Palestine Program Webinars

One year later: assessing the scale of mortality in Gaza

On Wednesday, October 23, 2024, the Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights hosted a discussion about the scale of mortality in Gaza over the preceding year through direct and indirect deaths with Les Roberts, an expert in field measurement of mortality in crises, and Zeina Jamaluddine, a nutritionist and epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine focusing on health improvement of women and children, especially those affected by conflict in the Middle East and North Africa region.

This webinar was co-sponsored by the Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative at the Harvard Divinity School, the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University.

The Polio Crisis in Gaza: Causes, Challenges of Vaccination, and Future Implications

On Tuesday, September 24, 2024, the Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights hosted a discussion about the outbreak of poliovirus in the Gaza Strip for the first time in 25 years. Panelists discussed the causes of the outbreak, the health cluster vaccination program and its associated challenges, and the future implications of this outbreak on Gaza’s healthcare system.

This webinar was co-sponsored by the Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative at the Harvard Divinity School, the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School, and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University.

Polio in Gaza: Experts explain the outbreak and the public health response

Below are excerpts from the discussion and thoughts from the panel’s moderator, lightly edited for clarity.

Medical Humanitarian Visits: Potential and Limitations in Gaza

On Wednesday, June 12, 2024, the Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights hosted a discussion about humanitarian intervention in Gaza. Panelists discussed the historical context of humanitarian intervention in Palestine, its role within a fractured healthcare system, and the potential and limitations of humanitarian intervention during the attacks on Gaza’s healthcare system at the time.

This event was co-sponsored by the Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative at the Harvard Divinity School and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University.

A Looming Famine: Starvation in Gaza

On Tuesday, April 30, 2024, the Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights hosted a virtual conversation about the starvation of civilians in the Gaza Strip. According to the Human Rights Watch, Israeli forces at the time were deliberately blocking the delivery of water, food, and fuel, and using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare in Gaza which is a war crime according to international law. The webinar speakers were Alex de Waal, an expert on mass starvation and the Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation, Michael Fakhri, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food and professor at the University of Oregon School of Law, and Georgios Petropoulos, the head of the Gaza United Nations sub-office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) in the occupied Palestinian territories. The webinar was moderated by FXB’s Director of Research, Professor Jacqueline Bhabha, JD, MSc.

This event was co-sponsored by the Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative at the Harvard Divinity School, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University, and the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy.

The South Africa ICJ Genocide Case Against Israel: Implications for Palestinian Health

On Wednesday, February 7, 2024, the Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights hosted a webinar with legal and public health experts to discuss South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

On January 11, 2024, the South African legal team argued at the International Court of Justice that Israel, in action and intent, breached the 1948 Genocide Convention by perpetrating the following acts of genocide in Gaza: mass killings of Palestinians; bodily and mental harm; forced displacement and food blockade; destruction of the healthcare system; and preventing Palestinian births.

This event focused on the connection between Israel’s long-standing attacks on the right to health in Palestine and the crime of genocide and was co-sponsored by the Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative at Harvard Divinity School, the Carr Center for Human Rights, and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University. FXB Center Director Mary T. Bassett, MD, MPH, delivered introductory remarks.

A Conversation with Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah

On Monday, December 11, 2023, the Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights, a partnership program between the François-Xavier Bagnoud Center for Health and Human Rights and the Institute of Community and Public Health at Birzeit University hosted a webinar with Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah in conversation with Dr. Omar Dewachi, Associate Professor of Anthropology at Rutgers University. Dr. Abu-Sittah is a British-Palestinian plastic and reconstructive surgeon who had spent several weeks prior to the webinar working in hospitals in northern Gaza. He shared a first-hand account of his experience caring for patients during the Israeli bombardment of Gaza. Dr. Dewachi’s work examines the social, medical, and environmental fallouts of decades of war and violence in Iraq and the broader Middle East. A Q&A session followed the presentation.

This webinar was co-sponsored by the Center for Middle Eastern Studies and the Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative at Harvard Divinity School.

Refuge and Resistance: A Conversation with Anne Irfan

On Wednesday, November 8, 2023, the Palestine Program‘s inaugural fellow, Dr. Sawsan Abdulrahim, and Dr. Anne Irfan discussed Dr. Irfan’s recent book Refuge and Resistance: Palestinians and the International Refugee System. The book traces the history and politics of the specialized UN body, the Relief and Works Agency, that was established to provide quasi-state services to Palestinian refugees including education and healthcare. Dr. Irfan shows how Palestinian refugees invoked internationalist norms to demand their political rights while resisting the UN’s categorization of their plight as an apolitical humanitarian issue.

This webinar was co-sponsored by the Carr Center for Human Rights Policy, the Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and the Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative at Harvard Divinity School and was part of a series of events commemorating the 75th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which was celebrated on December 10, 2023.

