Dear Joseph
'All humans are born equal' (M L King). When it comes to Palestine, people are not equal and if we don't stand with them, as individuals and the global community, they will be alienated. Six months have passed while genocides are being committed against people and properties in Gaza. The focus that I have in mind, and this is what I have highlighted is patients, healthcare workers, hospitals, clinics and ambulances. All UN agencies and global organizations have voiced their resentment of what's going on. HIFA and its members have seen, the genocides against people and the destruction of health institutions in Palestine in general and Gaza in particular. Being a member of HIFA or any other organization is no excuse to keep quiet and complacent about this. If you have relatives and friends there (as I am), you want all to learn about these genocides and react, in whatever means.
As for as the different people who have raised their voice, which I fully support, I still have their original messages, Probably the message by Stewart Britten is strong enough and indicative of what I want to say. Many many many thanks for him for raising the issue. He wrote:
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Dear HIFA
If HIFA discusses human rights at this time without mention of Gaza, it is so abstract that I can't get into it. When Israel has killed over 32,000 people, mostly civilians and many of them children, in Gaza, with armaments supplied by the USA and with the support, or at least lack of dissent, of most of the rich nations, I see discussion of these highfalutin aims on human rights as little more than Nero fiddling while Rome burned. It's much like we in the rich nations were glad to join in high flying pronouncement on equity of availability of vaccines until Covid-19 hit, whereupon some low-income countries got none.
We have little say as individuals in what our governments do or support, but we live in a highly connected world and while we all see genocide daily on our TV screens, I for one will not be distracted. We have been climbing the escalator of progress, but genocide kicks us down to the bottom again.
That's where we are, and that's what we should contend with" .
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With kind regards
Najeeb Al-Shorbaji, PhD IAHSI
HIFA profile: Najeeb Al-Shorbaji recently retired from the World Health Organization (WHO), where he has worked since 1988 in different capacities. He was most recently Director of the Knowledge, Ethics and Research Department at WHO headquarters, Geneva. Previously he was Coordinator for Knowledge Management and Sharing in EMRO (Eastern Mediterranean Regional Office), Egypt. He is a member of a number of national and international professional societies and associations specialised in information management and health informatics. He has authored over 100 research papers and articles presented in various conferences and published in professional journals. He is a member of the HIFA Steering Group and the HIFA Working Group on Multilingualism.
http://www.hifa.org/support/members/najeeb
http://www.hifa.org/projects/multilingualism
Email: shorbajin AT gmail.com
