UKPALMHN Solidarity Spaces
Every Monday during February and March 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 write to ukpalmhn@gmail.com if you would like to attend this meeting.

Universal Ethical Framework for Mental Health Practitioners
Source: Psychoanalytic Voice for Palestine (PVP)
Date: 24 February
This document proposes a shared ethical framework addressing silencing, structural determinants of mental health, and the responsibilities of mental health practitioners in a changing world. It aims to support ethical clarity, protected dialogue, and global professional solidarity across differing perspectives and contexts.
It is offered as a living document and we warmly invite thoughtful comments and reflections. Follow the link below and scroll to the bottom of the page to post a comment. Contributions will be monitored, and responses provided to support constructive discussion.

Universal Ethical Framework for Mental Health Practitioners

Letter to the Prime Minister regarding Israel’s death penalty legislation
The UK-Palestine Mental Health Network, along with 12 other UK healthcare organisations, sent a letter to the Prime Minister on 12 February urging action.
“We are writing to you urgently to raise our concerns about Israel’s Penal Law (Amendment No. 159—Death Penalty for Terrorists) 2025, which is currently being fast-tracked by the Netanyahu government. As healthcare professionals dedicated to the preservation of life and medical ethics, we oppose the death penalty in all circumstances. We are particularly alarmed that this legislation is designed as a discriminatory tool to further the systemic targeting of Palestinians, which could include our colleagues in the healthcare field. […]”
https://docs.google.com/document/d/18CxorJkRn85Zs5gL2oBNUtVT0RmrIMJwcU3huVKnyQU/edit?tab=t.0
The Palestine-Global Mental Health Network has also issued an Urgent International Statement and Call to Action to “Stop the state-sponsored execution of Palestinian prisoners” with actions mainly directed towards U.S. political institutions.

https://www.pgmhn.org/statements

Palestinian scholarships at Goldsmiths University
2 Undergraduate and 3 Postgraduate
Applications for scholarships close on Tuesday 31 March 2026
Please note: You must first apply for a place at Goldsmiths and receive an offer of study by Tuesday 31 March 2026 to be considered for a Scholarship.
Successful applicants will receive a full tuition fee waiver and a living allowance of £20,500 per year during their studies. We will also cover the cost of the student visa and the Immigration Health Surcharge (IHS), and a return trip to and from the UK.
https://www.gold.ac.uk/fees-funding/scholarships/palestinian-scholarship/

Result of International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) Special General Meeting
Source: Social Workers for a Free Palestine
Date: 24 February
On 18 February, the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) held a Special General Meeting to vote on motions to suspend or expel the Israel Union of Social Workers (IUSW), with a 75% majority required for either measure to pass. Although a majority of voting member associations supported suspension, the required threshold was not reached and the IUSW remains a full member of the IFSW.
If you’re a social worker or social care worker and would like to become actively involved, or be added to our contacts list, email sw4palestineuk@ukpalmhnadminLink to the full statement from Social Workers for a Free Palestine:

Social Workers for a Free Palestine

It’s Bisan from Gaza, and we triggered TikTok by telling the truth
“We’re not free. We’re just acting based on their community standards and rules.”
After being temporarily banned on TikTok following the app’s transition to majority U.S. ownership, Bisan Owda reflects in a rare sit-down interview on skewed algorithms, the silencing of Palestinian content, and the future of social media.
THIS INTERVIEW WAS AVAILABLE A FEW DAYS AGO ON YOUTUBE BUT HAS NOW DISAPPEARED WITHOUT EXPLANATION
https://youtu.be/EYgz8zCCDDg

FEATURED EVENTS

Decolonial Mental Health Practice
Clinical and ethical Insights from Palestine
A four-part webinar with Dr. Samah Jabr
Source: Science and Nonduality
How do we offer genuine healing when trauma isn’t in the past, but an ongoing reality?
In times of ongoing structural violence and protracted conflict, how do standard mental health frameworks hold up? Often, traditional models of “neutrality” and “post-traumatic” care fail to capture the reality of distress that is a daily, lived experience.
SAND are honoured to announce a crucial interactive workshop developed by Dr. Samah Jabr, based on her extensive frontline psychiatric practice in Palestine. This four-part training challenges us to move beyond mainstream psychology and explore decolonial frameworks, Liberation Psychology in action, and the vital human rights dimensions of clinical practice. This is essential learning for anyone seeking ethical pathways to healing in highly politicized environments.

Module I : Rethinking Mainstream Psychology
Sunday 1 March, 5:00pm–7:00pm (UK)

Module II: Liberation Psychology in Practice
Sunday 8 March, 4:00pm–6:00pm (UK) (US daylight saving time change)

Module III: Trauma-informed Care in Contexts of Ongoing Political Violence
Sunday 15 March, 4:00pm–6:00pm (UK)

Module IV: Mental Health, Human Rights, and Professional Responsibility
Sunday 22 March, 4:00pm–6:00pm (UK)

https://scienceandnonduality.com/event/decolonial-mental-health-practice/

Besiege Your Siege with Madness
Collective liberation and the psychoanalysis of world-making
Source: USA-Palestine Mental Health Network, BADIL, Eyewitness Palestine
Date: Sunday 15 March from 4:30 – 6 pm (UK)
A special presentation and dialogue with Dr. Reem Abu Hweij, a clinical psychologist and academic based in Jerusalem.
Amid genocide and protracted colonial trauma, what psychic processes enable a people not only to survive but to imagine anew? Drawing from her essay “Besiege Your Siege with Madness” (forthcoming in Psychoanalysis, Culture & Society), Dr. Reem Abu Hweij deftly examines the Palestinian collective psyche as a site of world-making and spiritual revolt. She introduces the concept of liberation madness—a psycho-spiritual rupture through which the oppressed transcend the coloniser’s “Dominant Reason” and reclaim meaning, love, and collective purpose.
https://mailchi.mp/aa973cc5af03/besiege-your-siege-with-madness-jan-20-2026

Scottish Palestinian Health Partnership Conference
Speaking up against injustice: Addressing Intimidation of UK Health Workers Supporting Palestine
Date: Saturday 21 March from 1 pm to 4:30 pm
Location: University of Glasgow, James McCune Smith Learning Hub, University Avenue, Room 641, Glasgow G12 8QW
In parts of the UK, health care workers speaking up for the basic human rights of Palestinians have been subjected to threats, intimidation and formal disciplinary action. Join us as we hear from prominent clinicians and a legal expert on the right to express Palestinian solidarity.
Invited Speakers:
Dr Ghassan Abu Sitta, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon
Dr Ang Swee Chai, Orthopaedic Surgeon and Co-founder MAP
Dr Tamara Ali, Glasgow Trainee GP
Mr Franck Magennis, UK Barrister
Dr James Smith, ER medic and Lecturer in Humanitarian Studies
The conference is free to attend but booking is required.

