As co-chair of the Palestine Health Justice Working Group of @PublicHealth, we are disappointed to report that our Palestine health justice policy proposed for the 2024 annual meeting has just been voted down by the policy committee and will not be up for a vote next October. While we kind of expected this, we hoped to build on the momentum of our ceasefire policy from Nov 2023, which, after a contentious debate, passed with 90% of the vote (context: )medpagetoday.com/publichealthpo…

Just weeks after Oct 7, colleagues & I wrote a piece for @GlobalHealthBMJ about the civilian death toll in #Gaza. The piece was accepted in January. It was just published last Friday, after months of querying the editorial staff regarding delays. gh.bmj.com/content/9/5/e0… While we are proud the piece was published, based on recent experiences of other colleagues attempting to publish in this journal, we feel compelled to share that this was an abnormal experience that resulted in a 5-month delay of a piece accepted by the previous EIC.

🧵 Visited #Hebron this weekend, a city definitely not occupied by a racist regime, where chain link is installed above the market to prevent Israeli settlers from throwing trash and rocks on the Palestinians below… Where there are multiple checkpoints manned by armed Israeli soldiers to keep Palestinians from moving freely in a Palestinian town (none in this pic because it’s not safe to photograph them)…

I keep seeing the figure that ~30 Palestinians have been killed so far in 2023. I’ve referenced this number myself.

By direct violence, sure. And it’s of course vital to report.

But this number ignores the structural violence experienced every day by Palestinians. (1/6) How many died because their hospital couldn’t import the right equipment? Because their medical permit was denied or delayed? How many died prematurely from cardiovascular disease due to a lifetime of living with stress and trauma? (2/6)

Thanks all for your well wishes. Have never been more relieved to get home & get my kids in bed than I was last night. I’ve crossed dozens of checkpoints in my life—they don’t worry me, more of a nuisance than anything. But the violence I saw on the streets last night…1/7 …that was really frightening. Some settlers were masked, but others—young, old, men, women—were proudly displayed, waving Israeli flags as their comrades threw rocks and rushed at cars, while soldiers and police stood nearby. 2/7

Really excited to start today as the US Visiting Fellow of @AlShabaka, a vital organization for important work on #Palestine. My project is, I think, really important for Palestinians and allies to consider. What should Palestinian-led development actually look like? 1/6 So much of the work on Palestine, mine included, is rightfully focused on the actions and incentives of external actors—Israel, the US, the EU, the ICC, the “international community.” They play an outsized role with politics, money, etc. This analysis is vital! BUT— 2/6

🧵 As you witness the physical devastation in #Gaza (aside from the toll on lives & mental health), you might be asking yourself:
1. When will this be rebuilt?
2. Who pays for it?
3. Where will newly homeless people live?
4. What happens to orphaned children?
The answers 👇 1. A lot of it, never, due to the blockade of construction goods.
2. The Gaza Ministry of Housing will pay for some. Private money in Gaza for some more. But a lot of it- you, through tax dollars your gov uses as aid, or your donations to NGOs. Israel pays little compensation.

🧵Seeing a lot of interest in a "Palestine reading list." I wrote this one for an interested colleague last year and thought it might be helpful to some with the huge caveat that this is not comprehensive and no list can ever be (some titles trimmed for space) (1/x): First, some foundational classics (a lot has changed since these came out, but still applicable and valuable):
1. The Question of Palestine- Edward Said
2. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine- Ilan Pappe
3. The Gaza Strip: The Political Economy of De-Development- Sara Roy

Never in a million years did I think I would ever be able to write about #Palestine for an outlet like @washingtonpost. And yet today, they published my op-ed about vaccinations in Palestine: washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/…

(1/6) In 1996, I won my school's history fair in the paper division writing about what I called then "the Arab-Israeli conflict." To be clear, I didn't win because it was any good, but because no one else at my middle school was nerdy enough to submit a paper.

(2/6)

🚨 It looks like we need a thread debunking some #Oslo Accord myths, specifically on Article 17. Let's assume the faulty and erroneous premise that Oslo displaces Geneva (let's be clear, Geneva states that no agreement between occupied and occupier voids its protections). (1/5) The often quoted line is "The Palestinian side shall continue to apply the present standards of vaccination..." In this case, the "present" is in 1995. This provision is for ROUTINE vaccinations (e.g. polio, MMR) that are widely accessible & for ailments that are rare. (2/5)

Updates on #Palestinian vaccinations: After conflicting reports on negotiations between Israel/PA regarding #COVID19 vaccines (again, the PA is not required to "ask" under IHL), Israel rejected PA requests for vaccines for medical workers. (independent.co.uk/news/world/mid…).

(1/4) Today, the Palestinian Authority reports that they won't receive their first shipments of vaccines (not from Israel, but from AstraZeneca and potentially Moderna, Johnson & Johnson, Russia, and/or the WHO COVAX program for LMIC) until March: reuters.com/article/us-hea…

(2/4)

Seems like a lot of people are interested in the vaccination issues in #Palestine, so I've collected some additional resources you can check out to learn more about this and surrounding issues (1/10): First, the text of the 4th Geneva Convention. Specifically, section 3 about occupied territories: un.org/en/genocidepre…

Note that most states and international bodies (UNSC, UNGA, ICJ, ICRC) continue to recognize Israel as the occupying power, even in #Gaza.

(2/10)