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| 1. UKPALMHN Action Half-Hour on Friday 5 January at 13:00 2. National March for Palestine on Saturday 13 January at 12:0 3. Cafe Palestine is back on Sat 27 January and Sat 3 February 4. Ambassadors for Humanity – Letters in Solidarity 5. Letter to Tavistock Institute of Human Relations calling for end to association with Recalculating conference 6. A child of Gaza: The war through a child’s eyes 7. A sniper’s bullets shattered last vestiges of sanctuary in Gaza’s only Catholic church 8. The role of the International Committee of the Red Cross 9. Journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh’s message for 2024 Plus The Darkling Thrush By Thomas Hardy 1. UKPALMHN Action Half-Hour on Friday 5 January at 13:00 The Action Half-Hours are intended to provide a space for mutual support and action. Upon reviewing feedback from participants, we plan to keep the Zoom call open at the end of the half hour to provide a space for a broader discussion within the group. This will be a less focused time after the actions have been completed where participants can choose to stay on the call to share feelings and feedback about anything that might have come up for them during the meeting. We hope this will help encourage a feeling of shared solidarity and strengthen our ability to act during this difficult time. Please contact ukpalmhn@gmail.com if you wish to attend the Action Half-Hour 2. National March for Palestine – Ceasefire NOW – Saturday 13 January at 12:00 noon in Central London The assembly point and route have not been announced at the time of writing. We will circulate an assembly point for the UKPALMHN banner and supporters when the route is announced. https://palestinecampaign.org/events/national-march-for-palestine-ceasefire-now-january-13/ 3. Cafe Palestine is back! Keep the dates! We plan to hold two Cafe Palestine events on consecutive weeks: Saturday 27 January at 16:00 – 18:00 and Saturday 3 February at 16:00 – 18:00 They will focus on Mental Health in Gaza with the aim of honouring the work of our colleagues there, their professionalism, creativity and dedication. Samah Jabr describes Mental Health professionals as being ‘a cornerstone in building hope and healing at every level of society.’ With this aim in mind we think it is important to remind ourselves of what our colleagues in Gaza have achieved in promoting mental health. Since they are cut off from electronic communication and forced to focus on their own and their families’ physical survival, their experience and expertise may need to be temporarily represented by colleagues from outside. The two Cafe’s will consist of presentations by different teams who have collaborated with colleagues in Gaza. The Cafe on January 27th will begin with a presentation by Dr Samah Jabr. Further details and Zoom link to follow in the next mailing. 4. Ambassadors for HUMANITY – Letters in Solidarity Disconnected by miles connected through hearts A moving collection of letters to Medics and Paramedics in Gaza, Palestine produced by the USA-Palestine Mental Health Network https://usapalmhn.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Final-Letters-to-Gaza-PDF.pdf 5. UKPALMHN letter to Tavistock Institute of Human Relations calling for end to association with Recalculating conference The 36th OFEK International Group Relations Conference called ‘RECALCULATING: Authority, Identity & Belonging in Times of Tectonic Upheaval’ is being organised in Israel in February 2024. https://ofekgrouprelations.org/en/intgrc2024/. Disturbingly, the conference is being organised in association with the London-based Tavistock Institute of Human Relations. https://www.tavinstitute.org/ (The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations is a different organisation to the Tavistock and Portman NHS trust). The USA-Palestine Mental Health Network, along with the UK, French and Irish networks are urging people not to attend either in-person or virtually stating: “The “Recalculating” event clearly supports Israeli policy. Its bold invitation, ironically issued now in the midst of Israel’s heinous genocide in Gaza, promises to ponder subtle issues of cultural and national identity in a neutral, self-searching, and transparent manner. Alas, however, the list of conference planners excludes Palestinian voices—those human beings currently being uprooted through genocide and violent upheaval. What’s more, the invitation states with proud defiance that the ‘conference will be conducted according to the guidelines of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Home Front Command to ensure the continued safety of residents’. With this framework, how can the perspectives of Palestinians or their international supporters conceivably be heard?” The UK-Palestine Mental Health Network has written to the CEO of the Tavistock Institute of Human Relations calling on the Institute to end association with the conference. There has been no reply to this letter. A copy of the UKPALMHN letter and a link to the open letter urging people not to attend can be found on this page: https://ukpalmhn.com/resources/dont-go-to-the-recalculating-conference/ Further information about this action will be added to this page as it becomes available. 6. A child of Gaza: The war through a child’s eyes Under Israeli bombardment, nine-year-old Elaf and her family struggle to find safety in the Gaza Strip. A recommended 25-minute film released on Christmas Day https://www.aljazeera.com/program/witness/2023/12/25/a-child-of-gaza-the-war-through-a-childs-eyes 7. A sniper’s bullets shattered last vestiges of sanctuary in Gaza’s only Catholic church On 20 December two elderly women were shot dead by a sniper whilst going to the outside toilet in Gaza’s only Catholic church. Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/israel-gaza-church-palestinians-christians-b2466049.html Al Jazeera: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Otw-1JQsP2g&authuser=0 8. The role of the International Committee of the Red Cross Mazin Qumsiyeh, the Director of the Palestine Institute of Biodiversity and Sustainability at Bethlehem University has questioned the impartiality of the ICRC. The ICRC is taking a strong stance in support of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. On the other hand, thousands of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank have been seized without due process and are held without charge (under so-called “Administrative Detention”) and often subject to torture and abuse. The ICRC is not treating these Palestinian prisoners in the same way that it deals with the Israeli hostages. Amnesty International https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/11/israel-opt-horrifying-cases-of-torture-and-degrading-treatment-of-palestinian-detainees-amid-spike-in-arbitrary-arrests Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/11/29/why-does-israel-have-so-many-palestinians-detention-and-available-swap 972 (an independent, online, non-profit magazine run by a group of Palestinian and Israeli journalists) https://www.972mag.com/palestinians-abused-israeli-prisons-torture/ Mazin urges people to write to the ICRC about this: https://www.icrc.org/en/contact 9. Journalist Wael Al-Dahdouh’s message for 2024 https://twitter.com/SamiXSavage/status/1741628394435940398 As we enter 2024, a poem that perhaps befits the times … The Darkling Thrush By Thomas Hardy I leant upon a coppice gate When Frost was spectre-grey, And Winter’s dregs made desolate The weakening eye of day. The tangled bine-stems scored the sky Like strings of broken lyres, And all mankind that haunted nigh Had sought their household fires. The land’s sharp features seemed to be The Century’s corpse outleant, His crypt the cloudy canopy, The wind his death-lament. The ancient pulse of germ and birth Was shrunken hard and dry, And every spirit upon earth Seemed fervourless as I. At once a voice arose among The bleak twigs overhead In a full-hearted evensong Of joy illimited; An aged thrush, frail, gaunt, and small, In blast-beruffled plume, Had chosen thus to fling his soul Upon the growing gloom. So little cause for carolings Of such ecstatic sound Was written on terrestrial things Afar or nigh around, That I could think there trembled through His happy good-night air Some blessed Hope, whereof he knew And I was unaware. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44325/the-darkling-thrush |
Don’t Go to the Recalculating Conference!
