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Hi Mark, Many thanks for putting this together. Please add my name in the list. Best wishes, Eleni Dr Eleni Hatzidimitriadou Community Psychologist/Reader School of Social Work Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, Kingston University and St George's University of London, Kingston Hill, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey KT2 7LB Tel 02084175143 Mob 07900670758 Email [log in to unmask] Website: http://www.healthcare.ac.uk/ Social Work Education at Kingston & St George’s: Best in London. Top Ten in England" Guardian University league tables 2015 ________________________________________ From: The UK Community Psychology Discussion List [[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Mark Burton [[log in to unmask]] Sent: 17 July 2014 23:16 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Re: Gaza Statement - still time to add your name We said that we'd have a deadline of 21.00 tomorrow, Friday for people to sign. So if you haven't and would like to, then you still can. Mark On 17/07/14 23:14, Mark Burton wrote: Please see below the statement as it is now. I've made a couple of minor amendments: a) second sentence in paragraph 3 b) newly inserted paragraph 4 I don't think these changes materially alter what people have said they'd sign, but they improve the statement. Please would you: 1) Let us (see below for definition of 'us') know if you'd like to opt out. 2) Check the spelling of your name and that your title is correct. I've not put in affiliations as this might be compromising for some people, but we could indicate the spread of people from health, community and university settings. I've put Prof and Doctor where either I know the title or people have indicated (and made informed guesses in a small number of cases). Otherwise I've just given names so let us know if you'd like to change. This is one occasion where I think it is persuasive and appropriate to use these titles to suggest a level of seniority and expertise. 3) As noted before, I am away from late morning tomorrow. I would very much appreciate a volunteer to finish the job of pulling this together so we lose as little time as possible. I can help by preparing a list of places to send it to. Otherwise it will have to wait until early Monday morning. 4) And do encourage anyone else who might be interested to sign. And thanks for the real enthusiasm you've shown for this action. It is only a small contribution but it is important that soidarity is demonstrated, both as moral support to people in Palestine and to show our leaders that there is a strong current of informed opinion that wants to see justice for the people of Gaza and the rest of Palestine. Mark Burton Statement of support and solidarity with the people of Gaza. As Community and Community-Orientated Psychologists in the UK we again extend our support for and solidarity to the people of Gaza. We are calling upon the British government and the British people to take all feasible steps, beginning with immediate boycotts, disinvestments and sanctions against the state of Israel, to oblige Israel's political administration to: abide by international law; dismantle its apartheid regime spanning both the occupied territories and Israel; immediately and unconditionally end its assault on and siege of Gaza; end the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including its illegal settlements; abandon all claims to possess or control territory beyond its 1967 borders; and commit to pursuing a long-lasting, just peace. We condemn all attacks on civilians, including the rocket retaliation from Gaza, noting that combatants have an obligation to protect civilians under international law. However we draw attention to the disproportionality of Israel's attacks on Gaza, which includes the indiscriminate killing of men, women and children by the armed forces of a supposedly democratic State whose citizens they still are (since only limited autonomy has been granted to the Palestine Authority). We are concerned by reports from doctors that DIME munitions are again in use which cause extremely destructive damage to the bodies of those near the blast. The Israeli military deliberately targets hospitals, civilian shelters and prevents medical aid reaching the injured and medical supplies and equipment from entering the Gaza Strip and destroys Gaza's infrastructure of roads, water supplies, sanitation, food production, food distribution, food security, electricity, social services, education services, health services, law and order, housing, environmental services, and broader social support structures. We particularly note that during armed conflict, international humanitarian law requires that health care facilities, ambulances, medical personnel and the wounded and sick are all afforded specific protection. As psychologists we also draw attention to the impact of this and other attacks on Palestinians on the psychological and social health and well-being of all sections of the population, particularly children, the elderly and those with additional vulnerabilities. UNRWA has indicated very high and rising levels of severe psychological trauma, especially among children. The extreme constraints placed on the Palestinian health services, UNRWA and the various NGOs and civil society organisations can only make this situation far worse, despite the admirable and inspiring capacity of the Palestinian people to maintain and celebrate their cultural traditions. We do note that many Israeli citizens (at home and worldwide) are opposed to the policies and resultant violence of their government. Moreover, the situation is also detrimental to the psychological well-being of Israeli citizens, who are living in a context where threat of 'the other' is used to instil fear and legitimise such abhorrent action. The