Sumud, an Arabic word that means steadfastness, has a distinct significance in Palestinian culture. It captures a collective response to chronic adversity and a people’s will to survive, endure, and remain connected to the land. In some ways, sumud intersects with the concept of resilience or the ability to adapt to difficult experiences. The Arabic word, however, carries deeper political meanings of defiance and determination to persevere despite historical erasure.…
The Institute of Community and Public Health (ICPH) at Birzeit University, the François-Xavier Bagnoud (FXB) Center for Health and Human Rights, and the World Health Organization in the occupied Palestinian territory have launched the Palestine Social Medicine course. This intensive course is part of the activities of the Palestine Program for Health and Human Rights, a partnership between ICPH at Birzeit University and the FXB Center for Health and Human…
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…
Event Recording: Event Details: 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. The featured panelists will draw 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. Panelists: Dr. Lina Qasem Hassan, Physician and Chairperson,…
The December 2019 issue of Health and Human Rights marks its 25th year of publication. Celebrating the occasion, the editors dedicate the issue to founding editor Jonathan Mann and to Albina du Boisrouvray, who, as Mann wrote in his first editorial, “immediately understood, provided the means, and continues to share ideas and inspiration with us.” Published by the FXB Center since that first issue in 1994, the journal is now welcoming…
Guest Post by Dana Moss On December 12, 2016, after Israel’s High Court of Justice refused to end the administrative detention of two Palestinian hunger strikers, moving only to suspend it, the Palestinians vowed to continue their strike—and additionally to stop drinking water, which put them at immediate risk of death. Their case highlights the continued and excessive use of administrative detention in Israel (a procedure that allows the Israeli…