UK-Palestine Mental Health Network study tour to Palestine/Israel
Tuesday 28 April – Thursday 7 May 2026This 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:

Spring Tour 2026

FEATURED ACTIONS

Erasing “Palestine”: pressure on cultural and academic institutions
A number of commentators and campaigners have raised concerns that UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) has written to cultural and academic institutions challenging their use of the term “Palestine,” particularly in historical contexts. In recent weeks, both the British Museum and The Open University (OU) have been cited as institutions that have altered or qualified their use of the term following correspondence from UKLFI. Critics have described this pattern as part of a broader attempt to “erase Palestine” from public history and academic discourse, while the institutions concerned have framed their actions in different terms.
The British Museum
In February, reports emerged that the British Museum had removed the word “Palestine” from several displays in its Ancient Middle East galleries, reportedly after correspondence from UK Lawyers for Israel. A Change.org petition titled Erasing a Word Erases a People: Reinstate Palestine in the British Museum argues that describing the term as “anachronistic” is not supported by historical scholarship and contributes to the erasure of Palestinian presence from public memory. The petition calls for the reinstatement of the term and has prompted wider public debate and media commentary.
Online action:

https://www.change.org/p/erasing-a-word-erases-a-people-reinstate-palestine-in-the-british-museum

The Open University
Separate concerns have been raised regarding The Open University’s reported commitments to UK Lawyers for Israel in relation to the use of the term “ancient Palestine” in learning materials. According to a 20 December 2025 statement published by UKLFI, the OU agreed not to use the term in future materials and to contextualise existing references as “contested,” a move critics argue amounts to a politically motivated restriction on academic language. An open letter to the Vice-Chancellor, supported by members of staff and others, calls for clarification and retraction of these commitments and frames the issue as one of academic freedom and resistance to the erasure of Palestine from historical study.
Open letter to OP Vice Chancellor:
https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vQkTPnYNKc-kpm9lLTzdw-TAcRm75o57VGziPimNEeNmGOoxH_mwixhcGvDwwMQbUmuzbfoEpnszGmT/pub

Background reporting and commentary:
British Museum’s move to erase Palestine from exhibit labels is shameful by Victoria Brittain
https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/british-museums-erasure-palestine-shameful

British Museum removes the word ‘Palestine’ from displays following pressure by pro-Israel lawyers

Israel is trying to rewrite history – and British institutions risk helping them do it

Psychoanalysis of Conscience: A call to resign
Source: The Collective of Palestine Mental Health Networks
Date: February 2026
The Palestine Mental Health Networks (PMHN) is a collective of mental health professionals, including many psychoanalysts from twenty-three nations, brought together by a commitment to psychoanalytic principles and to the fundamental dignity of all human beings.
PMHN are calling on psychoanalysts to resign from the International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA) in response to its complicity with the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. The full text of the statement is in the link below.
It is not necessary to be an IPA member to sign this letter. This call is open to all psychoanalysts and mental health professionals, whether holding an IPA membership, having already resigned, belonging to other psychoanalytic societies, or working outside institutional psychoanalysis entirely.
https://www.pmhn-international.org/psychoanalysis-of-conscience-a-call-to-resign

Write to the Foreign Secretary: Oppose Israel’s annexation of West Bank
Source: Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Date: February 2026
Over the weekend, the Israeli government approved a proposal submitted by far-right ministers to reinstate the deeply problematic land registration process in the illegally occupied West Bank. This latest measure by the Israeli government will be used to further dispossess Palestinians of their land, enable the expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, and entrench Israel’s illegal occupation. Large swathes of Palestinian land will be at risk of being registered as Israeli state property if Palestinians cannot prove ownership, which is extremely difficult to do. This is a dangerous step further cementing Israel’s de-facto annexation of land across the West Bank.
https://palestinecampaign.eaction.org.uk/WestBanklandregistration

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).”

Vote Palestine 2026
Together let’s make Palestine non-negotiable this local election
Source: Vote Palestine 2026
Date: run up to UK local elections on Thursday 7 May
Vote Palestine 2026 is a national grassroots campaign centring Palestine and rejecting genocide in the 2026 local elections.
It is campaigning for local councillor candidates to sign the Candidate Pledge for Palestine and to stand against genocide and ethnic cleansing. This is supported by the People’s Pledge for Palestine through which voters commit to only consider candidates who have taken the Candidate Pledge. This shows candidates – clearly and publicly – that voters are paying attention and will not support those who enable or excuse the genocide and ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
Local groups are launching in 12 London boroughs and also in Greater Manchester, Newcastle, Birmingham and Sheffield.The Vote Palestine 2026 contains extensive information for activists who wish to launch a group in their own local authority.
https://www.votepalestine.co.uk/

Lambeth leads the way in launching the Vote Palestine pledge

Lambeth leads the way in launching the Vote Palestine pledge

Help to secure big divestment milestone in London
Source: Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Date: February 2026
Please note, this e-action is for people in London. If you enter a postcode from outside London, you will instead be able to sign an e-action asking your local councillors to sign PSC’s pledge for Palestine.
This is a vital moment for divestment campaigning in London. London CIV, the body which manages councils’ pension fund investments, is setting up a new responsible investment system. This could be a big step forward. However, its current proposals fall short.
Write to your councillors to ask them to sign an open letter calling on London CIV to provide councils with an investment option that excludes all companies identified by human rights orgs as complicit in Israel’s grave violations of international law, and to take steps to divest from such companies across its whole portfolio.
https://palestinecampaign.eaction.org.uk/londondivestment