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| 1. UKPALMHN Action Half-Hour on Friday 5 January at 13:00 2. National March for Palestine – Saturday 13 January 3. Don’t Go to the Recalculating Conference! 4. As genocide rages, doctors must choose: Care or collaboration 5. Doctors Against Genocide 6. International committee “must investigate Israel’s holding of dead bodies in Gaza” 7. Meta censors pro-Palestinian views on a global scale, report claims 8. Visualisation of the progressive destruction of medical infrastructure in Gaza 9. No Human Being Can Exist 10. I am not Palestinian. But if you are not grieving, something is wrong 11. Act now against companies profiting from the genocide of the Palestinian people plus I will not look away by Caitlin Johnstone (extract) and Organisations providing mental health services that are seeking financial support in 2024 1. UKPALMHN Action Half-Hour on Friday 5 January at 13:00 The Action Half-Hours are intended to provide a space for mutual support and action. Please contact ukpalmhn@gmail.com if you would like a link to the meeting. 2. National March for Palestine – Ceasefire NOW – Saturday 13 January at 12:00 noon in Central London The assembly point and route have not been announced at the time of writing. https://palestinecampaign.org/events/national-march-for-palestine-ceasefire-now-january-13/ 3. Don’t Go to the Recalculating Conference! The 36th OFEK International Group Relations Conference called RECALCULATING: Authority, Identity & Belonging in Times of Tectonic Upheaval is being organised in Israel in February 2024. https://ofekgrouprelations.org/en/intgrc2024/. Disturbingly, the conference is being organised in association with the London-based Tavistock Institute https://www.tavinstitute.org/ The conference brochure gushes that: “The questions of the day, while in many ways collective, are also deeply personal. We experience them in our own bodies, in the eyes of our children, in spontaneous encounters with strangers in town squares and in sudden bursts of emotion that overcome us as we drive alone in the car.” The US-Palestine Mental Health Network, along with the UK, French and Irish networks are urging people not to attend either in-person or virtually stating: “The “Recalculating” event clearly supports Israeli policy. Its bold invitation, ironically issued now in the midst of Israel’s heinous genocide in Gaza, promises to ponder subtle issues of cultural and national identity in a neutral, self-searching, and transparent manner. Alas, however, the list of conference planners excludes Palestinian voices—those human beings currently being uprooted through genocide and violent upheaval. What’s more, the invitation states with proud defiance that the ‘conference will be conducted according to the guidelines of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Home Front Command to ensure the continued safety of residents’. With this framework, how can the perspectives of Palestinians or their international supporters conceivably be heard?” A link to the open letter can be found on this page: https://ukpalmhn.com/resources/dont-go-to-the-recalculating-conference/ Further information about this action will be added to this page as it becomes available. 4. As genocide rages, doctors must choose: Care or collaboration Healthcare workers in Gaza are refusing to abandon their patients and communities. American doctors should be doing all we can to protect them. Why aren’t we? https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2023/11/25/as-genocide-rages-doctors-must-choose-care-or-collaborationism 5. Doctors Against Genocide We are a global coalition of healthcare workers dedicated to succeeding where global governments have failed in confronting and preventing genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Our mission includes identifying, opposing, preventing, and eradicating genocide by uniting Healthcare Professionals in action. https://doctorsagainstgenocide.org/ 6. International committee “must investigate Israel’s holding of dead bodies in Gaza” Euro-Med report states that the Israeli army has been holding the bodies of dozens of Palestinians killed during its genocide in the Gaza Strip beginning on 7 October, and Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has called for the creation of an independent international investigation committee into organ theft suspicions. https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/5982/Int%E2%80%99l-committee-must-investigate-Israel%E2%80%99s-holding-of-dead-bodies-in-Gaza%E2%80%8B 7. Meta censors pro-Palestinian views on a global scale, report claims Meta has engaged in a “systemic and global” censorship of pro-Palestinian content since the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war on 7 October, according to a new report from Human Rights Watch (HRW). https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/dec/21/meta-facebook-instagram-pro-palestine-censorship-human-rights-watch-report You can fight back against this. In the course of producing these newsletters we have seen ample, circumstantial evidence that Palestinian voices on social media – particularly on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) – are being demoted. For example, powerful, direct-to-camera testimonies from Dr Abu Jamei of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme that, mysteriously, gained only a handful of views. When you see an interesting link, do not assume that your friends and contacts will most likely see it too. Forward interesting links directly to your friends and contacts. You can find a record of links to campaigns and actions that UKPALMHN has been promoting on this page: https://ukpalmhn.com/gaza-crisis/ 8. Visualisation of the progressive destruction of medical infrastructure in Gaza. Forensic Architecture (https://forensic-architecture.org/) have produced an informative visualisation by cross-referencing hundreds of reports from Al-Jazeera, Alaraby and Shehab News that describe attacks on, or near to, hospitals and medical infrastructure in the north of the Gaza strip. https://gaza-hospitals.forensic-architecture.org/ 9. No Human being can exist How can a person make up for seven decades of misrepresentation and willful distortion in the time allotted to a sound bite? https://www.nplusonemag.com/online-only/online-only/no-human-being-can-exist/ 10. I am not Palestinian. But if you are not grieving, something is wrong The global powers divide lives into those who can be mourned and those who cannot; those whose mourning justifies the killing machine and those whose mourning undermines it. https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/israel-palestine-gaza-war-reject-censorship-grief-must 11. Act now against companies profiting from the genocide of the Palestinian people One of the founding Aims 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)”. This