Israeli Doctors Warn Foreigners Not To Force Feed Palestinian Hunger Strikers
Israeli physicians are calling on doctors around the world to refuse to come to Israel in order to force feed Palestinian prisoners on a hunger strike.
The Israel Prisons Service is reportedly contemplating bringing foreign doctors to Israel to force feed the strikers since the Israel Medical Association barred its members from doing so, according to news reports.
Physicians For Human Rights Israel called on the World Medical Association to instruct doctors not to come to Israel to fill in when Israeli doctors refuse.
“PHRI calls upon the organization to instruct doctors worldwide not to cooperate with the IPS program to ‘import’ doctors from abroad that will force feed hunger strikers,” the group said in a statement.
PHRI warned against Israel’s actions “blurring the line between security considerations and the patient’s well-being and medical needs.”
The hunger strike began on April 17 when about 1,000 prisoners lead by Marwan Barghouti announced their strike for better prison conditions. So far, Israel has not given in to their demands.
Contact Naomi Zeveloff at [email protected] or on Twitter @naomizeveloff
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!