PEACE, SECURITY, AND THE RIGHT TO SELF-DETERMINATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST September 18th, 2024

Guided by the values and expertise of healthcare and public health, Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility works to protect human life from the gravest threats to health and survival by striving to protect our climate, end the nuclear threat, promote peace, and advance justice.

In accordance with our mission, we call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank. The ongoing conflict has claimed tens of thousands of lives, rendered Palestine and Israel unsafe, contributed immeasurably to the climate crisis, and now threatens to engulf the entire region in war. The massive Israeli bombing of Gaza, triggered by the brutal Hamas attack of October 7, has destroyed most of the housing, the healthcare system, schools and universities, sewage and water treatment systems, and other critical infrastructure, making much of Gaza uninhabitable. It constitutes one of the greatest international humanitarian and moral crises of this century.

We recognize that the roots of the conflict reach back many centuries, with a pivotal era following the Holocaust, when the US itself severely restricted the entry of Jewish refugees through the 1948 Displaced Persons Act. With few countries willing to admit Jewish refugees, a Euro-American project was launched to create a new and secure Jewish state that would be friendly to Western interests in the Middle East. As Senator Joe Biden said in 1986, “If there were not an Israel, the US would have to invent an Israel to protect American interests in the region.” What followed the 1948 formation of the Israeli state was the forced displacement of Palestinians, the illegal occupation of Palestinian homelands, and the suppression of Palestinian human rights, including their right to statehood. In July of 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled that the Israeli occupation and annexation of Palestinian territories and the extraction of its natural resources violates international law.

We emphasize that the conflict will not be solved until the rights of all peoples, Israelis and Palestinians alike, to peace, security, self-determination, and the basic necessities to sustain life are recognized and defended.

The July 25, 2024 letter to the US President, from 45 US health care professionals who have worked in Gaza since October 7, includes a credible account of the massive toll taken on the lives of innocent Palestinians, near total devastation of the healthcare system, toxic pollution of air, water, and soil, mass starvation, and outbreaks of debilitating and deadly infectious disease.

We strongly condemn:

The October 7 attack by Hamas that claimed nearly 1200 lives, most of whom were unarmed Israeli citizens, and the taking of 250 Israeli hostages, nearly half of whom remain in captivity, including many who are feared dead;

●  The Israeli assault on the Gaza strip which, according to Gaza’s official Ministry of Health, has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, through trauma, disease, and starvation;

●  Violent and deadly Israeli assaults on Palestinians in the West Bank;

●  The use of starvation and deprivation of potable water as weapons of war;

●  All forms of torture and sexual violence, as repeatedly and credibly reported by survivors and committed by both Hamas combatants and the Israeli Defense Forces;

●  All forms of antisemitism, Islamophobia, and anti-Palestinian racism, including statements that call for the total extermination of either Jews or Muslims.

We reject any claim that:

●  Armed conflict can lead to a just and lasting peace for either Israel or Palestine;

●  Legitimate protests against the actions of the Israeli government are by definition antisemitic;

●  Legitimate protests against the actions of Hamas or other Islamic organizations or states are by definition Islamophobic;

●  One people can thrive in peace and security at the expense of another.

We demand of all parties to the conflict:

●  An immediate and permanent ceasefire by all combatants in Gaza, the West Bank, and the surrounding region;

●  Repatriation of all hostages in Gaza and Palestinians administratively detained without charge, including an estimated 300 health care workers;

●  Unhindered entry of all humanitarian aid and medical/mental health personnel into Gaza, including urgently needed potable water, food, nutritional support, medical supplies, and vaccines;

●  Immediate US support for an international arms embargo on all parties to the conflict;

●  Immediate cessation of any US sale, transfer or diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel to support Israel’s military offensive in and occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, in accordance with the Leahy Law of 1997, which prohibits US funding of foreign security forces when there is credible evidence of gross human rights violations;

●  Immediate reinstatement of US funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA);

●  US acceptance of the rulings of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court;

●  US commitment to both Palestinian self-determination and Israel's right to exist, with international commitment to enforce the security of both Israelis and Palestinians;

●  US commitment to aid for rebuilding the infrastructure of Gaza, supporting the leadership and guidance of Palestinians in this effort.

 

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