Hundreds of doctors protest in Rotterdam over Israeli Medical Association membership in World Medical Association

Hundreds of doctors gathered outside the World Medical Association summit in Rotterdam on Saturday to call for the suspension of the Israeli Medical Association. The protest took place as medical leaders and human rights activists met in the Dutch city for the annual gathering. Organisers said the demonstration was aimed at the Israeli association's continued membership in the global physicians' body.

Sponsored

According to the organisers, 81 healthcare workers removed their scrubs and hung them in a line facing the WMA assembly. Each scrub bore the name of a Palestinian healthcare worker currently held in detention. The campaign group behind the protest said the action was intended to highlight what it described as the destruction of Palestinian healthcare and the silence of the Israeli Medical Association.

The organisers said the Israeli association had breached ethical principles in the WMA's code of medical ethics. One protester, general practitioner Mejrem Ahmetaj, said the scrubs should not be empty and that colleagues belonged with their patients rather than in prison. Another statement issued on behalf of the campaign said Palestinian healthcare workers were being killed, imprisoned, starved and tortured, while hospitals had been destroyed and patients driven out or killed.

The protest adds pressure on the World Medical Association at a time when the war in Gaza has become a major issue for international health bodies. The organisers said the conflict has killed more than 1,700 Palestinian healthcare workers since October 2023 and left nearly all hospitals and healthcare facilities in the enclave destroyed. Those figures, if accurate, underline the scale of the humanitarian and medical crisis that activists say the WMA can no longer ignore.

Sponsored

The campaign also said the issue had been discussed at a meeting of international doctors, medical leaders and human rights activists during the summit on Thursday. It argued that 30 years of dialogue between the WMA and the Israeli Medical Association had failed to produce change and had instead created a sense of impunity. The group called on national medical associations and the WMA to break ties and take action.

It remains unclear whether the WMA will respond to the demand for suspension or whether any formal decision will be taken during the summit. The Israeli Medical Association's position was not included in the supplied material. What happens next will depend on whether the protest leads to a wider challenge inside the WMA and whether member associations move to press for disciplinary action.

#Rotterdam #WorldMedicalAssociation #IsraeliMedicalAssociation #doctorsprotest #Palestinianhealthcare