link from the Palestinian-led BDS campaign provides a detailed guide to targeted consumer boycotts, divestment and pressure campaigns https://bdsmovement.net/Act-Now-Against-These-Companies-Profiting-From-Genocide I will not look away by Caitlin Johnstone (extract) No matter how horrific it gets, I will not look away. No matter how many children I see killed and injured in the most gruesome ways imaginable, I will not look away. No matter how much human suffering I see by keeping my gaze on Gaza, I will not look away. No matter how many nightmares I have, I will not look away. No matter how many tears I shed, I will not look away. No matter how many reasons the propagandists and manipulators come up with for me to turn my gaze elsewhere, I will not look away. No matter how many insults and accusations I am tarred with for refusing to look away, I will not look away. No matter how much easier it would be to look away, I will not look away. I will not avert my gaze. I will not become distracted. I will not lose myself to the sedated stupor of escapism. I will not do my best to pretend that everything is normal and that life is basically fine. https://consortiumnews.com/2023/12/11/caitlin-johnstone-i-will-not-look-away/ ORGANISATIONS PROVIDING MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES THAT ARE SEEKING FINANCIAL SUPPORT IN 2024 Palestine Trauma Centre (UK) https://www.palestinetraumacentre.uk/ Medical Aid for Palestinians https://www.map.org.uk/ Palestine Red Crescent Society https://www.palestinercs.org/en Palestinian Counseling Center https://pcc-jer.org/en Gaza Community Mental Health Programme https://www.gazamentalhealth.org/support/ Hope and Play https://hopeandplay.org/ |
Actions in support of Aida Youth Center in Bethlehem and the Freedom Theatre in Jenin, plus Palestinian Christians’ letter at Christmas
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| 1. UKPALMHN Action Half-Hour 2. Arrest of Munther Amira, Chairman of the Board of the Aida Youth Center 3. Updates from The Freedom Theatre in Jenin 4. At Christmas – an open letter from 12 Palestinian Christian groups 5. How Israel uses an AI genocide program to obliterate Gaza 6. What does it mean to erase a people – a nation, culture, identity? 7. Israel Killed Thousands of Children in Gaza. How Can So Many Israelis Remain Indifferent? 8. Press conference with Dr Ben Thompson from North America Medical Doctors 9. What would Freud have made of it? Notes on a ‘normal pathological organisation’ within psychoanalysis 10. Brian Cox reading If I Must Die 11. Infographic of the work of Dr Samah Jabr 1. UKPALMHN Action Half-Hour Friday 22 December at 13:00 (UK time) A reflective space to support one another, discuss and take actions together Please mail ukpalmhn@gmail.com for the Zoom link. 2. Arrest of Munther Amira, Chairman of the Board of the Aida Youth Center In the early hours of 18 December Munther Amira was violently arrested in his home in Aida camp near Bethlehem in the West Bank. Further details of the violent arrest are here https://mondoweiss.net/2023/12/palestinian-activist-munther-amira-tied-up-beaten-and-arrested-by-israeli-forces-in-aida-refugee-camp/ This follows the arrest of Anas Abu Srour, the Executive Director of the Youth Center on 29 November. Full details are available on the Aida Youth Center Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/aidacenter.org The Aida Youth Center has organised two petitions calling for their release: #FreeAnasAbuSrour: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc4jrwzVo08FdikvEEtdn1Rhh0qAQnFQoESj2K6T01lP_syJw/viewform #FreeMuntherAmira: https://www.change.org/p/free-munther-amira?recruiter=1324159610&recruited_by_id=2b2c8eb0-9d7c-11ee-98e6-e58dbbf17381 3. Updates from The Freedom Theatre in Jenin On 13 December, Israeli soldiers attacked The Freedom Theatre in Jenin, shooting at the building, destroying offices and assaulting its staff. Artistic Director Ahmed Tobasi, Producer Mustafa Sheta, and theatre graduate Jamal Abu Joas were taken from their homes and detained. Jamal was severely beaten. Ahmed Tobasi has since been released, also beaten. His colleagues, along with approximately 100 other Palestinians taken hostage from Jenin, remain detained. This follows the murder of three members of The Freedom Theatre in the last few weeks. Ongoing updates are available on the Freedom Theatre Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/thefreedomtheatre There is an open letter calling for the release of the culture workers who have been arrested: https://forms.gle/7S3mgPe79wr8X5bZ8 The Freedom Theatre are particularly interested to hear from those working within the theatre industry. 4. At Christmas – an open letter from 12 Palestinian Christian groups to western church leaders and theologians Finally, and we say it with a broken heart, we hold western church leaders and theologians who rally behind Israel’s wars accountable for their theological and political complicity in the Israeli crimes against the Palestinians, which have been committed over the last 75 years. We call upon them to reexamine their positions and to change their direction, remembering that God “will judge the world in justice” (Acts 17:31). https://www.defenddemocracy.press/an-open-letter-from-palestinian-christians-to-western-church-leaders-and-theologians/ 5. How Israel uses an AI genocide program to obliterate Gaza In a recent newsletter we linked to a detailed Israeli report called ‘A mass assassination factory’: Inside Israel’s calculated bombing of Gaza.The report cites the concerns of Israeli whistleblowers that Israel’s AI system is generating targets so fast, based on inputs so broad, that everyone in Gaza is in the crosshairs. The report has gained worldwide attention. https://www.972mag.com/mass-assassination-factory-israel-calculated-bombing-gaza/ Below is a link to a blog post that provides a shorter summary of the report: https://jonathancook.substack.com/p/how-israel-uses-an-ai-genocide-program 6. What does it mean to erase a people – a nation, culture, identity? In Gaza, we are beginning to find out Artists killed, journalists silenced, libraries and mosques destroyed. What will be left to bind the survivors together? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/18/gaza-israel-destroying-culture-and-identity 7. Israel Killed Thousands of Children in Gaza. How Can So Many Israelis Remain Indifferent? By Amira Hass an Israeli journalist and author, mostly known for her columns in the daily newspaper Haaretz covering Palestinian affairs in Gaza and the West Bank, where she has lived for almost thirty years. For decades we’ve been brought up believing that only military force can ensure the state’s survival, while denying rights to the Palestinians. That’s just one of many sad answers to the question https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/2023-12-18/ty-article-opinion/.premium/israel-killed-thousands-of-children-in-gaza-how-can-so-many-israelis-remain-indifferent 8. Press conference with Dr Ben Thompson from North America Medical Doctors We are reaching the point of no return where blatant disregard for International Humanitarian Law scars our collective consciousness https://www.tiktok.com/@bass_la/video/7310440822414085419 9. What would Freud have made of it? Notes on a ‘normal pathological organisation’ within psychoanalysis by UK-Palestine Mental Health Network members Martin Kemp and Eliana Pinto Psychoanalytic discourse in relation to the situation in historic Palestine is subject to both ideologically-based and anxiety-driven inhibitions and restrictions that conflict with the discipline’s claim to be able to “stay with” difficult issues, to “think the unthinkable”. This situation is understood as a social pathology, and its impacts are explored through a literature review. Final chance to read this on free access, at this link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/aps.1825 10. Palestine Festival of Literature recording of Brian Cox reading If I Must Die by beloved Palestinian poet, teacher and martyr Refaat Alareer. Refaat was killed on December 7th by an Israeli airstrike. His body is unburied under the rubble https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0xRMCuIKcj/ 11. Infographic of the work of Dr Samah Jabr Mental health under occupation: resistance, trauma and colonisation in Palestine https://www.linkedin.com/posts/samah-jabr-25509883_thanks-to-keri-caring-for-activists-for-activity-7141090607480946690-Nt7y/  |
Saving Our Humanity From The Rubble of Gaza PLUS Managing Your Mind While Witnessing A Genocide
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| In this mailing: 1. Events/Actions 2. Saving our humanity from the rubble of Gaza 3. Managing your mind while witnessing a genocide 4. We won’t stop speaking out about Gaza’s suffering – there is no climate justice without human rights 5. Israel arrests, abuses dozens of Palestinian civilians at UNRWA-run schools in northern Gaza 6. Norman Finkelstein on Israel’s illegal War 7. UKPALMHN: Sustaining a counter-narrative 8. Social workers’ network PLUS: Listen to the students at Ramallah Friends School singing a Christmas greeting to the children of Gaza and the world and Palestine Trauma Centre (UK) worker delivering food parcels in Gaza 1. Events/Actions Silent walk of health workers from St Thomas’s Hospital to Downing Street Saturday 16 December at 14:00 With white flags and hands held up like the doctors who had to leave Al Shifa. Will probably take 1 hour to Downing Street, and finish at around 16:00 <Circulated on social media – no further information available> UKPALMHN Action Half-Hours Christmas timetable An opportunity to talk, discuss and take action in a supportive environment Friday 15 December: no Action-Half Hour Friday 22 December at 13:00 Please contact ukpalmhn@gmail.com for Zoom link Friday 29 December: no Action Half-Hour Friday 5 January at 13:00 Please contact ukpalmhn@gmail.com for Zoom link 2. Saving our humanity from the rubble of Gaza Dr. Samah Jabr, Chair of the Mental Health Unit at the Palestinian Ministry of Health A powerful, 7-minute address to save our humanity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xNhngZ3VfyQ 3. Managing your mind while witnessing a genocide (recording of webinar) Dr. Lara Sheehi, Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology Dr. Sheehi focuses on community-specific mental health concerns in response to the ongoing genocide, targeted violence across Palestine, and political repression in the United States. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8zv248CE5I&t=10s 4. We won’t stop speaking out about Gaza’s suffering – there is no climate justice without human rights By Greta Thunberg and Fridays for Future Sweden Demanding an end to this inexcusable violence is a question of basic humanity, and we call on everyone who can to do so. Silence is complicity. You cannot be neutral in an unfolding genocide. www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/dec/05/gaza-climate-justice-human-rights-greta-thunberg 5. Israel arrests, abuses dozens of Palestinian civilians at UNRWA-run schools in northern Gaza The Israeli army detained and severely abused dozens of Palestinian civilians in the northern Gaza Strip, said Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, surrounding two shelter centres in the town of Beit Lahia for days before beating the individuals and stripping them of their clothes. https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6012/Israel-arrests,-abuses-dozens-of-Palestinian-civilians-at-UNRWA-run-schools-in-northern-Gaza 6. Norman Finkelstein on Israel’s illegal war Novara Media talks to American political scientist and activist Norman Finkelstein about events since October 7th, Israel’s assault on Gaza and the events that have led up to this latest round of aggression. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CxUYHezniY 7. UKPALMHN: Sustaining a counter-narrative The mainstream media does not, in our view, offer balanced reporting on the situation in Palestine. At this critical time, it is helpful to have access to news items, video footage, speakers and opinions that are routinely excluded from the BBC, Guardian, Channel 4 etc. We have produced a short list of alternative outlets that both produce more in-depth coverage and analysis, and often critique the shortcomings of the more popular and well-known media groups shaping public opinion. In each case, we have included a link to an example of their coverage to illustrate their work. We are not endorsing the views expressed in every one of these items, but we do think they are worth listening to or watching. ukpalmhn.com/resources/sustaining-a-counter-narrative/ 8. Social workers’ network – next meeting on Sunday 7 January at 19:00 Social workers connected to the network held a well-attended Zoom meeting on Sunday evening. We are meeting again on Sunday 7th January at 7pm. Before that we will be embarking on a letter writing campaign on behalf of Anas Abu Srour, the Executive Director of Aida Youth Centre, who the Israelis are holding in administrative detention, among other actions. If any other social workers or social care workers want to become involved in developing actions together, please email sw4palestine@gmail.com Contacts have provided updates about beloved colleagues and colleagues, social workers from the Relief Agency (UNRWA) who are martyrs – Iman Ahmed from Jabalia camp – Faisal Al-Naami from Deir Al-Balah camp, who was martyred along with a number of his family members on 10/23/2023. – Somaya Al-Hout from Rafah Camp, who was martyred along with her husband, six children, and three members of her family on 11/24/2023 PLUS: Listen to the students at Ramallah Friends School singing a Christmas greeting to the children of Gaza and the world https://youtu.be/ZsEbIVJy0Gg Palestine Trauma Centre (UK) worker delivering food parcels in Gaza     |
