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| WANT TO TAKE ACTION? https://ukpalmhn.com/gaza-crisis/ 17 new actions posted in August and September LOOKING FOR EVENTS? https://ukpalmhn.com/events/ 29 curated, up-to-date events currently listed UKPALMHN Solidarity Space Monday 15 September at 1pm (UK time) This is an open space where people exchange their emotional responses with a view to remaining resilient amidst a constant stream of distressing news. Please contact ukpalmhn@gmail.com if you would like to attend this meeting. Update from EABCT conference and BABCP correspondence We reported last week on a coalition of activists leafleting the European Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Therapies (EABCT) annual conference in Glasgow. https://eabct2025.org/ The conference was hosted by the British Association for Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapies (BABCP). A video was recorded of an activist reading the UK-Palestine Mental Health Network open letter outside the venue. Towards the end of the recording, from 6:56 to the finish, the reader provides an update about a Special Interest Group meeting about Gaza that took place during the conference and which was attended by the BABCP and EABCT presidents. https://ukpalmhn.com/resources/eabct-conference-video-sept-2025/ At the start of the conference, Graham Bryce, a member of the executive group of the Scottish Palestinian Health Partnership, entered into a correspondence with Dr Moorey, BABCP President. The correspondence may have a broader interest for other activists that are dealing with the leadership of professional organisations who are fearful of the constraints imposed upon them by their charitable status. To start with, Dr Moorey refers to the “humanitarian disaster” taking place in Gaza and the reply provides a resounding refutation of this framing. Dr Moorey goes on to state that the BABCP is limited in speaking out due to its status as a UK charity. The reply highlights the actions that are still being taken by Medical Aid for Palestinians which is also a registered UK charity. It also lists a number of examples of public references to a “genocide” in Gaza, including by the First Minister of Scotland (the country hosting the conference). Finally, the reply explores a number of different actions and initiatives that are still open to the BABCP. The full correspondence can be seen here: https://ukpalmhn.com/resources/correspondence-with-babcp-september-2025/ On 4 September a message was circulated in the Scottish Healthworkers for Palestine WhatsApp group from someone who attended an EABCT symposium at the conference on the work of the EABCT Special Interest Groups. This reported that both the BABCP and EABCT presidents attended. They came under strong criticism from participants in the meeting which they had difficulty answering. Participants reportedly said that they should stop beating about the bush and instead should name what is happening in Gaza as genocide and ethnic cleansing. A group within the meeting suggested starting a WhatsApp group to take further action within both organisations. “You cannot put everyone in a therapy chair in Palestine” Source: Falastin Podcast 45 minute interview with Dr Samah Jabr Date: 4 September “When the trauma is collective, of course, we cannot put everyone in a therapy chair in Palestine, justice has a healing effect. And I think much of the psychological pain that we are experiencing now will be influenced by whether Palestinians see justice at the end or not. Without safe space, there is very little that we can do. Helplessness by itself can generate more negative psychological consequences. Pain can radiate and can be felt in a different part of the world or in a different part of the body. What we have been witnessing over the past 22 months in Gaza is an extreme intentional political trauma that targets the people of Gaza directly but it is creating circles of affected people. We see that there are reverberations for our pain and for our resilience. Our role as mental health professionals is to facilitate for people to tell their story […]” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaYeVg0OPPU Hunger, looting and lost childhoods: Gaza’s engineered collapse Israel’s genocidal assault is deliberately unravelling the fabric of Palestinian society Source: Ahmed Abu Artema writing in Middle East Eye Date: 3 September Whenever a friend from outside Gaza asks me how we are doing, I answer: our situation defies words. I recently shared with friends abroad a one-minute audio recording of an Israeli drone buzzing endlessly over our heads. I told them to imagine that this nerve-shredding noise has not abated for even a moment in the past 10 hours. Now imagine living under such crushing psychological pressure, almost without pause, for nearly two years. What kind of psyche can emerge from such extermination? Will anyone who survives be able to recover? […] https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/hunger-looting-and-lost-childhoods-gazas-engineered-collapse Gaza Mental Health Professionals Warn of Urgent, Widespread Trauma Crisis Source: Truthout Date: September 4, 2025 Mental health specialists in Gaza describe a collective stage of “chronic trauma fatigue” under ongoing siege conditions. The article details severe symptoms across all age groups—nightmares, panic attacks, dissociation, and rising adolescent self-harm—arguing that community-wide trauma is now reshaping the very social fabric. Practitioners urgently call for global support, robust trauma responses, and long-term investment in Gaza’s fractured mental health system. https://truthout.org/articles/gaza-mental-health-professionals-warn-of-urgent-widespread-trauma-crisis/ The prevalence of smartphone addiction and its related risk factors among Palestinian high school students: A cross-sectional study Source: Frontiers in Psychiatry Date: September 8, 2025 This large academic study finds that 57% of high school students surveyed in Palestine meet criteria for smartphone addiction, with strong links to anxiety, depression, poor teacher relationships, and inadequate social support. The authors highlight the impact of these factors on youth wellbeing and urge mental health professionals to address digital addiction with culturally appropriate interventions. The research underscores an emerging mental health priority for young Palestinians living under occupation. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychiatry/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1636080/full Reclaiming identity: The Gaza War’s role in shaping Palestinian university students’ resilience and life’s meaning Source: ScienceDirect (Acta Psychologica) Date: September 2025 This open access study examines how the 2023 Gaza War has impacted the resilience and sense of identity among Palestinian university students. Through in-depth interviews, the research highlights a collective, culturally rooted understanding of resilience, shaped by ongoing conflict and occupation. It underscores the essential role of community and education in helping young people adapt and maintain meaning amidst adversity. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001691825006250 Remembering Awdah: May his memory be a revolution A new website that seeks to continue Awdah’s legacy by sharing his written work, his presentations, and the ways in which he impacted those around him. Awdah Hathaleen, a lifelong activist and resident of Umm Al Khair, was murdered in cold blood on July 28, 2025 by a settler who invaded his village. Awdah was a beacon of joy, persistence, and warm-heartedness. He was a bedrock of his community and was known and loved by thousands of people all over the world whom he had welcomed into his village and into his community’s struggle. He was a storyteller who sought to teach and inspire visiting activists and supporters and to empower future generations of his community and those around him. https://www.rememberingawdah.com/ The Voice of Hind Rajab’ Receives Standing Ovation at Venice Film Festival Source: Palestine Chronicle Date: 4 September This article covers the powerful premiere of Tunisian director Kaouther Ben Hania’s film, “The Voice of Hind Rajab,” at the Venice Film Festival—telling the true story of a Palestinian child killed by Israel in Gaza. The film moved audiences and critics, receiving a 23-minute standing ovation and highlighting the humanitarian crisis and emotional trauma facing children in Gaza. The article also notes that the Hind Rajab Foundation has filed a formal war crimes complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC), holding an Israeli officer responsible for the killing. https://www.palestinechronicle.com/the-voice-of-hind-rajab-receives-standing-ovation-at-venice-film-festival/ Meet the Gaza music teacher behind viral drone song Source: Al Jazeera English Date: 1 September A music teacher in Gaza has transformed the sound of Israeli drones into a powerful song honouring those killed in Israel’s genocide. Ahmed Muin Abu Amsha uses music to help displaced and traumatised Palestinian children cope amid war and devastation. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtodtEKmYSE Here is the original drone song (turn on sub-titles to see the text in English and Arabic) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6PeQ9ze5ks&t=6s FEATURED ACTIONTell your Councillors: Divest from Companies Enabling Israel’s Genocide Source: Palestine Solidarity Campaign Date: September 2025 PSC has sent a legal notice to every council in England & Wales administering a Local Government Pension Scheme (LGPS) fund, outlining that they are under a legal obligation to take steps to divest from companies enabling and profiting from Israel’s genocide, military occupation and apartheid against Palestinians. E-mail your councillors today to demand that the council ends its financial ties to companies complicit in Israel’s crimes against Palestinians. https://palestinecampaign.eaction.org.uk/divestmentduty FEATURED EVENTS Palestine: Repair & Return – Stories of Activism Thursday 11 September at 6.30pm Location: P21 Gallery, London and online This event will be a public conversation about activism and creativity. It will engage with activists in the UK and Palestine and ask what people in both contexts consider effective and inspiring. There will be a bias towards asking how art activity relates to furthering the movement for justice and liberation in Palestine. We will talk about building community, gatherings, meetings, posters, performances, direct action. Also about how far activism relates to sanity and mental health. https://p21.gallery/node/449 Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk (film screening) Saturday 13 September from 7pm – 10:30pm Source: Nilly Brook / Obscenity State Location: Palestine House, London WC1V 6JJ The film bears witness to the tragic realities of everyday life in Gaza through the lived experience of Palestinian photojournalist Fatma Hassona. Heartbreakingly, soon after the film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, Fatma and her family were killed in an Israeli airstrike. Ahmed Alnaouq, Palestinian author of We Are Not Numbers: The Voices of Gaza’s Youth, will be in conversation with event organiser and activist Nilly Brook. Together, they will discuss the targeting of journalists in Gaza. Copies of Ahmed’s book will also be available for purchase. Film screening at 8pm https://www.tickettailor.com/events/palestinehouse/1840703 BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT AND SANCTIONS (BDS)A founding aim of the UK-Palestine Mental Health Network is to “encourage our colleagues individually and collectively to consider their response to the Palestinian call for boycott, sanctions and divestment (BDS). ”Spain announces nine-point sanctions on Israel over Gaza genocide Source: Palestine Chronicle Date: September 8, 2025 This article reports on Spain’s announcement of a sweeping nine-point sanctions package against Israel, including an arms embargo, port and airspace restrictions, and entry bans for Israeli officials over actions in Gaza. The article highlights how Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez framed these measures as a moral and humanitarian response to the ongoing suffering and devastation faced by Palestinians. It details the scope of the sanctions, reactions from both governments, and the potential impact on humanitarian aid for Gaza. https://www.palestinechronicle.com/spain-announces-nine-point-sanctions-on-israel-over-gaza-genocide/ Shabana Mahmood MP, the new Home Secretary, advocating passionately in 2014 for boycott of Israel Her message was that boycot is a powerful tool to hold Israel and those who support apartheid to account. What will the be message in 2025? https://www.instagram.com/reel/DOTY63PDUrp/?igsh=cGIxZWg4d2pydWVw Slovenia will not participate at the Eurovision Song Contest if Israel participates Source: esctoday Date: 4 September Slovenia leads the way! https://esctoday.com/201566/slovenia-eurovision-2026-participation-in-jeopardy/ Israeli arms manufacturer closes UK facility targeted by Palestine Action Source: Guardian Date: 6 September An Israeli arms manufacturer’s facility in Bristol which was repeatedly targeted by Palestine Action appears to have closed unexpectedly. The Elbit Systems UK site in the Aztec West business park was the subject of dozens of protests by Palestine Action, including on 1 July, days before the direct action group was banned under the Terrorism Act. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/sep/06/israeli-arms-manufacturer-elbit-systems-closes-uk-facility-targeted-by-palestine-action |
الشبكة البريطانية الفلسطينية للصحة النفسية 