{"id":237898,"date":"2024-03-08T16:02:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T21:02:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?post_type=bu-article&p=237898"},"modified":"2024-09-17T16:48:17","modified_gmt":"2024-09-17T20:48:17","slug":"on-gaza-what-does-public-health-call-us-to-do-in-this-moment","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2024\/on-gaza-what-does-public-health-call-us-to-do-in-this-moment\/","title":{"rendered":"On Gaza: What Does Public Health Call Us to Do in This Moment?"},"content":{"rendered":"\t
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOn Gaza: What Does Public Health Call Us to Do in This Moment?\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/h1>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\n\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\n\t<\/div>\n\n\t\n
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March 8, 2024<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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Viewpoint by Jacob Bor<\/a>, Walae Hayek, Fady Shanow, and Michael Siegel<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Viewpoint articles are written by members of the SPH community from a wide diversity of perspectives. The views expressed are solely those of the authors and are not intended to represent the views of Boston University or the School of Public Health. We aspire to a culture where all can express views in a context of civility and respect. Our guidance on the values that guide our commitment can be found at Revisiting the Principles of Free and Inclusive Academic Speech<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Responding to Dean Galea\u2019s call<\/a> on January 4th<\/sup> for \u201cshared reflection and deliberation,\u201d and his most recent note<\/a> on February 29th, we believe public health calls us to observe<\/em>, understand root causes<\/em>, and take action amidst the ongoing devastation in Gaza<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Observe. <\/strong>First, public health calls us to be methodical in our analysis of population health while recognizing the biases that may eclipse our ability to do so effectively and equitably.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the past 140 days, Israel has killed over 30,000 Palestinians<\/a> in Gaza. Forty percent of those have been children<\/a>. Israel has dropped more than 45,000<\/a> bombs<\/a> on Gaza, targeting densely populated areas<\/a>, even those declared \u201csafe<\/a>.\u201d This campaign has damaged nearly 70%<\/a> of all homes and displaced <\/a>85% of Gaza\u2019s population.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many public health experts<\/a> fear that the worst of the crisis<\/a> is to come. Israel has bombed most<\/a> of Gaza\u2019s hospitals<\/a> and imposed a complete siege<\/a>, cutting off access to food, electricity, and medical supplies. According to the UN, 2.1 million residents<\/a> of Gaza face food insecurity and lack access to water and sanitation<\/a>, raising the potential for outbreaks of diarrheal illness<\/a>. Beyond the current state of emergency, Israel\u2019s attack will have enormous intergenerational<\/a> impacts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These facts have been widely documented but are obscured by propaganda<\/a>, repression of<\/a> journalists<\/a>, and biased<\/a> reporting<\/a>. The US-based pro-Israel<\/a> lobby<\/a> has successfully equated criticism of Israel with antisemitism<\/a>, persecuting critics and silencing debate. However, many<\/a> Jews do not<\/a> support<\/a> Zionism<\/a> and are<\/a> deeply<\/a> critical of Israeli policy.<\/a> Criticism of Israel does not imply anti-Jewish prejudice, yet repression stifles free expression on academic campuses and in society at large.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Understand root causes. <\/strong>Second, public health calls us to investigate the root causes of the population health crisis in Gaza. The Israel-Palestine conflict did not begin on October 7, 2023<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dating back to its founding and accentuated under the current government, Israel has pursued policies to expand Jewish settlement and state control \u201cfrom the river to the sea<\/a>,\u201d creating an apartheid system<\/a> in which Palestinians in occupied territories lack equal rights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zionism<\/a> emerged in the late 19th and early 20th century as a response to rising antisemitism<\/a> and persecution in Europe. In the words of its founder, Theodor Herzl, Zionism was a \u201ccolonial\u201d project<\/a> to resettle Jews in Palestine and create a Jewish ethnic nation-state. As many as 750,000 Palestinians<\/a> were violently displaced in the Nakba<\/em><\/a> or \u201ccatastrophe\u201d to create a Jewish ethnic majority in the nascent state of Israel in 1948. Many current residents of Gaza are the descendants of Palestinian refugees from the Nakba.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israeli occupation and settlement of Palestine continue against international law<\/a>. The occupation has turned Palestine into an archipelago of small islands<\/a> existing within apartheid infrastructure<\/a>, with roads segregating Palestinians and citizens of Israel, settler control over water, food, and other natural resources, and violent military surveillance and prosecution. Gaza has been under a 15-year<\/a> Israeli blockade<\/a> that restricted movement and immiserated the population. Israel\u2019s assault on Gaza aligns with the long-term Zionist effort to marginalize, remove, and reduce the Palestinian population. In January, the International Court of Justice ordered<\/a> Israel to \u201ctake all possible measures to prevent genocide.