REMINDER: Cafe Palestine on Sat 6th May at 4pm UK time
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| Cafe Palestine 36 Saturday May 6th 2023 at 16:00-17:30 (UK time) Get To Know Us! Our lives with mental illness in the Palestinian community Presenters: Suzan Mitwalli and Dr Yoke Rabaia from Birzeit University and Professor Hanna Kienzler from Kings College, London https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85488505462?pwd=RjlrVGIvYUhIK0txa1FneDQraHZMdz09 What does it mean to live and participate in the community with severe mental illness? The presenters have researched this question in the context of Palestine with persons with severe mental illness and practitioners from the Palestinian Counseling Centre. Their findings have led to the publication of an illustrated storybook “Get to know us! Our lives with mental illness in the Palestinian community” which explores the difficulties and limited opportunities for people with mental illness to live and participate in their communities. Chapters focus on the notions of community, life with mental illness, equity, spare time, and the rights to medication and work. In their talk, they will share their insights into community inclusion and participation of people with severe mental illness in Palestine. They will describe the process of co-producing the book and highlight how the book can be used as part of teaching, training and awareness raising initiatives.The project, which has the idea of social justice at its heart will be of interest, not only to those involved with Palestine but also to anyone using or wishing to explore similar collaborations with those living with a mental illness diagnosis. Feel free to read and engage with the book beforehand. A PDF copy of the book (Arabic and English) as well as audio recordings (Arabic) of all the chapters are freely available to you on this website: https://www.get-to-know-us.com Speakers Suzan Mitwalli is an academic researcher at the Institute of Community and Public Health- Birzeit University and assistant coordinator of the Master’s program in Community and Public Health (MPH). Suzan’s main research interest is mental health, and she has worked for many years on intervention research with the Community-Based Rehabilitation organization (CBR). She has also been involved in several research projects at the Institute including women’s health, population health, child health, and occupational health using quantitative and qualitative research methods. Her current research interest is participatory research with people with mental health issues. Yoke Rabaia is an academic researcher at the Institute of Community and Public Health – Birzeit University. Her main field is psychosocial health of populations in contexts of military occupation and human insecurity, with a specific interest in community-based interventions. Besides her work in Palestine, Yoke also conducted qualitative field research with local researchers in Benghazi, Libya, and Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. She strongly believes that participatory action research is crucial in order to understand and work towards better social conditions for people who are stigmatized or looked down upon by others in society. Hanna Kienzler is a Professor in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at King’s College London. As an anthropologist, with a long-standing interest in the field of global health, Hanna investigates how systemic violence, ethnic conflict and complex emergencies intersect with health and mental health outcomes. She conducts ethnographic research on the impact of war and trauma on women in Kosovo; participatory action research on what it means for persons with mental health problems to live and participate in their respective communities in Palestine; refugee mental health and place in the UK; and on humanitarian and mental health interventions in fragile states. Praise for the book Rajiah Abu Sway (Director of the Mental Health Project at the Office of the World Health Organization in Palestine): This is the first book I have read that gives space and voice to a marginalised sector that is not spoken about in our Palestinian community – people with mental illness. These are people we tend to forget about even though they live among us, who we not only pretend not to see or acknowledge, but who we also belittle and address in stigmatising terms, even describing them as crazy. In fact what they need from us is empathy, love, under- standing, and support. What is the situation of these people in our Palestinian community? The book answers this question through their voices, as they tell us about their problems, their dreams, and their aspirations, including their unrelenting determination to live and work, to love and be loved, and to form families like everyone else, and all this in a language that captures the heart. Doctor Fathi Fleifel (Director of the Mental Health Center of the Palestinian Red Crescent: This book embodies the real collaboration between the researcher and the researched, between the narrator and the listener without filter or intervening adjustments. This book gives us the opportunity to think about how patients with mental illness see themselves and their surroundings. They spoke in their own way, in simplicity and depth, without affectation or pretence, about the concepts of safety, dignity and rights, all of which are considered the pillars of humanity. Even though I supposedly know a lot about the subject, the book, with its similes and meanings, increased my knowledge and widened my perceptions of the void that still exists. It reminds me that we always can and must do what we can as individuals to contribute to an improvement of the situation, either in the cultural, legal or infrastructural dimension. Doctor Samah Jabr (Director of Mental Health at the Palestinian Ministry of Health): This participatory research is a vitally important contribution to our knowledge about the experiences of people who suffer from mental illness, and their relations with their families and the community, in a context of limited income, and exposure to political violence. And this provides evidence to policy makers, mental health professionals, and community leaders, so they can realise that treatment is not limited to medication and does not end between the walls of the hospital. The advocacy for the rights of people with mental illness and a guarantee that they can be integrated into the community are the main elements for individual and community wellbeing. OTHER MEETINGS AND EVENTS (in date order) The Trinity of Fundamentals: with Wisam Rafeedie Saturday 6th May 5pm UK / 7pm Palestine. An event taking place in New York.This is the book launch of Rafeedie’s fictionalized account of his nine years of hiding from the Occupation in Palestine, which ended in his capture by the Israeli occupation army in 1991. Rafeedie wrote The Trinity of Fundamentals during his imprisonment at Naqab Prison in 1993. https://peoplesforum.org/events/the-trinity-of-fundamentals-a-conversation-with-wisam-rafeedie/ Makan: ‘Home Is Where Our Hearts Are: Realising The Right of Return’ Tuesday 9th May 5pm UK/ 7pm Palestine Luke Williams will facilitate a discussion with Lubnah Shomali, from BADIL Resource Centre for Palestinian Residency and Refugee Rights in Palestine, and Olivier Bancoult, leader of the Chagos Refugee Group, exploring the interconnection between the Palestinian and Chagossian struggle for justice in the face of crimes against humanity.’ https://www.crowdcast.io/e/realisingrightofreturn/register Palestinian Collective Memory: 75 Years of Nakba and Resistance Friday 12th May at 6pm UK / 8pm Palestine Online event organised by the Palestine Global Mental Health Network.The impressive line-up includes Jeanine Hourani, Asrar Kayal, Lama Khouri, Rozeen Marjieh and Rawan Nemer, with discussants Lara and Stephen Sheehi. https://www.pgmhn.org/calendar-1/the-palestine-global-mental-health-network NAKBA 75 – National March: Free Palestine – End Apartheid Saturday 13 May 2023 at 12pm UK Location: The BBC, Portland Place W1A, London Organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Palestine Forum in Britain, Friends of Al Aqsa, Muslim Association of Great Britain and CND. https://www.palestinecampaign.org/events/nakba-75-national-protest/ Meeting place for mental health workers to walk together, alongside supporters of ICAHD-UK: Outside Café Nero at 273 Regent Street W1B 2EZ and at the corner of Great Castle Street; the nearest tube station is Oxford Circus. Please look out for UK Mental Health Palestine Banner. |
Cafe Palestine is back! Sat 6th May at 15.45-17.30 (UK time). Plus: Dr Yasser Abu Jamei is coming to London
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| Cafe Palestine 36 Saturday May 6th 2023 15.45-17.30 (UK time) Get To Know Us! Our lives with mental illness in the Palestinian community Presenters: Suzan Mitwalli and Dr Yoke Rabaia from Birzeit University and Professor Hanna Kienzler from Kings College, London https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85488505462?pwd=RjlrVGIvYUhIK0txa1FneDQraHZMdz09 What does it mean to live and participate in the community with severe mental illness? The presenters have researched this question in the context of Palestine with persons with severe mental illness and practitioners from the Palestinian Counseling Centre. Their findings have led to the publication of an illustrated storybook “Get to know us! Our lives with mental illness in the Palestinian community” which explores the difficulties and limited opportunities for people with mental illness to live and participate in their communities. Chapters focus on the notions of community, life with mental illness, equity, spare time, and the rights to medication and work. In their talk, they will share their insights into community inclusion and participation of people with severe mental illness in Palestine. They will describe the process of co-producing the book and highlight how the book can be used as part of teaching, training and awareness raising initiatives. The project, which has the idea of social justice at its heart will be of interest, not only to those involved with Palestine but also to anyone using or wishing to explore similar collaborations with those living with a mental illness diagnosis. 2. Dr Yasser Abu Jamei from the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme Dr Abu Jamei, Director of the GCMHP and founding member of the Palestine Global Mental Health Network is visiting London in May.The UKPMHN, together with the Friends of Bir Ziet University, and Birkbeck University, are arranging two public meetings to which everyone is cordially invited. a) Thursday 25th May at 5pm, Birkbeck University. Professor Jacqueline Rose will chair this event. b) Friday 26th May at 6:00pm-7:30pm hosted by Friends of Bir Zeit University. The venue is not yet confirmed but will be in central London. Further details of both meetings will be circulated soon. |
NPSA congress in Tel Aviv; removal of Palestinian children’s art; plus other campaigns, papers and news
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| 1. No more ‘business as usual’: a call to the NPSA The International Neuropsychoanalytic Association (NPSA) has responded to requests not to hold its annual congress in Tel Aviv, defending their decision with an apologia for apartheid (‘Israel is a complex and multifaceted society’). The Mental Health Networks’ collective response states that: ‘To counterpose a day or two of talking together as an alternative to sustained solidarity work is arrogant and insulting, as well as directly undermining the only effective strategy of resistance available to Palestinians.’ The full reply, published in Mondoweiss, is available here Meanwhile, Ahmad Manasra – jailed since he was 13 and now suffering from acute psychological difficulties, is sentenced to a further six months in solitary confinement by an Israeli court.To understand why we oppose the normalisation of apartheid Israel, watch this video. 2. Chelsea and Westminster Hospital removes children’s art at behest of Israel lobby group Further evidence that support for apartheid Israel avoids cognitive dissonance by refusing to acknowledge Palestinian realities has been provided by an NHS hospital administration. UK Lawyers for Israel are claiming ‘credit’ for protecting Jewish patients from being ‘offended’ by having to see an exhibition of children’s artwork from Gaza. The hospital apparently agrees. Two articles explore the implications of this betrayal: Gwyn Daniel’s ‘Even with Palestinian children’s art, Israel must make itself the victim’, and Ramzy Baroud’s ‘Palestinian children’s art exposes Israel’s cultural genocide’ There is a petition ‘Rehang Children’s Artwork from Gaza at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital’ here 3. Samidoun: Launching ‘a campaign to liberate the remains of Palestinian martyrs’ The UKPMHN supports this campaign to confront one of the most repellent practices of the occupation, the withholding of the bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces. This issue, and its impact on the families concerned, was the subject of Café Palestine 9 with Hussam Kana’na. Read this material, write to your MP, write to Samidoun…. 4. Fighting the lobby’s racism, with Lara Sheehi Watch this podcast where Lara is joined by her lawyer Abed Ayoub, executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, to talk about how she is resisting the smear campaign and collusion by her university 5. Journal of the American Psychological Association:Call for papers: Practicing decolonial and liberation psychologies Further details at the link above. Letter of intent deadline: March 30, 2023 6. Essential Reading from Samah Jabr and Elizabeth Berger Samah and Elizabeth’s new paper has just appeared in the International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies: Community mental health, psychoanalysis, and freedom: The case of Palestine (unfortunately this is not on open access: students and others should be able to read it through their libraries etc. If not, ask your library to subscribe!) 7. History: On Britain’s role in suppressing the first Palestinian Revolt 1936-39 A Balfour Project webinar with Matthew Hughes… |
