DOCTOR SLAMS MEDICAL APARTHEID IMPOSED BY ISRAEL ON PALESTINIANS

Dr. Alice Rothchild has condemned the medical apartheid being imposed on 5 million Palestinians living under Israeli military occupation for the past 53 years, saying the COVID pandemic hitting Palestinians has been much worse due to the failure of Israel to vaccinate Palestinians at the same rate as Israelis and the lack of power and water that makes Palestinians more vulnerable to the lethal virus.

Writing for Truthout on February 28, 2021 (March 1, 2021 in Manila), Rotchild, a physician, described the situation as medical apartheid, with the rate of vaccination in the occupied territories only half for the Palestinians “due to poor outreach, access and distrust, similar to the experiences of people of color in the US.

Many ultra-Orthodox communities are highly resistant to vaccine campaigns. Nonetheless, almost half of the Israeli population has received a first vaccine dose and a third of all Israelis were fully vaccinated, as of February 22.”

Rothchild condemned Israel for the strict control over medical supplies, electricity and water, repeated attacks on medical facilities, water and sewer plants and restrictions on population movement, all of which have left the health care systems in shambles.

As of February 25, there have been 203,260 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the occupied territories with 2,216 deaths, although both numbers are major underestimations due to lack of testing capacity. In Israel, 764,791 cases have been reported with 5,669 deaths as of February 28. The situation is most critical in Gaza, where the United Nations has repeatedly warned of the imminent collapse of the entire medical system.

“It is not possible to do social distancing and adequate hand washing in one of the most crowded regions of the world where 95 percent of the water is polluted, electricity is available only eight hours a day, there are constant shortages of test kits, essential medications and sometimes even oxygen,” Rothchild argued.

She added that the Israeli government claims that under the Oslo Accords, they are not to be blamed. Israel wants Palestinians in the territories to have the responsibilities of sovereignty (providing health care) without the benefits of sovereignty (resources and control over the system).

Experts also agree that international law as outlined in the Geneva Accords supersedes the Oslo Accords: The occupying power is obligated to provide “prophylactic and preventive measures to combat the spread of contagious diseases and epidemics” for the occupied population. Recently, in an egregious move, Israeli authorities temporarily blocked the import of COVID-19 vaccines into Gaza.

WEEKLY FEATURE : BONNER DYTOC SHOWS THE WAY IN STOCK PLAY