Gaza-bound Kiwi Doctors Farewelled – ‘Succeed And Return Home Safely’

Dr Wasfi Shahin, Dr Faiez Idais and Dr Adnan Al-Kenani are three Kiwi doctors bringing humanitarian and medical aid to Gaza as part of Kia Ora Gaza’s Freedom Flotilla. They left from Auckland International Airport at 11am today. AHW4P committee members, Nurse Practitioner Mikey Brenndorfer and Occupational Therapist Romelli Rodriguez-Jolly, joined the supporters gathered to bid them farewell.

“We at Aotearoa Healthcare Workers for Palestine would like to extend our gratitude to our medical colleagues for their courage and wish them all the best in their humanitarian mission”, said AHW4P spokesperson Dr Raisa Ahmed. “We encourage everyone to donate to Kia Ora Gaza for this very important mission. Above all, we hope they will succeed and return home safely.”

“The humanitarian and health catastrophe in Gaza is worsening by the day. Dr Feroze Sidhwa and Dr Mark Perlmutter, recently returned from volunteering in the European Hospital in Gaza, have said, ‘as surgeons, we have never seen cruelty like Israel’s genocide in Gaza’.”

AHW4P urges everyone to sign our open letter to all medical bodies in Aotearoa to speak up and break the silence. Health professionals have an ethical and moral obligation to advocate for the health of everyone. By not doing so, we risk being in direct contradiction to the sacred oath we take as healthcare professionals to not cause harm.

AHW4P call on all medical institutions and unions in Aotearoa and globally to:

1) Call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

2) Call for an immediate end to the siege on Gaza.

3) Call for an end to the illegal occupation of Palestine by Israel.

4) Call for the NZ government to abide by the ICJ ruling.

5) Call for uninterrupted humanitarian aid to be allowed into Gaza.

6) Call for the NZ government to immediately reinstate funding to UNWRA.

7) Actively support the BDS campaign against the apartheid state of Israel.

8) Protect all healthcare workers' right to advocate for Palestinian human rights.

9) Support the requests for special humanitarian visas for Palestinians in Gaza.

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