UK-Palestine Mental Health Network message of solidarity with Dr Lara Sheehi
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| UK-Palestine Mental Health Network message of solidarity with Dr Lara Sheehi Those who attended Café Palestine events during lockdown, or who enjoyed the other webinars that featured the authors of the ground-breaking and prize-winning ‘Psychoanalysis Under Occupation: Practising Resistance in Palestine’, will be shocked to learn that Professor Lara Sheehi has become the latest academic target of the Zionist lobby in the United States. Lara has done more than almost anyone, certainly in our field, in sharing her platform with Palestinian colleagues, and in bringing their work to the notice of a worldwide audience. This, no doubt, is the reason that she is being targeted. Working from a decolonial, feminist and liberatory perspective, she is also among the most incisive critics of the adaptive tendencies within the discipline of psychotherapy. The UK-Palestine Mental Health Network sends its warmest greetings and offers its full support to Lara, in facing the intimidation and threats, the smearing and misrepresentations that she is currently experiencing. We urge George Washington University, which is being pressured to discipline or sack her, to resist the pressure to cave in to groups that we know are established to protect apartheid Israel and its supremacist ideology. Below are the links to some of the many tributes and declarations of support for Lara… Lara is to be defended by the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee. Palestine Global Mental Health Network: Statement in Defense of Dr. Lara Sheehi at George Washington University (signed by the USA, UK, Ireland, France Networks, and published in Mondoweiss) Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council Supports Dr. Lara Sheehi Letter of Support for Dr. Lara Sheehi by Jewish Colleagues U.S. Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (USACBI): Letter in support of Dr. Lara Sheehi Please sign. George Washington Uni Student/Alumni Letter of Support for Dr. Sheehi The editors of Parapraxis Magazine: A Call to Solidarity: Standing with Lara Sheehi whose message incorporates a statement of support for Lara from The Board of Directors, The Society for Psychoanalysis and Psychoanalytic Psychology, APA Division 39 The BIPOCanalysis Collective Statement of Support for Dr. Lara Sheehi (‘a group comprised of hundreds of Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color within the international psychoanalytic community’). The following is an article written by Lara herself in which she describes in detail the context for the complaints against her and powerfully rebuts the false account promoted by the pro-Zionist lobby group, StandWithUs. She exposes the racism and misogyny behind these attacks on her and other Palestinian academics who challenge colonising processes https://www.counterpunch.org/2023/02/03/on-targeting-an-arab-woman |
Crisis in Palestine: News, actions, PCC Conference, webinars and research articles
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| Dear friends, Colonial powers always claim the right to kill and plunder without consequences. They always label the resistance they encounter as ‘terrorism’. We see the results of this mindset in the wanton use of lethal force employed by Israeli occupation forces that has killed over 30 Palestinians this month and also led to seven Jewish Israeli deaths. Israeli politicians now openly demand more house demolitions, a collective punishment, and a crime under international law. The international community does nothing. It is time for us all to act, together, to stop settler colonialism in its tracks. Mental health professionals can, as a start, adopt a “don’t go, don’t support” position in regard to international mental health-related events held in Israel, as described in our Do No Harm statement. By doing so, we avoid gratuitously endorsing colonialism and apartheid, and give meaningful expression to the ethical principles by which we claim to live and work. In this newsletter: 1. Neuropsychoanalysts (NPSA) to hold Conference in Tel Aviv: the Networks ask that they reconsider. 2. Healing the Spirit and Instilling Hope: Yasser Abu Jamei, Director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Live from USA 3. Ahmad Manasra Campaign: Physicians’ letter to Israeli President 4. Palestine Counselling Centre 2023 Conference: 20-21 March: call for papers 5. Health and Human Rights Journal: special issue on Palestine 6. A Story of Colonialism, Apartheid and Resistance: two new videos and one old one 7. Café Palestine 35 recording 1. International Neuropsychoanalytic Association (NPSA) to hold Conference in Tel Aviv This year the NPSA is to hold its annual congress in Tel Aviv, ignoring the request by Palesetinian civil society that international associations refrain from normalising apartheid and colonialism. The UKPMHN has posted an Open Letter to members of the NPSA, and has written to each of the NPSA’s regional groups, protesting this decision and requesting that it is reviewed and revoked. Please reinforce these actions by adding your voice, sending NPSA a message expressing your concerns. To find your local NPSA group, go to this link. If you have any connection with the NPSA: i) Circulate the Open Letter and the Do No Harm statement to your contacts, and seek their opinion as to the appropriateness of the conference location. ii) Call for a pause, creating an opportunity to review the AGM’s decision, and to consult Palestinian mental health professionals as to their views. iii) Ask individuals in your organisation who agree it should not take place in Israel to write to the NPSA conference committee stating their intention not to attend and giving the reasons why iv) Find any opportunity to inform other members (at workshops or other meetings) of the gross inappropriateness of Tel Aviv as a location and the affront to human rights it represents. If you are unsure of the reasons for joining the international boycott movement, please visit the BDS website; and read our ‘Do No Harm’ Statement. 