Doctors Demand World Medical Association Suspend Israeli Medical Association Over Gaza

Hundreds of healthcare workers gathered outside the World Medical Association summit in Rotterdam to demand the suspension of the Israeli Medical Association. Al Jazeera reported that the demonstrators accused the Israeli medical group of remaining silent while the healthcare system in Gaza is systematically destroyed.

Eighty-One Empty Scrubs Placed at the World Medical Association Doorstep

On Saturday, 81 healthcare workers removed their medical scrubs and hung them in a line facing the World Medical Association assembly in Rotterdam. Each piece of clothing bore the name of a Palestinian healthcare worker currently held in illegal Israeli detention. The demonstration was organized by the IMA Out! coalition to protest the continued membership of the Israeli Medical Association in the global physician grouping.

These scrubs should not be empty. Our colleagues belong with their patients, not in Israeli prisons. Today, we literally placed their names at the WMA’s doorstep, said Mejrem Ahmetaj, a general practitioner and member of IMA Out!, as noted by Al Jazeera.

Accusations of Complicity and Breaches of Medical Ethics

The IMA Out! coalition stated that the Israeli Medical Association has breached almost every ethical principle in the World Medical Association’s Code of Medical Ethics.

The IMA is not a bystander. It defends these attacks and blocks international condemnation while Palestinian healthcare is being destroyed. That is not medical neutrality. That is complicity, Ahmetaj stated, according to Al Jazeera.

Since October 2023, military operations in Gaza have killed more than 1,700 Palestinian healthcare workers and destroyed nearly all hospitals and healthcare facilities in the enclave. Jonathan Fluxman, speaking on behalf of IMA Out!, told the summit that thirty years of dialogue between the global association and the Israeli group has yielded no results.

Thirty years of WMA dialogue with the IMA has done nothing but give the IMA a sense of impunity … It is time for national medical associations and the WMA to speak out and take action. Break your ties with the IMA and suspend the IMA from the WMA now.

Jonathan Fluxman, IMA Out!

Global Petition and Demands for Detained Doctor Release

The IMA Out! campaign delivered a petition signed by more than 6,500 health workers from around the world demanding the suspension of the Israeli Medical Association. Protesters also called for accountability regarding the alleged participation of Israeli doctors in the starvation, torture, and medical neglect of Palestinian prisoners.

Among the detained physicians is Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, head of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital. Al Jazeera reported that his unlawful detention has sparked international outcry after he was briefly held at the Sde Teiman detention camp.

My father and all Palestinian detainees must be treated in accordance with medical ethics, and doctors must abide by the Hippocratic oath they have taken. Care cannot be given based on whose life is deemed worthy, said Elyas Abu Safia, son of the detained physician, addressing a meeting organized by the campaign.