Health Workers for Palestine

Medact has long stood for the rights of the Palestinian people in their struggle for liberation, as we stand with all peoples seeking freedom from violent oppression.

Throughout the escalation of violence in late 2023, we have been calling for a ceasefire and demanding that the UK government ends its complicity in the killing of Palestinians in Gaza by ending all arms sales to Israel and ending diplomatic support for the bombardment.

We explicitly call for the UK government to respect the right to boycott and abandon its legislation to outlaw Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, a non-violent movement which seeks to pressure Israel to comply with international law in the face of decades of inaction by the international community.

Israel in its bombardment has committed crimes against international law including the targeting of health facilities and killing of health workers, which have appalled people around the world yet Israel continues to act with impunity from the world powers including the UK.

Health workers in the UK have stepped up in this crisis and shown their solidarity! They are demanding that government and health institutions do all they can to bring about peace. We have supported independent groups of health workers who have been organising and mobilising, applying pressure on institutions, holding powerful demonstrations and forming health worker blocs at the national marches for Palestine.

How you can take action

On this page, we’ve collated the ways health workers in the UK can act. If you would like to suggest updates or additions to this page, please email [email protected].

Protests, demonstrations and marches

Join health blocs at the National Marches for Palestine organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC).

• Join health worker bloc WhatsApp 1 (This is full! Join 2 if you can’t join 1)
• Join health worker bloc WhatsApp 2

Health care workers for Palestine (HCWP) is a non-partisan coalition of health care workers, NGOs/agencies & organisations taking action for Palestine. They hold weekly vigils every Friday in 17 UK cities and some international locations.

• Join Global Health Care Workers for Palestine on Facebook

Health Workers for a Free Palestine is an independent group of health workers organising in response to the call from colleagues in Palestine to stand with them in solidarity.

• Join Health Workers for a Free Palestine WhatsApp group 1 (Join 2 if you can’t join 1)
• Join Health Workers for a Free Palestine WhatsApp group 2
• Follow them on Instagram @hw4fp.uk

Model Motion for Health Trade Unions, Open Letters & Petitions

• Submit a motion to your trade union – Stop the war on Gaza. Medact has drafted a model trade union motion for health workers to use as a template for submitting motions to unions and representative institutions. It has several demands and can be adapted as you wish. The folder also includes a spreadsheet to record where motions have been submitted. Please consider using this and share it with your networks.
• Open Letter to the BMA (6 November)
• Open Letter to BMA on Israel-Palestine Conflict (11 November)
• Open Letter to the Royal College of Midwives (22 November)
• Open Letter to the Royal College of Occupational Therapists
• Open Letter to the Royal College of General Practitioners
• Open Letter to The British Psychological Society
• Open Letter to the Royal Pharmaceutical Society
• Open Letter to Barts NHS Trust – Health workers in Barts NHS Trust are calling on the trust to stand in solidarity with health workers in Palestine. If you work or know people in Barts NHS Trust, please sign & share.
• Petition: Demand for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and the end to violence on children
• Petition: Release abducted Palestinian healthcare workers
• Email your MP via Medical Aid for Palestinians and demand a permanent ceasefire in Gaza
• Donate to Medical Aid for Palestinians and support their work in Gaza and Egypt to distribute aid and medical supplies for Gaza.

Position Statements from UK Health Unions and Organisations

• Israel and Gaza conflict: RCN calls for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire – 15 November 2023
• BMA position: Israel-Gaza conflict 2023 – 22 November 2023 (Note: This is the second position statement from the BMA, released following pressure from UK Health Workers)

Important articles and resources

Articles:

• Violence in Palestine demands immediate resolution of its settler colonial root causes – BMJ, 21 October 2023
• Health Workers for a Free Palestine Statement – 11 November 2023
• Position Paper: Public Health Implications of the Siege on Gaza – 20 November 2023
• Oppose Palantir – ‘Military tech firm backing war in Gaza awarded NHS contract’ – 21 November 2023. This piece in the Middle East Eye includes a response to the deal from Health Workers for a Free Palestine.

Resources:

• No Palantir in the NHS! Campaign Toolkit – resource is developed to help community groups, health workers, BDS activists and patients organise against Palantir in the NHS
• Resources from Workers in Palestine – Resources include model motions, social media graphics and PDFs of the call.
• Standing with Healthcare Workers in Palestine: An Information and Action Guide – Learn about what Workers in Palestine are asking for from the healthcare sector.

Medact articles on Palestine