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
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.
Signatories
1.
Professor Mark Burton
2.
Dr Steve Melluish
3.
Dr Cathy Amor
4.
Professor 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. Dr
Sally Zlotowitz
17. Jacqui
Lovell
18. Professor
Kerry Chamberlain (New Zealand)
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. Dr
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. Dr
Andrew Hart
49. Amna
Abdulatif
50. Dr
Jane Callaghan
51. Julie
Bird
52. Professor
Ashraf Kagee (South Africa)
53. Corinne
Fortier (France)
54. Nancy
Flores (New Zealand)
55. Dr.
Dora Whittuck
56. Lynere
Wilson (New Zealand)
57. Dr
Bruce MZ Cohen (New Zealand)
58. Dr
Clare Dixon
59. Dr.
Nicholas Wood
60. Dr
Sarah Blackshaw
61. Dr
Sharen Hayre
62. Dr
Oliver Pugh
63. Jenny
Stuart
64. Dr
Eleni Hatzidimitriadou
65. Dr
Ruth Butterworth
66. Dr
Anna Daiches
67. Dr
Elizabeth Freeman
68. Dr
Deborah Chinn
69. Dr
Abdullah Mia
70. Dr.
Katy Day
71. Madaleine
Rowlinson
72. Dr
Glenn Williams
73. Daniela
Fernandez Catherall
74. Tim
Siggs
75. Dr
Julie Vane
76. Dr
Carl Harris
77. Dr
Sue Roffey (Australia)
78. Dr
Jo Hadfield
79. Emma
Ridley
80. Stacy
Earl
81. Dr
Aayesha Mulla
82. Dr
Sarah Keenan