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

https://palestinecampaign.org/events/national-demonstration-for-palestine-31st-january/ The UK-Palestine Mental Health Network banner will be at the march. All are welcome to join us. We will meet at 12:00 noon at: Bloomsbury Square Gardens, London WC1A 2PJThis is the same location where we have assembled for previous marches from Russell Square. 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. L’enfer des prisons israéliennes/The hell of Israeli prisons Arte, a French/German state-funded public broadcast service, has produced an astonishing and horrific 30-minute documentary. The documentary is in French but you can watch it on YouTube with English sub-titles in this way: Click on the icon to enable captions/sub-titles (these will by default be in French) Click on the Settings icon (a cog wheel), click on Auto-translate and then choose English https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHizfeozVws  Living Hell: The Israeli prison system as a network of torture camps Source: B’Tselem Date: January 2026 The Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem’s Living Hell report documents how Israeli prisons and detention facilities have been transformed into a systemic network of torture camps where thousands of Palestinians endure institutionalised abuse, including physical violence, starvation, sexual violence, and denial of medical care. The report highlights testimonies from released detainees, notes hundreds of deaths in custody, and frames the abuses as deliberate policies embedded in the prison system’s operation. https://www.btselem.org/publications/202601_living_hell  To move through Gaza is to perceive extremely high levels of suffering, both individual and collective Source: Altreconomia Date: 22 January The article is in Italian but most browsers provide a translate facility so that it can be read in EnglishIn this eyewitness reportage from Gaza, clinical psychologist Guido Veronese describes pervasive destruction and extreme individual and collective suffering observed during field work with emergency medical teams coordinated by the World Health Organization, where constant bombardment and environmental degradation make daily life resemble an “infernal circle.” The piece emphasises the intense psychological and physical strain on both local residents and humanitarian workers as they navigate devastated urban landscapes and chronic insecurity. https://altreconomia.it/girare-per-gaza-significa-percepire-dei-livelli-altissimi-di-sofferenza-individuale-e-collettiva/  Psychiatrist reveals devastating trauma of Gaza’s children amid Israeli genocide Source: Palestine Will Be Free Date: 22 January Dr Nawal Asqoul, a psychiatrist working with children in Gaza, reports that the trauma observed among young survivors of the ongoing Israeli offensive surpasses anything seen in her professional experience, manifesting in severe psychological and physical symptoms including suicidal ideation and regression. She details the profound effects of relentless bombardment, massive loss of family members, and ongoing deprivation, emphasising that the siege and brutality sustain the children’s trauma with no relief in sight. https://palestinewillbefree.substack.com/p/psychiatrist-reveals-devastating-trauma-gazas-children-israeli-genocide  Statement by mental health practitioners on the hunger strike undertaken by members of Palestine Action January 2026 We write as Mental Health Practitioners to protest the callous, punitive and unlawful treatment by the UK government of the Palestine Action hunger strikers, many of whom face being remanded in custody for over eighteen months before being brought to trial. We also challenge the politically motivated media silence regarding their action […]Full text and list of signatory organisations: https://ukpalmhn.com/resources/ukpalmhn-statement-on-hunger-strikers-jan-2026/ Since we issued the statement, the hunger strikers have ended this action and have commenced the arduous and dangerous process of re-feeding. They all continue, however, to be remanded in custody. We have sought advice from their support group about whether a further statement from our coalition would be helpful at this time.  Settlers chase a vehicle transporting children from their school in a Bedouin community near Jericho Source: Eye on Palestine Date: 25 January https://www.instagram.com/reel/DT8oOpMDSp4/ A second Instagram posting provides further details about the same chase: “Settlers attacked a school bus full of children on their way home. The bus driver reported:‘On our way home from school, three settlers suddenly blocked our path and told me to wait, that they wanted to talk. I reversed the truck as they advanced, and when I turned the car around, they violently struck me through the window, hitting my nose and smashing the rear window. They then chased me for two kilometers. After we escaped into the Arab areas, I regained consciousness and was taken to the hospital.’” https://www.instagram.com/reels/DT8GEsJjHCi/  FEATURED EVENTS Settler colonialism and the long shadow of genocide in Palestine Date: Saturday 31 January at 18:00 – 21:00 (after the National March for Palestine) Location: Institute of Education, 20 Bedford Way, London, WC1H 0AL This is an in-person event.This panel discussion features Dr Emile Badarin, Samer Jaber and Dr Nehad Khanfar. Dr Emile Badarin will speak on the long shadow of settler colonialism in Palestine. He will discuss his book, “Recognition Politics in Settler Colonial States: Normalizing disposession and elimination in Palestine”, and explain the role settler colonialism and recognition politics have played in the genocide of the Palestinian people. We will further the discussion with Palestinian researcher Samer Jaber and Dr Nehad Khanfar, Chairman of APCUK. https://www.tickettailor.com/events/decolonialpraxis/2043240 Finding the Creatura – a lecture by Dr John Beebe Source: Stand By The Mother series Date: Sunday 1 February This online fundraising lecture is part of the Stand By The Mother series, which brings depth-psychological perspectives to questions of care, suffering and human dignity in the context of Palestine. Led by Dr John Beebe, the talk draws on Jungian psychology to explore the concept of the Creatura and what it may offer practitioners and participants seeking meaning, ethical orientation and psychological grounding in times of collective trauma. Hosted by Heba Zaphiriou-Zarifi, the event is intended for clinicians, therapists and others interested in depth psychology, while also raising funds in support of Palestinian mothers. Register here: https://forms.gle/ovt14gUKU6Uwbrxw6 A Zoom link will be sent three days before the talk For further information, write to: standbymother@gmail.com If I Must Die”: How the story of liberating Palestine continues through us Source: Science and Nonduality (SAND) Date: Tuesday 10 February at 5pm – 6:30pm (UK time) This online community gathering features a conversation between Palestinian psychiatrist Dr Samah Jabr and Dr Mays Imad exploring healing, justice and the impact of prolonged political violence on lived experience, with an emphasis on reframing trauma beyond conventional Western psychiatric models. The event situates collective endurance and memory as central to both personal and political liberation, inviting participants to engage deeply with the ethical dimensions of remaining human amid sustained structural harm. https://scienceandnonduality.com/event/if-i-must-die/ 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) 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/ ICAHD extended study tours Source: ICAHD (formerly the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions) Date: 11 May – 21 May 2026 ICAHD is advertising an “Extended Study Tour” to Palestine/Israel offering an opportunity to learn about conditions on the ground through an organised visit that is:- Grounded in ICAHD analysis- Visit both the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel- A total of around 30 encounters- Daily debriefing sessions- Hotel accommodation in Bethlehem and NazarethThe page invites applications and directs readers to further details about the tour and how to join. https://icahd.org/extended-study-tours/  FEATURED ACTIONS Write to your MP ahead of Gaza debate on 5 February Source: Palestine Solidarity Campaign Date: January 2026 On Thursday 5 February, Parliament will debate Britain’s obligation to assess the risk of genocide in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Our allies in Parliament have worked hard to secure this rare debate, giving an opportunity for us to pressure MPs to demand the Government recognises the reality of genocide in the Gaza Strip. We need your support calling on MPs to attend this debate, speak out against Israel’s ongoing crimes, and finally bring an end to Britain’s complicity in genocide. https://palestinecampaign.eaction.org.uk/genocidedebate Demand the British government takes action on Israel’s torture of Palestinian prisoners Source: Palestine Solidarity Campaign Date: January 2026 Write to the Foreign Secretary to demand the British government uses every possible lever, including by imposing immediate sanctions, to stop Israel’s systematic torture of Palestinian prisoners. More than 9,000 Palestinian political prisoners remain in Israeli detention, including 350 children. They face systematic torture, sexual violence and ill-treatment. On top of this, Palestinian human rights groups who have been advocating for the rights of those imprisoned are being attacked by Israel and the US, especially over submissions of evidence to the ICC.  https://palestinecampaign.eaction.org.uk/prisonersaction Stand against Israel’s ban on aid organisations Source: Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) Date: January 2026 Medical Aid for Palestinians is campaigning against Israel’s decision to revoke the registration of 37 international humanitarian aid organisations operating in the occupied Palestinian territory, warning that such a ban will obstruct essential life-saving assistance to Palestinians enduring a severe humanitarian crisis. The campaign invites supporters to contact their UK Members of Parliament to urge government pressure on Israel to immediately reverse the ban, reinforcing that unrestricted humanitarian access is both a legal obligation under international law and a moral imperative. https://www.map.org.uk/how-to-help/campaigns/stand-against-israels-ban-on-aid-orgs/ Defend Free Speech: legal challenge against IHRA application in the NHS Source: CrowdJustice Date: January 2026 This CrowdJustice crowdfunding appeal supports a judicial review initiated by Right to Protest Ltd challenging the application of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism within NHS England, on the basis that it is being used to suppress legitimate political speech and professional critique. The action highlights concerns that the policy blurs the boundary between lawful criticism of state conduct — including discourse on Israel and Palestine — and prohibited conduct, potentially chilling free expression and undermining ethical medical practice. https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/defend-free-speech/ Related news: Zohran Mamdani, the new Mayor of New York, revokes the previous administration’s adoption of the controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism. https://theintercept.com/2026/01/02/israel-zohran-mamdani-antisemitic-antisemitism/ Judicial review launched against NHS adoption of IHRA antisemitism definition https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2026/01/06/ihra-nhs-court/ Professor Avi Shlaim, a world renowned Israeli historian at Oxford University, talking about anti-Zionism and anti-semitism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCnKZg-bFz8  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).” Green councillors confront Lambeth Council as Labour ‘guts’ Gaza divestment motion backed by 5,000 signatures Source: Brixton Buzz Date: 22 January“ Lambeth Council’s Full Council meeting descended into chaos last night following a protest outside the Town Hall, disruption from a packed public gallery, and a walk-out by Green councillors over Labour’s handling of a Gaza divestment motion backed by 5,000 petition signatures.” The Labour group allegedly used a number of procedural irregularities and wrecking amendments to avoid a full debate about the divestment motion. Green Party councillors eventually walked out of the meeting and will now write to the auditors raising concerns about governance at Lambeth Council. https://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2026/01/streathams-martin-abrams-confronts-council-as-labour-guts-gaza-divestment-motion-backed-by-5000-signatures/ Related news: Who runs Lambeth? The council reject hearing petition of 5,000 local residents and workers calling for divestment from Israel https://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2026/01/who-runs-lambeth-the-council-reject-hearing-petition-of-5000-local-residents-and-workers-calling-for-divestment-from-israel/ “Chaos” – Lambeth Greens issue statement about their dramatic council meeting walk out https://www.brixtonbuzz.com/2026/01/chaos-lambeth-greens-issue-statement-about-their-dramatic-council-meeting-walk-out/ 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

