London Meeting; Suicide Prevention in Palestine; UK Election offers a real choice

ukpalmhnadmin

[Please note the time of the ‘Fanon in Palestine’ meeting at Birkbeck University on Sunday 8th December: 10am – 12.30pm.]

  1. Have you contemplated seeing Palestine for yourself?

One of the Network’s founding objectives was to facilitate direct contact between Palestinian and overseas colleagues. To achieve this, we organise regular study tours of Palestine/Israel, specially designed for people from the mental health and related professions. A recent participant wrote that the tour was:

“Spell-binding, transcendent, heart-breaking, and ultimately life-changing, the UKPMHN tour of Palestine provides an intimate immersion in the central human rights tragedy of our era. Not to be missed.”

If you are thinking of joining a tour, or if you have been on one yourself, please join us for an informal get-together on Saturday 7th December from 5pm til 8pm. This will include supper.

Venue in SE23. To secure a place, and for further details, email us on ukpalmhn@gmail.com

 

  1. “Leave the Judgement to God” An article about suicide prevention by Dr Samah Jabr

‘A mother came to me in the wake of her son’s suicide. She had consulted a Sheikh – in this case someone who claimed to be a religious leader – for consolation, but was told that whoever purposely kills himself with dwell in the Hellfire forever. The mother, deeply shocked, then fell into a severe depression.’

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20191121-leave-the-judgment-to-god-the-role-of-islamic-discourse-in-addressing-suicide/

An earlier article on the increasing prevalence of suicide in Gaza can be found here:

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20170920-unliveable-gazas-rising-suicide-rates/

 

  1. UK GENERAL ELECTION: a real choice on Palestine

The Conservative Party will outlaw BDS. It’s manifesto includes the following paragraph:

“We will ban public bodies from imposing their own direct or indirect boycotts, disinvestment or sanctions campaigns against foreign countries. These undermine community cohesion.”

They will legislate on the guidelines that are currently being challenged in the Supreme Court by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, limiting the ability of local councils and other public bodies to invest their money ethically. (This will affect climate issues, fossil fuels, the arms trade and any other issue of public concern.)

The Labour Party is committed to a comprehensive peace in the Middle East based on a two-state solution – “a secure Israel alongside a secure and viable state of Palestine.”

More importantly, it may be the first government to challenge what every government condemns in words, but does nothing about: the siege of Gaza in particular.

“There can be no military solution to this conflict, which must be settled on the basis of justice and international law. All sides must avoid taking action that would make peace harder to achieve.”

“That means both an end to the blockade, occupation and settlements, and an end to rocket and terror attacks. Labour will continue to press for an immediate return to meaningful negotiations leading to a diplomatic resolution. A Labour government will immediately recognise the state of Palestine.”