| UKPALMHN Solidarity Spaces Every Monday during February 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 a link to this meeting. Israel’s genocide wiped out over 2,700 families in GazaSource: Al Jazeera Date: 26 January https://www.aljazeera.com/video/newsfeed/2026/1/26/israels-genocide-wiped-out-over-2700-families-in-gaza Child Psychotherapists’ Group – Update February 2026 We continue to meet online every month. Members are still involved in working with a clinical team in the West Bank and with a group offering support and consultation to the Mothers of Hind school in Gaza. https://mothersofhind.org/ Three of us submitted proposals for papers to be presented at the conference of the Association of Child Psychotherapists (ACP) in June on children without a home or those who have no surviving parents from the genocide. One has been rejected, one is being considered. We have not heard about the third. We plan to leaflet the conference. We are planning a campaign to coincide with Palestinian Children’s Day on 5 April. We will have a planning meeting in the next couple of weeks. Teresa will submit something about child abductees in Israeli prisons to the ACP online magazine. Child Psychotherapists for Palestine contact details: Email: write to: ukpalmhn@gmail.com and we will forward your message to the group Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/palestineukchildpsychotherapy/ Web: https://ukpalmhn.com/child-psychotherapists-for-palestine/ The world spoke for South Africa’s children – it must do the same for Gaza’s Source: Middle East Eye Date: 6 February This opinion piece argues that the international community once mobilised moral, legal and political pressure to protect black children under apartheid in South Africa, and that a comparable response is urgently required for Palestinian children in Gaza. It emphasises that Gaza’s children are facing systematic killing, injury, starvation and trauma, and contends that global silence and inaction amount to complicity in the destruction of an entire generation. https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/world-spoke-south-africas-children-it-must-do-same-gazas The Violence of Liberal Racism: What Palestine reveals about British mental health care Source: Healing Justice LDN Date: 9 February The report examines what the genocide in Palestine has revealed about the racial politics of British mental healthcare by exploring the experiences of 30 mental health practitioners and students who have been managed, silenced, or disciplined for Palestine solidarity. The report situates this repression within broader processes of racialisation shaped by Zionism and Islamophobia, as well as the global War on Terror. It further argues that spaces are not safe or anti-racist simply by claim or intent. Rather, racial formations must be critically theorised and confronted. For healing spaces to become genuinely anti-racist—particularly in relation to Palestine—they must meaningfully confront counter-terrorism and Zionism. The full report can be accessed here: https://healingjusticeldn.org/methodology/the-violence-of-liberal-racism-what-palestine-reveals-about-british-mental-health-care/ A short video overview of the report is available here: https://www.instagram.com/p/DUiVJMXCjdU/ Interview with Dr Samah Jabr on mental health under occupation Source: TRT World Now Date: 11 January In this interview, Palestinian psychiatrist Dr Sama Jabr describes how Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem continue to provide care and sustain a sense of responsibility and agency despite mass trauma, deprivation and ongoing bombardment. She argues that the Palestinian experience cannot be understood through conventional PTSD models, but instead reflects a continuous, deliberate and intergenerational “colonial trauma” in which people resist imposed helplessness even as children suffer profound developmental and psychological harm. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2Qle6Kk_i8 Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital director reports alleged Israeli abuses against Gaza victims’ bodies Source: Middle East Monitor Date: 6 February The director of al-Shifa Medical Complex, Dr Mohammed Abu Salmiya, says that bodies returned to Gaza by Israel show signs of deliberate tampering, including amputated limbs, surgical incisions and missing organs. He told Al Araby Television Network that some remains were returned as unidentified body parts or bones without documentation, raising serious concerns about possible organ theft. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20260206-gazas-al-shifa-hospital-director-reports-alleged-israeli-abuses-against-gaza-victims-bodies/ MPs condemn Government failure to apply Genocide Convention to Israel Source: Palestine Solidarity Campaign (3 minute video) Date: 5 February (date of the debate) On Thursday 5 February 2026 MPs from all parties condemned the government’s refusal to adhere to the Genocide Convention in relation to Palestine, in a debate led by Brendan O’Hara M.P. The video shows key clips of pro-Palestinian MPs speaking during the debate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UFBMesiYt4 Stand By The Mother inaugural lecture – video now available Finding the Creatura, a lecture by Dr John Beebe is the inaugural lecture in the Stand By The Mother series took place on 1 February. If you didn’t get to see the lecture then there is now a chance to watch the recording. Fill in the form, make a donation to one of the Gaza Gofundme sites, and a link for the recording will be sent to you. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfXVKE60HuX9KuEs0phck-_ejiGeA2_PVhYHfKfucKbZJBHqw/viewform A world famous football manager speaks up about the “genocide in Palestine” – in a pre-match press conference! Source: Middle East Eye (2 minute video clip of the interview) Date: 4 February Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, speaking at a pre‑match press conference before the Carabao Cup semi‑final second leg against Newcastle United on 4 February 2026, describes what is happening in Gaza as “genocide” and links it to wider global injustices in Sudan and Ukraine. In this clip he urges that “when there is injustice, you have to talk”, stressing that images of “thousands and thousands of innocent people being killed mean it is a responsibility for all human beings, not just politicians or footballers”. https://youtu.be/ML12NxAsqGY?si=6ltWRGmmhTIJ9C7Q FEATURED EVENTS Bearing Witness in the Academy: Silence, Emotional Labour, and the Cost of Neutrality Source: Psychoanalytic Voices for Palestine (PVP) Date: Saturday 14 February from 10.30am – 12.30pm The speaker, Aneeza Pervez, is a Research Fellow at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge. Her recent research examines how institutions