National Demonstration for Palestine Saturday 2 November at 12 noon from Whitehall to the US Embassy The UK-Palestine Mental Health Network banner will be at the march. We will assemble in Charing Cross station near Platform 1 at 12 noon together with colleagues from the Palestine Trauma Centre (UK). All are welcome to join us. UKPALMHN Solidarity Space Monday 4 November 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 email ukpalmhn@gmail.com if you would like a link to this meeting. Liberate Mental Health – Resistance: Commitment, Militant Clarity, and Revolutionary Praxis Tuesday 5 November from 7pm – 9pm Join us for a dialogic seminar and open discussion on resistance towards and commitment to revolutionary praxis within (and without) the mental health sector. Our featured speaker is Lara Sheehi: psychoanalyst, activist, and co-author alongside Stephen Sheehi of Psychoanalysis Under Occupation: Practicing Resistance in Palestine. https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/6d9f4340-faea-4f80-a746-ccdee1f25a83@2e9f06b0-1669-4589-8789-10a06934dc61 Decolonization of People and Nature in Palestine and Globally Monday 11 November at 6:30pm – 8:30pm Bookmarks Bookshop, 1 Bloomsbury Street, London WC1B 3QE Prof. Mazin Qumsiyeh will explain why and how the colonization of Palestine and its transformation from a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural multi-religious state to make it a ‘Jewish state’ led to destruction of human and natural communities. He articulates how working for environmental justice and for human rights is key to peace and sustainability. https://www.instagram.com/bookmarksthesocialistbookshop/ Palestine: Repair & Return – Stories of Women and Health Wednesday 13 November from 6.30pm – 8.30pm P21 Gallery 21-23 Chalton Street London NW1 1JD Voices of Palestinian women, health practitioners, therapists will be amplified, the significance and crucial importance of women’s health will be explored and the actions that communities in Palestine are taking to safeguard and regenerate this major aspect of life will be illustrated. https://p21.gallery/node/377 The Role of Non-violent Resistance for Palestinians in the Light of the Gaza War Thursday 14 November at 3pm (UK time) With Jonathan Kuttab, international human rights lawyer who was the co-founder of Al Haq, the leading Palestinian human rights organisation. https://mailchi.mp/balfourproject/enewsletter-13534420?e=69c36205de Responding to ‘Scholasticide’ in Gaza: The Role of the UK International Education and Training Community Monday 18 November from 10:00 am – 3:30 pm (UK time) A conference organised by Friends of Birzeit University Hear first-hand from representatives of Palestinian education institutions in Gaza and Palestinian experts. Consider how best respond to the immediate needs of learners and educators in Gaza. https://www.tickettailor.com/events/ukfiet/1399229 Palestine Trauma Centre (UK) update On Saturday 26 October, the Palestine Trauma Centre (UK) had a video call with a number of their staff located in Gaza and in other locations in the region. The participants provide vivid, personal testimonies about the unspeakable inhumanity of the current situation in Gaza. But also about the amazing work still being done by PTC (UK) for groups of women and children in the North and Middle Areas. It is accompanied by some recent photos. https://www.palestinetraumacentre.uk/news/uidmvy00hfkcntgaa8ejms1e4tscin Genocide as colonial erasure Report to the United Nations from the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories (Francesca Albanese) “Summary: The latest report examines the unfolding horrors in the occupied Palestinian territory. While the wholesale destruction of Gaza continues unabated, other parts of the land have not been spared. The violence that Israel has unleashed against the Palestinians post-7 October is not happening in a vacuum, but is part of a long-term intentional, systematic, State- organised forced displacement and replacement of the Palestinians. This trajectory risks causing irreparable prejudice to the very existence of the Palestinian people in Palestine. Member States must intervene now to prevent new atrocities that will further scar human history.” https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/279/68/pdf/n2427968.pdf UN rapporteur’s latest report accuses Israel of ‘settler-colonial genocide’ against Palestinians A news item summarising the key findings of Francesca Albanese’s new report. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/world/un-rapporteurs-latest-report-accuses-israel-of-settler-colonial-genocide-against-palestinians/3377628 Mental health professionals struggle with Gaza’s overwhelming trauma Fady is a 30-year-old psychologist working in a school in Gaza’s Nuseirat refugee camp where tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians are taking shelter. He has refused to abandon his job although traveling to work is extremely dangerous. https://electronicintifada.net/content/mental-health-professionals-struggle-gazas-overwhelming-trauma/49556 Israel’s mass detention of Palestinians is aimed to break our spirit But my own imprisonment without charge has made me more resilient. By Anas Abu Srour, Executive Director of Aida Youth Center On November 28, Israeli soldiers stopped my car at the Jaba checkpoint in the occupied West Bank and kidnapped me. I spent the following 253 days in detention without charge, without ever being told why this was happening to me. https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/10/12/israels-mass-detention-of-palestinians-is-aimed-to-break-our-spirit The American Psychological Association is abandoning its commitment to human rights by refusing to speak out on Palestine The American Psychological Association claims to ‘prioritise human rights advocacy’, but if its leaders want to truly honour that commitment they must recognise and address the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza today. https://mondoweiss.net/2024/10/the-american-psychological-association-is-abandoning-its-commitment-to-human-rights-by-refusing-to-speak-out-on-palestine/ From the River to the Sea: The Palestine Issue The November edition of the Parapraxis magazine We release this special issue as one collective voice within the call for abolition, transformation, and exit. Rather than evacuating our consulting rooms and classrooms of politics, we here seek to put the centre of the world at the centre of psychoanalysis. All the proceeds of this issue will go to The Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, where trying to understand and helping the victims of this ongoing catastrophe go hand-in-hand. https://www.parapraxismagazine.com/magazine Open letter to the Royal College of Nurses from Nurses for Palestine We are a group of nurses and RCN members calling on the RCN to improve their response to the ongoing humanitarian crises in Palestine and Lebanon. The purpose of this form is to provide an opportunity to RCN members (and non-members) to sign an open letter to the RCN with listed demands. The letter is also open to signature by ‘other healthcare workers’. Full open letter: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FEPPx5NPaCU28Tx-zBiq-cOk8Cbs2e7ZopHeSrmSlP4/edit?usp=sharing Draft RCN statement proposed by Nurses for Palestine: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FoltdKjWxw9skk142rBHn4V7ZdO6caNQCwDv0EXyYpQ/edit?usp=sharing Nurses for Palestine on Twitter: https://x.com/NursesforPal Want to take Action? Our website has a list of up to date of petitions, letter writing campaigns and other ways you can express your solidarity. https://ukpalmhn.com/gaza-crisis/ Think it’s all hopeless? Look at this link celebrating the successes of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement on its 19th anniversary in July 2024: https://bdsmovement.net/BDS_Impacts-In-Times-Of-Genocide Time is ticking by, the world is standing by A poem dedicated to Palestinians

UKPALMHN Solidarity Space Monday 28 October 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 a link to the meeting.

