee Ang, MBBS, MSc, FRCS, Consultant orthopaedic Surgeon, London, UK
 
Dr Jackie Applebee, MBBS, BSc, FRCGP, Tredegar Practice, London
 
Mr Nadeem Ashraf MD FRCS
Consultant Laparoscopic, General and Colorectal Surgeon
Basildon University Hospital
 
Dr Luce Bardagi, Physical Rehabilitation Specialist, St Blancard, France
 
Dr Hadi Bedran
Consultant Anaesthetist, Enfield
 
Dr Trude Bennett, Dr PH, Associate Prof. Emerita, UNC Chapel Hill School of Pubic Health, USA
 
Dr Elizabeth C. Berger, MD, Associate Clinical Professor, George Washington University School of Medicine, USA
 
Dr Richard Bischoff, Paediatrician, Germany
 
Dr Frank Boyce, Physician, Canada
 
Dr Patrick Bracken, Consultant Psychiatrist, Eire
 
Dr Tamar Lydia Brown, Centre Hospitalier de Montfavet, Avignon, France
 
Dr Dorothy Burlage, PhD,
 
Dr Tim Calton, Consultant Psychiatrist, UK
 
Dr Maria Canete, Consultant Psychotherapist and Group Analyst
 
Dr Filiz Capar, General Practitioner, Barkantine Practice, London
 
Sir Iain Chalmers, MD, DSc., James Lind Library, Oxford
 
Dr Martine Charlery, Psychiatrist, Angers, France
 
Dr David Church, MB, ChB, T, General Practitioner, Wales
 
Dr Miles Clapham, Consultant Psychiatrist, UK
 
Dr Alan Cooklin, MB, ChB, FRC Psych,
 
Dr Jack Czauderna MB.ChB.  Retired Family Doctor          
 
Dr Nadia Taysir Dabbagh, MBBS, BSc, MSc, PhD, FRCPsych, CCT, Consultant Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, UK
 
Mr Rhodri Daniel BSc(Hons), FRCS(Ed), DO RCS(Lon), FRCOphth.
 
Dr S E Daniel BSc(Hons), MD, FRCPath.
 
Dr Veena deSouza, MBBChir, FFPH,
 
Dr James Deutsch, University of Toronto, Canada
 
Dr Moira Dick, Consultant Paediatrician (retired), London
 
Dr Hosnieh Djafari-Marbini, MB, BChir, MCEM, FRCA, Anaesthetic Consultant, Oxford University Hospitals
 
Dr Flavia Donati, Specialist in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Rome, Italy
 
Dr Mike Downham, BA, BCh, MRCP, DHC,
 
Dr Gary Duffield, MBChB, MRCPsych,
 
Dr Katrin Edelman, Consultant Psychiatrist, UK
 
Dr Morry El-Badry, MD, Rochester, New Hampshire, USA
 
Dr Kamilla El-Farra, Consultant Gynaecologist, UK
 
Sir Terence English, KBE, FRCP, FRCS, Cardiothoracic Transplant surgeon; Former President of the Royal College of Surgeons (retired)
 
Lady Judith English, MB, BChir, MRCP, FRCPsych, Consultant Psychiatrist; Former Chief of Staff, Boston VA Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA (retired)
 
Dr Ruth Erskine, D. Clin. Psych, QiCN, AFBPS, CQSW, (BA, BSc), Consultant Clinical Psychologist & Paediatric Neuropsychologist, London
 
Dr Arturo Ezquerro, Consultant Psychiatrist and Group Analyst
 
Dr Premila Fade, MB BS, MA, FRCP, Consultant Physician, Southern Health Foundation Trust
 
Dr Suman Fernando, Consultant Psychiatrist, UK
 
Dr Ann Finkelstein, MD, MPH, La Clinica de la Raza, Vallejo, California
 
Dr Brian Fisher, MBBCh, MSc, MBE, London
 
Dr Jonathan Fluxman MRCGP (retired GP)
 