respond to political violence and genocide, and how silence and emotional labour shape the moral life of universities.Link to the meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84435183882?pwd=kGtSYUgraPclnniDrhQXbv5CEnC18o.1 Aneeza also spoke at the recent PVP conference “Living Through the Unimaginable” leading to an interesting and engaged plenary discussion. A summary of her talk, slides and a recent open access paper she has written are available in the afternoon session of the full conference report: https://ukpalmhn.com/pvp/pvp-conference-living-through-the-unimaginable/ (scroll down to find the report and then scroll down the report to find the relevant section) Faith in a Time of Genocide: A moment of truth for the worldwide church Source: United Methodist Kairos Response and Methodist Federation for Social Action Date: Wednesday 18 February at 6pm (UK time) This online webinar centres on the launch and implications of Kairos Palestine II: A Moment of Truth – Faith in a Time of Genocide, a major new manifesto by Palestinian Christians calling for “costly solidarity” in the face of genocide, apartheid and settler colonialism. Speakers include Rifat Kassis, General Coordinator of Kairos Palestine, and Rev. Munther Isaac — the well-known Palestinian pastor, theologian and Academic Dean at Bethlehem Bible College — alongside United Methodist leaders from several continents reflecting on the document’s challenge to churches worldwide. https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/7ryqs-OFS7OGs7wDdtaG3w#/registration From the Clinic to the Streets: Psychoanalysis for revolutionary futures Source: The Relational School Date: Saturday 11 April from 4pm – 5:30pm This online event centres on a discussion of the book From the Clinic to the Streets by Lara Sheehi, examining how psychoanalytic thinking can be extended beyond clinical settings into political and collective struggles. The session features responses from clinicians and theorists including Foluke Taylor, Avgi Saketopoulou and Robert Downes, focusing on the implications of the book for therapeutic practice and social transformation. https://www.tickettailor.com/events/therelationalschool/2003398 UK-Palestine Mental Health Network study tour to Palestine/Israel Tuesday 28 April – Thursday 7 May 2026 This spring we are offering a 10-day study tour for practitioners from the fields of mental health and social work who are keen to explore the complex interface between politics and psychological well-being in the particular circumstances of Palestine/Israel. The tour provides excellent access to clinicians, academics, community groups and political analysts with 25 encounters plus additional cultural opportunities scheduled. It will be facilitated by a small UK company established in 1999 that has provided alternative tours to the area.[…] Send your request for an application form to: ukpalmhn@gmail.com. Include your name, address, contact information, and professional qualifications. Full details: https://ukpalmhn.com/resources/spring-tour-2026/ FEATURED ACTIONS UK Doctors call for the resignation of the Chair and Chief Executive of the General Medical Council (GMC) (A petition for signature by medical doctors) Source: Healthworkers4Palestine Date: 7 February Dr Ghassan Abu Sittah explains that the General Medical Council is continuing to pursue him through the courts. https://www.instagram.com/p/DUYicypjKqI/?igsh=MW5ub3JtaWg3b28wbg%3D%3D Health Workers 4 Palestine announce a petition for medical doctors calling for the resignation of the Chair and Chief Executive of the GMC: https://www.instagram.com/p/DUbu6cniEaV/?img_index=1 Link to the petition: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdtT1MIfTowdnvu699apeULreIBFyD1aEsxsY-XfKg67Mj2jg/viewform Statement on Normalisation, Erasure, and Our Professional Obligations During Genocide Source: The Palestine-Global Mental Health Network and The International Collective of Palestine Mental Health Networks Date: February 2026 Mental Health professionals can endorse the Statement through the web link below We issue this joint statement concerning the American Psychoanalytic Association’s Henri Parens Symposium, scheduled for 7 March 2026. Our networks comprise mental health professionals, social workers, psychoanalysts, psychologists, researchers, and advocates committed to Palestinian liberation and the decolonization of mental health practice.We write to name what our institutions are doing, and failing to do, during the genocide on Gaza—a genocide that has not ended. What we document here is a pattern: active silence in the face of atrocity, and the staging of events that render Palestinian suffering invisible while claiming professional neutrality. The Henri Parens Symposium exemplifies this pattern. We name it as participation in erasure. Full statement: https://docs.google.com/document/d/11m0NBUgM1WQwpS7lIYwMVCAEguA211eRkDDFQzXenqg/edit?tab=t.0 Gaza Sumud Flotilla plans largest relief operation in history Source: The New Arab Date: 6 February The Sumud (steadfastness) Flotilla is planning what organisers describe as the largest maritime relief effort ever attempted for Gaza, bringing together international civilian vessels to challenge Israel’s blockade. It is Palestinian-led and framed not only as a humanitarian mission but as a political and symbolic act aimed at breaking the siege and confronting global inaction over conditions in Gaza.The initiative will officially launch on 29 March 2026, with a naval fleet and a land-based humanitarian convoy operating simultaneously. https://www.newarab.com/news/gaza-sumud-flotilla-plans-largest-relief-operation-history The Sumud Flotilla website outlines a number of ways in which you can support the initiative: https://globalsumudflotilla.org/ 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).” Councillor Pledge for Palestine In the run up to local elections in May 2026, Palestine Solidarity Campaign has launched an important new initiative asking local councillors to sign a Pledge for Palestine committing to:- Uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people- Stand up to Israel for its crimes of genocide and apartheid- Ensure their council isn’t complicit, including through divesting pension funds from complicit companies.On the action page, enter your postcode and you will see the names of your local councillors and a template letter (that you can alter if you wish) that will be sent to them automatically. Asking sitting councillors to sign the Pledge for Palestine will help to identify target seats in which councillors who do not support divestment could be replaced with those who do. Further information and the action page are available here: https://mailchi.mp/palestinecampaign/nov2025lobby-4931105?e=27bd721334  |
الشبكة البريطانية الفلسطينية للصحة النفسية 