National Demonstration for Palestine Saturday 2 November at 12 noon from Whitehall to the US Embassy

Oath of Mental Health Professionals and Healthcare Workers for LiberationWe are proud to share this oath for Mental Health Workers produced by Dr Samah Jabr, our colleague, friend and founder member of the Palestine Global Mental Health Network. One of its strengths, in our view, is that it evokes the collective nature of struggles for liberation and the ethical positions that therapists need to take inrelation to all forms of oppression and anti-racism. While not directly mentioning Palestine, Dr Jabr nevertheless places the Palestinian struggle for freedom squarely within an anti-colonial and anti-racist framework, from which it is often excluded. The duty not to pathologise resistance is a timely reminder to all of us that, in this country, therapists who support Palestine are all too often pathologised and silenced. At present there is no request for individual practitioners to sign up to the oath but we hope that you will share it with your colleagues and present it to your professional associations, especially in relation to their equity, diversity and anti-racist committees and policies.

Oath of Mental Health Professionals and Healthcare Workers for Liberation By Dr Samah Jabr, Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist, Assistant Clinical Professor, Author, Head of Mental Health Unit Palestine Dr Jabr reading the Oath: https://www.instagram.com/p/DAipfreSxyu/ English transcript of the Oath: https://ukpalmhn.com/resources/oath-of-mental-health-professionals/

Life and Death in Gaza A film made by four Palestinians living through extraordinary times. Filming from the first days of the war, Khalid, Aya, Adam and Aseel document their own lives as they endure bombing raids, multiple evacuations, family separations and reunions, deaths, and even the birth of a new life amidst the chaos. https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002412q/life-and-death-in-gaza

Israel’s ‘relentless’ pounding of northern Gaza A 6-minute Channel 4 news report on Sunday 20 October “The world cannot say it did not see this. It cannot say it didn’t know”. (Spare a thought for the brave journalists who captured this film and tell this story) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2d1kPNuF8c

‘Devastating blow to humanity’: Barred from Gaza by Israel, health workers cry out for help As the situation inside Gaza is increasingly described as “indescribable,” medical NGOs blocked from providing care to Palestinians trapped inside besieged territory demand world leaders to stop turning ‘blind eye’ to Israeli war crimes and violations of humanitarian law. https://www.commondreams.org/news/gaza-health-workers

As mental health workers, we call for an end to the West’s collusion with Israel An open letter from the UK-Palestine Mental Health Network and co-signed by 10 other organisations Healthcare practitioner, psychologists, psychotherapists and social workers are calling for an end to Israel’s genocidal onslaught https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/gaza-war-uk-mental-health-workers-west-end-collusion-israel

Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur Occupied Palestinian Territories “In Gaza, the collective shame of the century continues unabated and unstopped, in defiance of every norm of international law and morale. The Palestinians, exhausted by relentless attacks on their bodies and souls are abandoned to their tormentors. Shocking images of summary executions, mass forced displacements, and other egregious abuses strike us, leaving us stunned and bewildered, unable to comprehend that what is happening in Gaza is truly real. What a disgraceful testament to our global failure to protect basic human rights . The United Nations, once a believed beacon of hope and a force for peace, are crumbling under the weight of this shame – and the pressure of the inaction or complicity of its most powerful member states.” https://x.com/FranceskAlbs/status/1848007903783059730

How the Media Whitewashes Israel’s Rampage A true balanced depiction of the horrors that have taken place over the last year calls not for equal treatment between the oppressor and oppressed, or between the victims of a heinous terror attack over two days and the victims of industrialized mass slaughter over twelve months. Rather, we should question where the balance is struck between attention to the atrocities and war crimes carried out by Israel and critical scrutiny of its paymasters — between the hit man and the crime boss who is supplying the guns and calling the shots. https://jacobin.com/2024/10/israel-gaza-media-bias-empire

Killing of woman harvester underscores ‘war-like’ Israeli assault on West Bank olive growers “The olive season has turned into a season of killing for the Palestinian people, whether at the hands of the Israeli army or armed settlers,” said one observer. https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-attacks-olive-farmers

War on Olives A short video from Sahat featuring a clip of the non-violent activist Munther Amira who was released from so-called administrative detention earlier this year. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBMikAptYpN/

ACTIONS TO PROTEST THE GENOCIDE IN THE NORTH OF GAZA Want to take Action? Our website has a list of up to date of petitions, letter writing campaigns and other ways you can express your solidarity. https://ukpalmhn.com/gaza-crisis/

Think it’s all hopeless? Look at this link celebrating the successes of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement on its 19th anniversary in July 2024: https://bdsmovement.net/BDS_Impacts-In-Times-Of-Genocide