2. Healing the Spirit and Instilling Hope: Yasser Abu Jamei, Director of the Gaza Community Mental Health Live from the USA A tour co-sponsored by The Jerusalem Fund and the USA Palestine Mental Health Network, Washington DC Tuesday, February 14, 2023 – 4pm EST, 9pm UK, 11pm Palestine: this event will be livestreamed on facebook and youtube. For details of all Yasser’s appearances, go to this link. 3. Ahmad Manasra Campaign: Physicians’ letter to Israeli President The UKPMHN coordinated the collection of signatures from 149 Physicians, in a letter appealing to Isaac Herzog, President of Israel, to intervene in the case of Ahmad Manasra. The full text can be found here. With many thanks to all the medical practitioners from our list who added their names to the letter. It has been circulated in parliament and been sent to the UN Special Rapporteurs. To keep up the pressure on the UK government it would be helpful if you also forwarded it to your MP and to any media outlets you know. This recent webinar is of direct relevance to the free Ahmad Manasra campaign: Arbitrary by Default: Palestinian children in Israeli Military Detention presented by No Way to Treat a Child. 4. Palestine Counselling Centre 2023 Conference: 20-21 March “Pscychotherapy, the therapist and the therapeutic relationship in the context of Israeli settler colonialism in Palestine” See the attachment for information about, and an invitation to take part, in this conference. Apologies – this is a late notice: if you have a paper you would like to present do contact PCC soon. See this notice for contact details. 5. Health and Human Rights Journal: special issue on Palestine Seven up to date and in-depth papers, concluding with ‘A Call for Social Justice and for a Human Rights Approach with Regard to Mental Health in the Occupied Palestinian Territories’ by Maria Helbich and Samah Jabr. All recommended. https://www.hhrjournal.org/volume-24-issue-2-december-2022/#palestine 6. A Story of Colonialism, Apartheid and Resistance: two new videos and one old one: A new 5 minute video from Makan: ‘Palestine, a Story of Colonialism and Resistance’. And from Mondoweiss, a 22 minute video: Inside Israeli Apartheid Video from the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions: Resisting the Occupation on the Ground 7. Café Palestine 35 Recording Standing Together: International Activism and Solidarity with Palestine This Café Palestine was dedicated to the precious memory of Eamon McMahon 1951-2022 Chair: Victoria Brittain Tribute by Arlene Healey of the Ireland Palestine Mental Health Network to the activism and solidarity work of Eamon McMahon Elizabeth Berger and Lama Khouri on international solidarity initiatives from the USA-Palestine Mental health Network and the Palestine-Global Network including collaboration on the campaign for the release of Ahmad Manasra and other child prisoners. Gwyn Daniel on pushing back against the instrumentalisation of antisemitism to silence Palestinian activism Guy Shennan and Issa Rabadi on recent collaborative developments in Palestine-related social work activism within the UK, in Palestine and internationally |
Open letter to members of the International Neuropsychoanalytic Association (NPSA)
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| Open letter to members of the International Neuropsychoanalytic Association (NPSA)from the UK-Palestine Mental Health Network We write to protest the decision of the NPSA to locate its 2023 Conference in Tel Aviv. It is common knowledge that Palestinian civil society has courteously requested that the international community refrain from acts that collude in a denial of the social injustice, military occupation and oppression to which they are subject. To ignore this request is to side with a colonial system of ethnic erasure; a society that the international, Israeli and Palestinian human rights community have declared – in detailed and fully documented reports (see notes below) – to exemplify the crime of apartheid. Apartheid is a crime against humanity under international law: it is our collective responsibility to work to dismantle it. The NPSA’s decision means turning a blind eye to Israel’s deplorable record of human rights abuses and multiple infringements of international law. The NPSA is asking you to ignore reality: a regime that has for decades (through the use of torture, house demolitions, the plunder of land, the abuse of children, repeated massacres, the routine illegal use of lethal force etc) inflicted mass trauma on the Palestinian people. This is not a place to locate a ‘civilised’ conversation about ‘Play’. The NPSA may protest that it is neutral, that its presence in Tel Aviv should not be taken as supportive of the regime or its racist ideology: that the NPSA does not intend to ‘normalise’ apartheid. The evidence suggests otherwise, and is there on its website for everyone to see: https://npsa-association.org/events/npsa-congress-tel-aviv-yafo-israel-2023/ When we open this page, we are immediately presented with a series of photographs that, however naïvely or unwittingly, portray Israel as an unproblematic location for scientific work. The snapshots show a country of beauty, a multi-ethnic oasis with a rich cultural heritage, at the same time historic and spiritual, vibrant and forward-looking. This is illustrative of a profound splitting expressive of the regime’s supremacist fantasies. Israel is not a safe, law-abiding country. The privileges that the NPSA invites you to enjoy – of comfort and security, freedom to travel (and by the quickest and most economical means), access to the beach, of not being targeted due to your ethnicity or religion – are denied to millions of Palestine’s indigenous population. You will be enjoying the privileges afforded by apartheid. The reality is of relentless state violence and repression; racist laws; and a shocking toll in the maiming and killing of mainly young Palestinian civilians. To get a sense of how distorted a view is being offered to NPSA members, please spend some time exploring the Israel-Palestine Timeline website. We call on you, as a member or supporter of the NPSA: i) to protest to your regional associations and to the international leadership, calling for the postponement of this congress until such time as a full assessment of Israel as an appropriate location can be made. Please request that this assessment includes proper consultation with Palestinian mental health professionals and associations. ii) to refrain from attending this conference, should it go ahead, and to indicate to the organisation your reasons for taking this decision. The UKPMHN welcomes any contact with individuals or groups belonging to the NPSA, or enquiries from those considering attending this conference, or members of other organisations that are being asked to participate in similar events. Notes See: Human Rights Watch 2021; B’Tselem 2021; Amnesty International 2022; Al Haq 2022. |
الشبكة البريطانية الفلسطينية للصحة النفسية 