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israeli officials have justified Israel\u2019s policies and practices towards Palestinians by dehumanizing them. Members of Israeli government speak of Palestinians with<\/a> virulent<\/a> racism<\/a> and hate<\/a>. In its military decisions\u2014dropping large numbers of non-precision bombs<\/a>, targeting residences<\/a> and cutting off basic necessities of life<\/a>\u2014Israel is inflicting terror<\/a> and population harm. Statements<\/a> from Israeli officials suggest that their attacks on Palestinians are not collateral damage, but collective<\/a> punishment<\/a>, in what one scholar described as \u201cepidemiological\u201d<\/a> warfare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The U.S. is an active contributor to this public health crisis: Israel\u2019s assault on Gaza is directly enabled by U.S. military<\/a> and diplomatic<\/a> support and funded by U.S. taxpayers<\/a>. U.S. Congress and the Biden administration continue military support for Israel\u2019s attack on Gaza despite a majority of voters supporting a permanent ceasefire<\/a> and international calls for the cessation of Israel\u2019s attacks\u2014including three UN resolutions<\/a>, which the US has vetoed.  This has enabled Israel to maintain its barrage while preventing<\/a> meaningful<\/a> humanitarian<\/a> aid<\/a> from<\/a> reaching Gaza.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Take Action. <\/strong>Lastly, public health calls us to dismantle the policies, programs, and practices that contribute to the poor population health outcomes and develop alternatives to support healthier communities, centering those most impacted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following these principles, the public health community must begin with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Creating forums that center Palestinian perspectives, while protecting them and their allies from censorship and repression;<\/p>\n

2. Pressuring the US government to end its military support for Israel, as others have in this national letter<\/a>; and\n

3. Joining the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS)<\/a> movement, inspired by the one that aided in ending apartheid<\/a> in South Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dean Galea has written that \u201cpublic health is about making the acceptable unacceptable<\/a>\u201d and refusing to normalize suffering. On Gaza, the call of public health is clear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jacob Bor is an associate professor of global health and epidemiology. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walae Hayek is a public health policy advocate and BUSPH class of 2021 alumnus.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fady Shanow is a healthcare marketing professional, BUSPH class of 2022 alumnus.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Michael Siegel is a professor in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine at the Tufts University School of Medicine and formerly on the faculty of BUSPH from 1995-2021.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The School of Public Health hosted open sessions for our community for discussion about issues covered in this Viewpoint in spring 2024, including an open session with our\u00a0Dean of Practice<\/a>\u00a0and one with our\u00a0Dean of DEIJ<\/a>.\u00a0SPH also held sessions on antisemitism<\/a> and\u00a0Islamophobia<\/a>. All sessions were open to students, staff, and faculty. For those looking for resources or support in this moment, a summary of available resources is here.<\/a><\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Editor\u2019s note:<\/em><\/strong> SPH This Week has published two viewpoint essays by members of the BU community on Israel and Gaza. The other essay can be found here<\/a>. Please contact the authors directly for any correspondence related to these published viewpoints<\/em><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Viewpoint by Jacob Bor, Walae Hayek, Fady Shanow, and Michael Siegel Viewpoint articles are written by members of the SPH community from a wide diversity of perspectives. The views expressed are solely those of the authors and are not intended to represent the views of Boston University or the School of Public Health. We aspire to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7185,"featured_media":237914,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"bu_prepress_billboard":"","_bu_prepress_primary_term":"viewpoint","_bu_prepress_primary_term_manual":"Viewpoint"},"tags":[1751],"bu-publication":[3516],"sphnews-article-category":[3519,3545],"sphnews-topic":[],"bu_edition":[],"media_type":[],"profile_tax":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/237898"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/bu-article"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7185"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237898"}],"version-history":[{"count":44,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/237898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":245108,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-article\/237898\/revisions\/245108"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237914"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237898"},{"taxonomy":"bu-publication","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu-publication?post=237898"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-article-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-article-category?post=237898"},{"taxonomy":"sphnews-topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/sphnews-topic?post=237898"},{"taxonomy":"bu_edition","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bu_edition?post=237898"},{"taxonomy":"media_type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media_type?post=237898"},{"taxonomy":"profile_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/profile_tax?post=237898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}