SYMPOSIUM Sumud and Solidarity: International mental health networks united for liberation and justice Friday 18 October at 6pm – 8pm (UK time) The Brazil, Turkiye and South Africa Palestine mental health networks invite you to attend the symposium: Sumud and Solidarity – International mental health networks united for liberation and justice. Registration/Zoom link here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86135814190?pwd=NbLhfbvWsdWbJDqVZnjvfBP1Gs9XLM.1 Teach, Play, Love, from the heart of Gaza Sunday 20 October at 2pm (UK time) From the Hands Up Theatre project in collaboration with ETL Professionals for Palestine. English teachers in Gaza have been doing inspirational work teaching English through stories for traumatized children. Come to this live session to meet Ashraf and the children he’s been working with for the past six months. There will be live performances and show and tell from the children themselves. https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUoc-isqDwtGNFWPqZu-imUjtgNrDc19bOU?#/registration UKPALMHN Solidarity Space Monday 21 October 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 a link to this meeting. Collective care, ‘sumud” and resistance with Dr Yoa’d Ghanadry Hakim Monday 21 October at 6pm – 7.30pm (UK time) Webinar featuring recorded interview with Dr Yo’ad Ghanadry Hakim and panel discussion, Dr Ghanadry Hakim is a Palestinian psychotherapist who has presented at Cafe Palestine (Cafe no 4) and wrote a chapter for Psychoanalysis under Occupation edited by Lara and Stephen Sheehi https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-systemic-way-free-online-event-tickets-1033781527377 PalMusic’s 10th Anniversary concert Thursday 14 November at 7pm (UK time) in Southwark Cathedral This major concert will feature international masters Saied Silbak (oud) and Faris Ishaq (nay/composer), together with PalMusic UK Scholar Marc Kawwas (piano), in collaboration with the St Paul’s Sinfonia under the baton of Wissam Boustany. https://www.palmusic.org.uk/10th-anniversary-concert-at-southwark-cathedral-new-date/ UN: Gaza home to largest number of amputee children in modern history In a statement to the UN General Assembly, Lisa Doughten from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned of the dire humanitarian situation in the occupied West Bank and Gaza, saying the besieged Strip ‘is home to the largest cohort of child amputees in modern history’. https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20241011-un-gaza-home-to-largest-number-of-amputee-children-in-modern-history/ Seeing and not seeing the catastrophe: Notes on fragmentation What prevents us from seeing and comprehending the catastrophe in Gaza? And why is there silence? A joint article between Professor Marie Saglio-Yatzimirsky of the France-Palestine Mental Health Network, and Professor Ana Gebrim from the Brasil-Palestine Mental Health Network. https://mondoweiss.net/2024/10/seeing-and-not-seeing-the-catastrophe-notes-on-fragmentation/ A Year of Scholasticide – The struggle for the survival of education in Gaza A Friends of Birzeit University blog post. ‘The Israeli occupation forces have demolished our buildings but our universities live on.’ Unified Statement by Gaza academics and university administrators to the world . https://fobzu.cmail19.com/t/d-e-euihryk-ijwhhckl-g/ Update on the conditions and torture violations committed against Gazan detainees A report from Addameer, the Palestinian Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association. It provides an update on the situation of the detainees from Gaza who were taken by the Israeli Occupation Forces and remain under their control in various military camps and prisons. Addameer would like to stress the unlawful character of their detention as well as the inhuman treatment that residents from Gaza are subjected to […] that, in many cases, amounts to torture. https://www.addameer.org/media/5406 Hind Rajab Foundation files historic ICC complaint against 1,000 Israeli Soldiers for war crimes in Gaza The Hind Rajab Foundation, a branch of the March 30 Movement, has filed an unprecedented and historic complaint with the International Criminal Court (ICC) against 1,000 Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) soldiers for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide in Gaza. These individuals, all of whom have been identified by name, are accused of participating in systematic attacks against civilians during the ongoing genocide in Gaza. https://30-3.org/news/details/25 Voices from Gaza A moving, 17-minute compilation of videos over the past year from Emmy-winning citizen journalist Bisan in Gaza https://x.com/Wizard__Bisan/status/1843902093934940380 Personal Notes from a Palestinian in the Diaspora: Thoughts on my own generational trauma The author is a Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist working in a Trauma Service specialising in developmental and generational Trauma. She would like to remain anonymous to protect her patients present and past. Note: Professor Veronika Cohen is mentioned in this article. Professor Cohen was shown the text and expressed a hope that it may raise awareness of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention on behalf of whom she campaigns. https://ukpalmhn.com/resources/personal-notes-from-a-palestinian-in-the-diaspora/ Want to take Action? Our website has a list of up to date of petitions, letter writing campaigns and other ways you can express your solidarity. https://ukpalmhn.com/gaza-crisis/ Think it’s all hopeless? Look at this link celebrating the successes of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement on its 19th anniversary in July 2024: https://bdsmovement.net/BDS_Impacts-In-Times-Of-Genocide

‘We slept this night in complete darkness. We couldn’t even turn on our phones, not even for a faint light, because the small drones were roaming the alleys between houses, firing in all directions. We lowered the sound of our breathing so as not to draw attention.’ A ‘young friend in Gaza’ quoted by Heather Formaini in her regular mailing. Dear colleagues, UKPALMHN is issuing the urgent appeal asking you to take action on the catastrophic situation in Northern Gaza. While Israel is committing atrocities throughout the region, this is one that must be stopped before the entire population of Northern Gaza is either forcibly displaced or murdered. Please write to your MP and encourage others to do so. Here is a template letter to use if you wish. Dear MP, I/we are writing to you as a matter of extreme urgency because the population of Jabaliya refugee camp in Northern Gaza and the surrounding communities are under violent attack from Israeli forces as will soon be the whole of Northern Gaza with its remaining population of 400,000 people. This is a genocide in action and we cannot stand by while it happens. The Israeli army seeks to evacuate, starve or kill anyone who remains, in order to empty Northern Gaza of its entire Palestinian population. People who flee are being attacked as they do so. Hospitals have been ordered to evacuate. According to the charity Medical Aid for Palestinians, Israeli forces have already forced over 70,000 people to flee their homes in Northern Gaza, cutting off the area and subjecting it to intense bombardment, while evacuation routes are blocked. You can imagine the horror that lies in store for the entire population of Northern Gaza if the International Community takes no steps to protect them. In January the International Court of Justice ordered measures to prevent genocide in Gaza, all of which have been ignored by Israel. The catastrophic failure of the international community to take action to enforce a ceasefire has enabled Israel to escalate its onslaught and forced displacement. While the world is distracted by the attacks on Lebanon and potential strikes against Iran, this deadly campaign of murder, forced displacement, destruction of infrastructure and starvation accelerates. I/We urge you to call upon the government to halt all arms supplies to Israel. Two further points 1 The government has declared itself to be in favour of abiding by international law, If it is serious about this intention, then it must act now to insist Israel follows the measures demanded by the ICJ. 2 The government repeats that it supports a two state solution. If it is serious about this, it has to take action to prevent Israel from blatant steps to abort this possibility by ethnically cleansing Northern Gaza, as well as stealing land all over the West Bank. The time for replacing empty slogans with action is now. Please, get together with other MP’s from whatever party or grouping who share the same moral outrage and insist that our government stops making excuses, stops uttering hollow words and takes meaningful steps. There is very little time left to stop the slaughter. Thank you Online and PDF versions of the above template letter are available here: https://ukpalmhn.com/resources/ukpalmhn-urgent-action-11-october-2024/ OTHER RESOURCES: ‘Jabalia is being wiped out’: Gaza pleads for help as Israel intensifies assault One Palestinian journalist said that ‘the situation in the north is horrific and very dangerous’ and implored people to ‘please share what’s happening.’ https://www.commondreams.org/news/israel-northern-gaza-2669359467 Israel subjects northern Gaza to one of the most violent campaigns of its genocide An unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe is imminent as the Israeli occupation tightens its siege on the Jabalia camp and Beit Lahia project in the northern Gaza Strip for the fourth consecutive day. Israel is accelerating the pace of its genocide against the Palestinians there by carrying out “mass and planned killings, as well as widespread forced displacements”. The international community, led by the United Nations, must act swiftly and decisively to save 10s of thousands of residents who are being subjected to one of the most violent campaigns of genocide the Strip has ever witnessed. https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/israel-subjects-northern-gaza-one-most-violent-campaigns-its-genocide-intl-intervention-required OTHER ACTIONS: Palestine Solidarity Campaign Letter writing campaign: Stop the extermination of Palestinians in northern Gaza Over a year into its genocidal assault on Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military is now intensifying its massacres to forcibly displace the remaining Palestinian population in the north of Gaza – some 400,000 people. The situation amounts to an existential threat to Palestinians remaining in northern Gaza. Email the Foreign Secretary to demand the UK government take urgent steps, including imposing an arms embargo, to stop Israel’s extermination campaign in northern Gaza. https://palestinecampaign.eaction.online/northerngaza A list of current actions you can take from a range of different organisations (including PSC, Stop the War Coalition, Medical Aid for Palestinians and the Palestine Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee) is available on this page: https://ukpalmhn.com/gaza-crisis/ SYMPOSIUM Sumud and Solidarity: International Mental Health Networks United for Liberation and Justice Friday 18 October at 6pm – 8pm (UK time) The Brazil, Turkiye and South Africa Palestine Mental Health Networks invite you to attend this symposium.  Speakers include Dr. Samah Jabr (Head of the Mental Health Unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health) and Dr. Yasser Abu Jamei (Director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme). Following the speakers, there will be a panel discussion as well as a Q&A session including: South Africa: Prof. Ashraf Kagee Turkey: Prof. Dr.Serdar M. Değirmencioğlu Brazil: Prof. Dr. Muna Muhammad Odeh Registration/Zoom link here: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86135814190?pwd=NbLhfbvWsdWbJDqVZnjvfBP1Gs9XLM.1 Want to take Action? Our website has a list of up to date of petitions, letter writing campaigns and other ways you can express your solidarity. https://ukpalmhn.com/gaza-crisis/ Think it’s all hopeless? Look at this link celebrating the successes of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement on its 19th anniversary in July 2024: https://bdsmovement.net/BDS_Impacts-In-Times-Of-Genocide