Dr Tim Fox, BSc, MB, BS, MRCP, Member of the British Psychotherapy Foundation, UK
 
Dr P.H. Gasser, Psychiatrist, Uzes, France
 
Dr Tom Gilberthorpe, Consultant Psychiatrist, UK
 
Dr John Gleisner, FRCPsych, FRANZCPsych, (retired)
 
Dr Yves Glock, MD, PhD, Member of the European Board of cardiovascularand thoracic Surgery. Former Head of the Department of CV Surgery, University Hospital Rangueil, Toulouse, France
 
Dr Anya Gopfert, MBBS, BSChons, MSc Oxon, MFPH,
 
Dr Michael Gopfert, MD, formallyFRCPsych,
 
Prof Peter Gotzsche, Physician and Researcher, Denmark
 
Dr Elizabeth Greenhall, MB,BS , FFPH.  Retired consultant in Public Health, Oxfordshire 
 
Professor Colin Green, B. Vet. Med; PhD (Med); DSc (Med); FRC Path; FRCS England
(Hon). Royal Free Hospital, University College London
 
Dr Marta Guttenberg, MD, Philadelphia, USA
 
Dr David Halpin, Consultant Surgeon, UK
 
Dr Dougal Hargreaves, MA, MSc, FRCPCH, MD(Res), Imperial College, London
 
Dr Ben Hart, General Practitioner, Crisp Street Health Centre, London
 
Dr Deirdre Haslam, Chelmsford, Essex
 
Dr Rukyya Hassan, MBChB, MSc, MRCPsych,
 
Dr Richard Horton, Editor, The Lancet, UK
 
Prof Sushrut Jadhav, University College, London, UK
 
Dr Bob Johnson, Consultant Psychiatrist, UK
 
Dr Lynne Jones, OBE, Consultant Child Psychiatrist, UK
 
Dr Francois Journet, Psychiatrist, Villefontaine, France
 
Prof Jon Jureidini, University of Adelaide, Australia
 
Dr Ghada Karmi, Physician and Academic
 
Dr Lynne Kavin, LCSW,
 
Dr Ian Kerr, Consultant Psychiatrist, New Zealand
 
Dr Gaby G Kevorkian, MD, Old City, Jerusalem
 
Dr Asad Khan, Consultant Physician, UK
 
Dr Rajiv Khushu, Psychiatrist, Halifax, UK
 
Dr Abha Khushu, Senior Reg, Paediatrics, London, UK
 
Dr David Kirby, MA, MB, BChir, MSc, MRCP, MRCGP, General Practitioner (retired)
 
Dr Emmanuel Kosadinos, Psychiatrist, Marseilles, France
 
Dr Sebastian Kraemer, FRCP, FRCPsych, FRCPCH, Hon Consultant, Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust
 
Dr Vicky Lavy, MB, BCh, MRCGP, Retired
 
Dr Dianne Lefevre, Consultant psychiatrist, UK
 
Dr Anna Livingstone, MA, MSc, DipLSHTM, MB BS, FRCGP,DrCOG, DCH, DFSRH, London
 
Dr Ann Lorek, Consultant Paediatrician, London
 
Dr Sally MacLennan, MB BS, DO,
 
Dr Neil MacLennan, MB BS, MRCGP, DCH, DCROG,
 
Dr Brooke Maddux, MD, MPhil, Psychiatrist, France
 
Prof Paola Manduca, Prof of Genetics, Italy
 
Dr Mona Mange MD   Xavier Clinic,Tulsa OK USA
 
Dr Ruchama Marton, Founder of Physicians for Human Rights, Israel
 
Dr Rebecca Mather, BM, BCh, FRCPsych,
 
Dr Rob Mather, BM, BCh, FRCGP,
 
Prof Klim McPherson, PhD, FMed Sci,
 
Dr Tess McPherson, MA, MBBS, FRCP, MD,
 
Dr Claire Mestre, Psychiatrist and Anthropolist, CHU, Bordeaux, France, Association Ethnotopies
 
