A Structural Approach to Palestinian Health

Date and Time: Wednesday, April 12, 2023 at 12:00pm – 1:00pm ET

Location: Zoom or in person (food will be provided)

Three members of the Leadership Collective of the FXB Center’s Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights, Yara Asi, PhD, David Mills, MD, and Bram Wispelwey, MD, MPH, will be the featured speakers during a hybrid event at the Tufts University Medical School as part of the 2022-2023 Global Health Seminar Series.

The destruction and de-development of the Palestinian health system in the occupied territory, and the inequitable health outcomes of Palestinian citizens of Israel and refugees just beyond its borders, are often theorized as the results of a longstanding conflict. But these health realities are instead best conceptualized as part of a broader effort toward Palestinian dispossession, one in which the United States is an active participant. In the last few years, leading Israeli and international human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and B’Tselem, have joined numerous Palestinian voices in declaring that the system of control that dominates Palestinian lives amounts to apartheid. Just as the WHO declared in 1981 that an apartheid system was inconsistent with the right to health, this session will explore how the structures that delimit Palestinian lives generate corrosive health determinants through direct and structural violence, including movement limitations, a healthcare permit regime, inadequate funding and resources, and humanitarian aid dependence, among others. We will also discuss an example of a community-based movement for health improvement and agency in West Bank refugee camps, as well as highlight key steps toward sustainable remediation of Palestinian health determinants. 

Image courtesy of Health in Palestine. Both women are community health workers.