Flash Webinar: Attacks on Healthcare in Gaza

On Thursday, November 2, 2023, the FXB Center’s Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights hosted a virtual conversation with health and human rights experts to discuss the attacks on healthcare in Gaza, the West Bank, and the United States.

This event was co-sponsored by the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative at Harvard Divinity School.

Reassembling the Pieces: Experiences from the Palestine Social Medicine Course

In July 2023, the Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights hosted its inaugural Palestine Social Medicine Course at the Institute of Community and Public Health at Birzeit University in partnership with the World Health Organization in occupied Palestinian territory. Thirty students participated from the United States, West Bank, and the Gaza Strip. The course included 5 field visits, lectures, and guest speakers from over 20 local and international organizations and institutions.

During this virtual discussion, which took place on September 27, 2023, we got to hear directly from students about their experience and takeaways.

Settler Colonialism, Structural Racism, and The Palestinian Right to Health Special Edition: A conversation with the Authors

In December 2022 the Health and Human Rights Journal published a special section on the Palestinian right to health aiming to explore the conceptual and material connections between settler colonialism, structural racism, and human rights approaches to Palestinian health. On Wednesday, December 14, 2022 the Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights at the FXB Center hosted a webinar during which the editors and authors engaged in discussions on their paper contributions to this special edition.

The Embodiment of Protest: Hunger Strikes, Human Rights, and the Health of Palestinian Political Prisoners

Embodiment of Protest Webinar Flyer

Hunger strikes have been used as means for non-violent resistance and protest over the past several decades by Palestinian political prisoners in Israel/Palestine. During this webinar on October 3 3022, the featured panelists drew on their expertise and experience in the fields of health and human rights to explore various legal, medical, and human rights dimensions of hunger strikes being staged by Palestinian political prisoners. The conversation was moderated by Randa Wahbe of Harvard University’s Department of Anthropology.

This event was co-sponsored by the Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative, Religion and Public Life at Harvard Divinity School and the Middle East Forum, Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University.

Shifting Ecosystems, Distorted Landscapes & “Slow” Violence: An Eco-Social Discussion on Health & Environment in Palestine

Shifting Ecosystems Event Flyer

This panel discussion held on February 23, 2022 explored the relationship of land, environment, and health in Palestine through application of eco-social theory to health and environment, settler colonialism as a determinant of health, the concept of “slow” violence, and historical trauma.

This event was co-sponsored by Birzeit University, the Religion and Public Life’s Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative (RCPI) at Harvard Divinity School, a joint initiative with the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

From Resilience to Resistance: The State of Children’s Health in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

In this panel held on Nov. 1, 2021, experts discussed the impacts of ongoing acute and chronic events that lead to the physical and emotional trauma of children in Palestine and associated short- and long-term health consequences. The conversation was moderated by FXB’s Prof. Jacqueline Bhabha.

From Dialogue to Accountability: The Struggle to Implement Rights in Israel/Palestine

On June 16, 2021, the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights hosted its third webinar in its latest series focused on health, human rights, and the pursuit of accountability in the overall context of Israel/Palestine. Centering on the recent attacks on the Gaza Strip, panelists discussed the context, challenges, and urgent action for health and human rights accountability. The organizations represented in this discussion are involved in the daily pursuits of justice in Israel/Palestine. Speakers included Beth Oppenheim, Ghada Majadle, Nuriya Oswald and Suhad Bishara. The conversation was moderated by Harvard University’s David Mills.

This event was co-sponsored by Religion and Public Life’s Religion, Conflict, and Peace Initiative (RCPI) at Harvard Divinity School.

Health Under Siege: From Sheikh Jarrah to Gaza

Amid the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine, the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights convened world experts in history, politics, public health and human rights for a panel discussion. The event will provide historical context for current events and focus on a number of timely topics, including the situation on the ground in Palestine and the health system/capability in Occupied Palestinian Territories. Speakers included:

Yasser Abu Jamei, Director General of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme
Weeam Hammoudeh, Assistant Professor, Institute of Community and Public Health, Birzeit University
Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Modern Arab Studies at Columbia University

This May 21, 2021 event was co-sponsored by the Religion, Conflict and Peace Initiative (RCPI) at Harvard Divinity School and the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University.

The ICC’s Latest Ruling: Implications for Israel/Palestine Justice, Human Rights and Health

In a landmark decision on Feb. 5, 2021, the International Criminal Court (ICC) confirmed the Court’s territorial jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute “grave crimes committed” in the territory occupied by Israel since 1967 (the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem). FXB’s Dr. Jennifer Leaning moderated a March 9, 2021 panel discussion with legal experts Ioannis Kalpouzos, Richard Falk, and Rania Muhareb and discussed the specifics of the ICC decision, implications for justice in Israel/Palestine, and the potential impact on the health and human rights of Palestinians.