UKPALMHN Solidarity Space Monday 7 October 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 a link to the meeting. National March for Palestine Saturday 5 October – Assemble 12 noon in Russell Square, Central London One Year On – End the Genocide in Gaza – Stop Arming Israel https://palestinecampaign.org/events/national-demo-for-palestine-5-october-2024/ The UK-Palestine Mental Health Network banner will be at the march. All are welcome to join us. We will meet at 12:00 noon at: Bloomsbury Square Gardens, London WC1A 2PJ This is the same location where we have assembled for previous marches from Russell Square. There is a map showing our assembly point at the end of this email. UK-Palestine Mental Health Network statement A year of genocide: decades of impunity The statement has also been signed by 10 partner organisations. As mental health practitioners, we take stock at this juncture of the impact of a year of continuous bombardment, killing, catastrophic injury, displacement, starvation and disease inflicted on the people of Gaza … The full text is available at the end of this mailing and at this link: https://ukpalmhn.com/resources/a-year-of-genocide-decades-of-impunity/ Unbearable suffering: mental health consequences of the October 2023 Israeli military assault on the Gaza Strip This is a new British Medical Journal Article. The authors include a member of the UK-Palestine Mental Health Network and colleagues, most of whom have spoken at previous Cafe Palestines. The onslaught on Gaza is leading to catastrophic psychological consequences which will not be limited to the short term and to those directly affected, but will have long-term, intergenerational effects. This commentary argues that to understand trauma responses among Gazans, we need to go beyond individual illness and, instead, link the biomedical sphere with the political sphere through the concept of social suffering and, thereby, expose the socio-political conditions of life and the collective trauma-inducing nature of the Israeli military occupation and repression. Addressing these complex trauma responses requires approaches that bring together the political, social and personal-level components of mental health with a focus on three factors: safety and allyship; the right to agency and acknowledgement, accountability and reparations. https://gh.bmj.com/content/9/9/e014835 Holy Redemption: Stealing Palestinian Land 55-minute world exclusive investigative documentary by TRT, a Turkish public broadcast service. The shocking, impactful documentary – with much undercover footage – unveils the violent fanaticism of armed illegal Jewish settlers who aim to uproot Palestinians from the occupied West Bank. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF6B5UVupyA Palestinian trauma, healing and olive trees 40-minute Middle East Monitor conversation with Ashira Darwish, one of the producers of ‘Where the Olive Trees Weep’, a powerful documentary about the struggles and resilience of the Palestinian people living under Israeli occupation. She explains that Palestinians aren’t suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, there’s been no ‘post’ for them as they continue to live under occupation and colonialism. “Ongoing stress disorder” is what they experience daily. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1m4B_HyPjY Voice notes from Gaza A moving 10-minute video In 2023, Dr Iain Overton taught a group of students in Gaza living with disabilities how to tell their stories on social media. A year on, their University lies in ruins, they are all refugees and one of them is dead. This is their story. https://x.com/iainoverton/status/1839629049301233960 Israel is torturing & abusing Palestinian prisoners, international pressure is urgently needed An article by an advocate from Addameer, the leading Palestinian prisoner support and human rights association. Since October 7, Addameer has documented a dramatic increase in the number of arbitrary arrests and detentions, the use and intensity of violence, and the gravity of the crimes committed against Palestinian detainees. In almost a year, over 10,000 Palestinians have been arrested, and the number detained by the Israeli Occupation grew from over 5,000 to 9,900. 3,332 of the detainees are under administrative detention, which means that the occupation’s military court can hold any Palestinian infinitely (no matter age or gender) for up to 6 months without any evidence or charge against them. https://www.newarab.com/opinion/tortured-abused-we-mustnt-forget-about-palestinian-prisoners Mental Health workshop for activists Thursday 10 October from 7.00-9.00 pm at Palestine House, 113 High Holborn, London WC1V 6JJ (Tickets cost £17) In observance of World Mental Health Day on 10 October, join Richmond and Kingston PSC at Palestine House for an empowering and interactive workshop. This special workshop will explore the intersections of mental health and activism, creating a safe space for activists to reflect on their own mental health needs and understand the role of solidarity in their movements. It will be led by Psychotherapist Mustafa Jayyousi, who is a Palestinian activist and psychotherapist/NLP coach. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/mental-health-workshop-for-activists-with-psychotherapist-mustafa-jayyousi-tickets-1014476846557 Palestine: Repair & Return Az Theatre (London) and Theatre for Everybody (Gaza) will be presenting three performances in the series called Palestine: Repair & Return at the P21 Gallery, 21-23 Chalton Street London NW1 1JD Thur 17 Oct at 7pm – Stories of Learning and Teaching Thur 31 Oct at 7pm – Stories of Women and Health Thur 21 Nov at 7pm – Stories of Water The first event (Learning and Teaching) will present voices and stories from Palestine about how Palestinians are managing to continue learning and teaching, how communities are resisting attempts at ‘scholasticide’ and the destruction of schools and universities. https://p21.gallery/news/192 Amos Trust presents Requiem Monday 21 October at 7.30pm in Central Hall, Westminster Tickets are free but you will need to register. Requiem provides a chance to stop, to mourn and to reflect. With first-hand accounts of life in Gaza during the last year written by the young writers of We Are Not Numbers and a soundscape created by acclaimed musician and producer, Brian Eno. https://www.amostrust.org/gaza-requiem Want to take Action? Our website has a list of up to date of petitions, letter writing campaigns and other ways you can express your solidarity. https://ukpalmhn.com/gaza-crisis/ Think it’s all hopeless? Look at this link celebrating the successes of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement on its 19th anniversary in July 2024: https://bdsmovement.net/BDS_Impacts-In-Times-Of-Genocide UK-Palestine Mental Health Network Statement A year of genocide: decades of impunity2 October 2024 We, the following organisations dedicated to supporting mental health through justice for Palestine, issue this statement on the anniversary of October 7th 2023. One year ago, on the very day of the Hamas attacks, Israel began its genocidal onslaught on the citizens of Gaza and on its entire infrastructure. Few of us then, even as we witnessed bloodthirsty calls for annihilation from Israel’s politicians, could have predicted that in October 2024, Gaza would still be under remorseless bombardment, and its citizens under constant threat of permanent displacement and dispersal. The consequences of this lethal year for the long term physical and mental health of the citizens of Gaza and the impact on the functioning of its communities is incalculable. As mental health practitioners, we share our profound outrage, sorrow and collective shame at the enormity of what has been and continues to be inflicted on the people of Gaza. We take stock at this juncture of the impact of a year of continuous bombardment, killing, catastrophic injury, displacement, starvation and disease. While every citizen of Gaza has suffered immeasurably, we draw particular attention to the effects on children, Gaza’s citizens of the future. UNRWA Commissioner- General Phillipe Lazzarini has termed this a “War on children and their future” Denying children a future in their own land, stunting their growth both physically and psychologically is, and always has been, part of the logic of settler colonialism. Children in Gaza, if they survive, have been dealt a legacy of terrible injury and disabilities which will require years of rehabilitation in the absence of any resources to enable this. They have been evicted from their homes but also from childhood itself, either by the loss of parents and extended family or by having to take on adult tasks beyond their capabilities. One year is the entire life of a baby, half the life of a toddler and a quarter of the life of a four year old. A child of ten, surviving this past year, has the legacy of at least three previous lethal bombardments of their homes, families and communities. Children in Gaza, for whom education has been a major source of resilience and pride, now have no school buildings to return to and no prospect of any such provision. UNRWA, the main provider of schooling, has been under severe attack by Israel, which also denies the entrance into Gaza of adequate supplies of food. Uniquely among world conflicts, the citizens of Gaza have no means of escape from the relentless bombardment, snipers and killer drones. The wanton murder of civilians, destruction of vital infrastructure, despoliation of the built and natural environment, killing of healthcare workers and others providing aid have led to unparalleled outrage and protest in civil society worldwide. Shock at the initial genocidal onslaught has intensified with every passing month. And yet, despite rulings by the ICJ and the request by the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC to issue arrest warrants for the Israeli Prime Minister and Defence Secretary, the slaughter continues. It does so because of the active collusion and complicity of the major Western powers which, over the decades, have granted Israel absolute impunity to pursue its aggressive settler colonial expansion, land theft, ethnic cleansing, incarceration and violent suppression of human rights. As mental health practitioners we know that when no external boundaries are set and no restraints imposed on abusive and violent behaviour, the perpetrator is empowered to pursue their own interests only, objectifying and dehumanising others. As we have seen in Gaza, in the rest of occupied Palestine, in the torture chambers of Sde Teiman, and now in the massacre of Lebanese civilians, cruelty and sadism flourish in conditions of impunity. In protesting the year-long genocide in Gaza, we have called for our governments to end this impunity by demanding Israel be held accountable under international law, ending the supply of the weapons enabling this genocide and sanctioning its leaders. So far the new Labour government has made a few very modest steps in this direction and all of us in our various roles within civil society must keep up the pressure. In the past year there has been increased consciousness of the realities of Israel’s colonial, racist and apartheid practices and the complicity of world powers. Many in the ‘helping professions’ – healthcare workers, psychologists, psychotherapists, social workers – have mobilised to call for an end to collusion with Israel, to resist normalisation with its institutions and to refuse to be intimidated by strategies of silencing. One year on, we are profoundly affected by the suffering inflicted on Palestine but rather than giving into exhaustion and despair, we are more engaged than ever in the collective action required of us to abide by our professional ethics and oppose this geonicide. Gaza’s children, who are active citizens as well as victims, are asking no less of us. UK- Palestine Mental Health NetworkSocial Workers for a Free PalestineFamily Therapists for PalestineGroup Analysts for PalestinePsychoanalytic Voices for PalestineLiberate Mental HealthPsychotherapists & Counsellors for Social Responsibility(Carol Jones on behalf of) Socialist Health Alliance, LondonHealing Justice LondonCommunities for Holistic Accessible Rights-based Mental HealthThe Red Clinic The UK-Palestine Mental Health Network was founded in 2014 to promote mental wellbeing, liberation, dignity and social justice for Palestinians and all peoples and societies It is part of a worldwide movement with fifteen participating national networks. ukpalmhn@gmail.com Assembly point for UKPALMHN for National March for Palestine on Saturday 5 October at 12 noon. Bloomsbury Square Gardens, London WC1A 2PJ