Dr Alan Meyers, MD, MPH, Emeritus Professor of Pediatrics, Boston University School of Medicine, USA
 
Prof Steven Miles, Prof Emeritus of Medicine and Bioethics, UK
 
Dr Pedro Molina,
 
Dr Ann Morris, MB, ChB, Member of the British Psychotherapy Foundation, London, UK
 
Dr Jan Willem Mulder, MD, PhD, Consultant Physician, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (retired)
 
Dr Loretta Mussi, MD,
 
Dr Mudasir Nazir, Academic Fellow, UK
 
Dr Julia Nelki, MA Oxon, MBChB, formally FRCPsych,
 
Dr Golda Ninan, MB, BCh, MRCGP,
 
Dr Anne Noonan, Psychiatrist, Australia
 
Dr Kingsley Norton, Consultant Psychiatrist, UK
 
Dr Brendan O’Brien, MB DCH. Retired General Practitioner, Edmonton, London
 
Dr Peadar O’Grady, Consultant Child Psychiatrist, Eire
 
Dr Tony O’Sullivan, MRCP, DCH, Consultant Paediatrician (retired)
 
Dr Tomasz Piercionek, Consultant Psychiatrist, UK
 
Dr Pino Pini, Psychiatrist, Italy
 
Dr Elinor Price MB BS MRCGP
 
Dr John W. L. Puntis, BM(Hons), DM, FRCP, FRCPCH, Consultant Paediatrician, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, UK (Retired)
 
Dr Cheryl Qamar, LCSWR, Hudson Valley, New York,USA
 
Dr Michael Radford, Consultant Psychiatrist, UK
 
Dr Saroop Raja, UK
 
Dr Nicholas Rose, MB, ChB, FRCPsych,
 
Dr Alice Rothschild, MD,
 
Dr Rachel Rubin, MD, MPH, Chicago, USA
 
Prof Andrew Samuels, DHL, Former Chair UK Council for Psychotherapy
 
Dr Benedetto Saraceno, Ornex, France
 
Prof Lara Sheehi, PsyD, George Washington University, USA
 
Prof Stephen Sheehi, PhD, William and Mary College, USA
 
Dr Gillian Shepherd, UK
 
Dr Ann Marisa Silverman, FRCPsych,
 
Dr Philip Smith, UK
 
Dr Cecile Spieser, Psychiatrist, France
 
Dr Peter Sporn,MD Chicago, Illinois 
 
Dr Derek Summerfield, BSC(Hons), MBBS, MRCPsych, Kings College, London, UK
 
Dr Gabriel Symons, UK
 
Dr Philip Thomas, MPhil, DPM, FRCPsych, MD, Consultant Psychiatrist (retired)
 
Dr Jane Thomas, MB, ChB, MRCPsych,
 
Prof Sami Timimi, Consultant Child Psychiatrist, UK
 
BaronessDr Jenny Tonge, House of Lords, UK
 
Dr Christine van Duuren, Member of the British Psychotherapy Foundation London, UK (retired)
 
Dr Maria van Hove, MD, MSc, MFPH,
 
Dr Sebastiao Viola, Consultant Psychiatrist, UK
 
Dr  Athena Viscusi, LICSW,  Washington  DC
 
Dr Rivka Warshawsky, Clinical Psychologist, Jaffa, Israel
 
Dr Petra Wempe, General Practitioner, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (retired)
 
Dr Judith Whale, MRCPsych, UK
 
Dr Cathy Wield, Specialist Physician, UK
 
Dr James H Williams, PhD, MSW, Tacoma, Washington, USA
 
Dr Richard Williams, General Practitioner (retired), London
 
Dr Pam Wortley, MBBS, MRCGP, General Practitioner (retired)
 
Dr Bernadette Wren, C Psychol, MSc Syst Psych,
 
Dr Venetia Young, General Practitioner, UK