massacre of civilians in Gaza is the latest, terrorist phase of a war that successive governments of Israel (supported by the USA and Britain) have been waging against the people of Palestine for more than 60 years, since Britain's botched abandonment of its mandate triggered the Palestinian Nakba of 1948. The goal of this war has never changed: to use overwhelming military power to eradicate the Palestinians as a political force capable of resisting Israel's ongoing appropriation of Palestinian land and resources. CPUK believes that for the sake of justice and global peace, the Israeli State must not be allowed to achieve this. Our belief in the right of the Palestinians to democratic self-determination, and to resist military aggression and colonial occupation means we stand with the people of Palestine, whether in Gaza, the West Bank, occupied Jerusalem or the pre-1967 boundaries of the State of Israel in their struggle against that racist, colonial State and its government. Additional notes For UNWRA statement on post-conflict psychological trauma see http://www.unrwa.org/newsroom/press-releases/serious-upsurge-post-conflict-trauma-gaza-says-un The blockade means a severe shortage of medicines and other vital supplies. Before the current attack the Gaza health services were already suffering from an acute shortage of fuel and supplies, with 54 percent of medical disposables and 28 percent of essential drugs at zero stock. Now some hospitals are reporting that they do not have sutures, materials to treat bone injuries, or enough reactive agents to perform routine blood tests. On 15 July 41 organizations warned of an extremely severe Palestinian health sector crisis, with, in Gaza's hospitals the cessation of most primary services and women's health services. 80% of Gaza's population are refugees or their descendants. The Gaza population of 1.7 Million is confined in a small area, no bigger than the Isle of Wight. There is no escape from the missiles and naval bombardment, nor the frequent army incursions. There is clear evidence (for example BBC Radio 4 reports, 17 July) that Israel's claim to warn civilians of missile attacks is meaningless. Unlike Israel, the Palestinians do not have air raid shelters. Primary Source: Medical Aid for Palestinians http://www.map-uk.org/news/41-organizations-warn-of-palestinian-health-sector-crisis.aspx Signatories 1. Professor Mark Burton 2. Dr Steve Melluish 3. Dr Cathy Amor 4. Dr Jacqueline Akhurst 5. Dr Chris Pawson 6. Aisling Kelly 7. Dr Joe Judge 8. Dr Laura Jobson 9. Christine Ward 10. Tom Wengraf 11. Dr Laara Jupp 12. Professor Carolyn Kagan 13. Teresa Nevard 14. Dr Alia Ul-Hassan 15. Jade Weston 16. name to confirm 17. name to confirm 18. Kerry Chamberlain 19. Dr Carl Walker 20. Dr John Cromby 21. Dr Nimisha Patel 22. Dr Penny Priest 23. Helen Beckwith 24. Lucy Hawkes 25. Dr Lianne Hovell 26. Scott Bartle 27. Sam Farley 28. Dr Donna Oxley 29. Peter Branney 30. Dr Nigel Hunt 31. Dr Aneta D. Tunariu 32. Dr Argyris Argyriadis (Greece) 33. Majid Hussain 34. Dr Kasper Andreas Kristensen (Denmark) 35. Dr Tria Moore 36. Dr Paula Corcoran 37. Liz Cunningham 38. Emma-Louise Aveling 39. Kathryn Cooper 40. Stephen Thorpe 41. Masuma Rahim 42. Gareth Morgan 43. Dr Mirsad Serdarevic (USA) 44. Dr Maxine Woolhouse 45. Dr. Lisa Thorne 46. Tamsin Curno 47. Eleanor Shoultz 48. Andrew Hart 49. Amna Abdulatif 50. Dr Jane Callaghan 51. Julie Bird 52. Professor S.A. Kagee (South Africa) 53. another to confirm -- From: Mark Burton Scholar-Activist. Visiting Professor, Manchester Metropolitan University 37 Chandos Rd South Chorlton Manchester M21 0TH; UK Telephones: +44 (0)161 881 6887 landline +44 (0)777 594 9479 mobile skype name: markburton52 http://steadystatemanchester.net<http://steadystatemanchester.net/> Steady State Manchester http://libpsy.org<http://libpsy.org/> Liberation Psychology Network h<http://www.compsy.org.uk/>ttp://www.compsy.org.uk<http://www.compsy.org.uk/> Community Psychology UK http://uncommontater.net<http://uncommontater.net/> personal blog including information on my publications. E-Mail scanned for viruses by The Co-operative Phone & Broadband. ___________________________________ There is a twitter feed: http://twitter.com/CommPsychUK (to post contact Grant [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> To unsubscribe or to change your details on this COMMUNITYPSYCHUK list, visit the website: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=COMMUNITYPSYCHUK -- From: Mark Burton Scholar-Activist. Visiting Professor, Manchester Metropolitan University 37 Chandos Rd South Chorlton Manchester M21 0TH; UK Telephones: +44 (0)161 881 6887 landline +44 (0)777 594 9479 mobile skype name: markburton52 http://steadystatemanchester.net<http://steadystatemanchester.net/> Steady State Manchester http://libpsy.org<http://libpsy.org/> Liberation Psychology Network h<http://www.compsy.org.uk/>ttp://www.compsy.org.uk<http://www.compsy.org.uk/> Community Psychology UK http://uncommontater.net<http://uncommontater.net/> personal blog including information on my publications. This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs Email Security System. ___________________________________ There is a twitter feed: http://twitter.com/CommPsychUK (to post contact Grant [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> To unsubscribe or to change your details on this COMMUNITYPSYCHUK list, visit the website: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=COMMUNITYPSYCHUK This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs Email Security System. ___________________________________ There is a twitter feed: http://twitter.com/CommPsychUK (to post contact Grant [log in to unmask] To unsubscribe or to change your details on this COMMUNITYPSYCHUK list, visit the website: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/cgi-bin/webadmin?A0=COMMUNITYPSYCHUK