National March for Palestine Saturday 21 September at 12 noon in Liverpool Assemble at  St Georges Hall Plateau, opposite Lime Street Station and march to the gates of the Labour party conference The role of Palestinian schools in healing childhood wounds: psychological support for war-affected generations A short opinion piece by Samah Jabr, Head of Mental Health Unit, Palestinian Ministry of Health The article covers areas in which schools can promote the mental health of children and practical recommendations for Palestinian schools. The original article is in Arabic but many modern browsers, including Chrome, offer a simple feature to translate the page into English. https://www.alquds.com/ar/posts/133532

Can You See Me? Arab Immigrants’ Quests for Identity and Belonging An article on Psychotherapy.net by Lama Khouri who co-founded the Palestine-Global Mental Health Network and sits on the board of the USA-Palestine Mental Health Network. In this in-depth piece, a Palestinian analyst shares her poignant experiences as an immigrant, and the personal and professional challenges they brought. https://www.psychotherapy.net/article/can-you-see-me-arab-quest-for-identity Two volunteers of the Palestine Trauma Centre (UK) killed in Gaza PTC (UK) has announced the tragic killing of two of its volunteers who were working with children in Gaza. https://ukpalmhn.com/resources/two-palestine-trauma-centre-uk-volunteers-killed/ Palestine In Mental Health – calling all mental health workers, have you felt managed, disciplined or silenced on Palestine? From Tarek Younis, Racial Justice Researcher, Healing Justice LDN Please participate in an interview to explore the racial politics of our mental health systems/ experiences of racism and how this has impacted mental health workers. Share challenges, collate and build a picture of this experience within these systems. Full confidentiality and anonymity is ensured. Nothing will shared without consent. You will receive £30 payment for your participation. To join send an email to tarek@healingjusticeldn.org Israel wages massive military attack on Palestinians in the illegally occupied West Bank, under cover of its Gaza genocide The Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement calls for maximizing grassroots and civil society pressure on all states, the United Nations, and regional bodies. Channel your rage, frustration, and grief into effective, strategic BDS action and build pressure and people power to stop the genocide and to eventually help Palestinians dismantle Israel’s 76-year-old regime of settler-colonial apartheid, the root cause of this oppression and unspeakable violence. https://bdsmovement.net/Israel-Wages-Massive-Military-Attack-West-Bank Urgent action needed to protect Palestinian farm The Tent of Nations near Bethlehem is one of the last Palestinian hilltop farms in the West Bank that is still in Palestinian hands. The farm is under immediate and growing threat from settler activity. The Nassar family that has owned the farm since Ottoman times has two crucial court cases coming up on Wednesday 11 September and Tuesday 8 October. The Friends of Tent of Nations UK has produced a briefing pack and template letter to MPs to raise awareness about the farm and the upcoming court cases. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FxFuQyWPEYcOk0peDRdbdvSsNupnqgvPRjUyTRKbjaA/edit Questions from Gaza’s children Members of the Palestine Trauma Centre (UK) team in Gaza have spoken about the questions their children ask of them as they endure nearly eleven months of bombardment, death, injury, starvation and displacement. We asked if they would like to send these questions out to the wider world and they have responded with the attached list from children. They are of course utterly heart-breaking and we want to do them justice and show our accountability to the children in whatever ways we can, by sending them to our elected representatives, to all children’s charities and through our international networks. Please add your voices. Please add your voices. Those of you who work with children will, we are sure, have ideas about how to share them with colleagues and with mental health directorates. Please share any thoughts you have about how to support this campaign to demand an immediate ceasefire to safeguard the children of Gaza who are being forced to confront and question such iniquities.