Gaza strip and West Bank: mothers, friends and physicians and to fight for access to the right to health for themselves, their loved ones and their community.

A report of Aseel Aburass which is a freedom of movement coordinator with PHRI

“We get calls from women living in the Gaza Strip every day. They all have one thing in common – the Israeli permit regime, which limits their freedom of movement and denies them access to medical treatment that is not available locally. As I help them receive their medical permits, I get to know extraordinary women whose resilience in the face of extreme challenges is inspiring. -Maryam lives in the Gaza Strip and receives chemotherapy in East Jerusalem. The treatment she needs is not available in Gaza.

Once every few weeks, I help her get a medical exit permit. When the permit is delayed, and her condition begins deteriorating, she talks about her fear of leaving her children motherless. Every time she is forced to leave her aging mother and her children as she spends a few days in hospital outside the Strip, she talks about her feelings of guilt.-Manal first contacted us a year ago, when her mother was diagnosed with cancer and had to undergo a series of chemotherapy treatments in West Bank hospitals. Manal’s mother died after battling cancer with no access to treatment. Manal has recently contacted us to help her friend, who was diagnosed with the same disease and is in hospital in Gaza. Manal said she would do anything to help her friend. Together, we filed a petition against Israel’s decision to deny her application for a permit to exit Gaza for treatment.

-Leena is an elementary school teacher in Gaza and the mother of a ten-year-old with special needs who receives treatment in Tel Hashomer hospital in Tel Aviv. The military keeps denying her husband’s applications to travel with their son to receive treatment, and Leena has to take time off work every time there is an appointment in Tel Aviv. Her son sometimes has to remain in hospital for lengthy stays, and the family’s income suffers from her many workplace absences.

– Riham received an invitation to attend a seminar at Wolfson Hospital in the city of Holon in Israel as part of her pediatrics training. She wanted to develop professionally and use the knowledge she gained outside Gaza to contribute to the development and improvement of the Palestinian healthcare system. Her permit application, however, was repeatedly denied for no pertinent reason. It took a court petition to receive approval. –

Facing the heavy-handed bureaucracy of the permit regime and the violation of their right to health, these women continue to live their lives as mothers, friends and physicians and to fight for access to the right to health for themselves, their loved ones and their community.

“**No real names were used in the post to protect patients’ privacy

***Aseel Aburass is a freedom of movement coordinator with PHRI

Doctors for Human Rights (MEDU) has been collaborating since 2009 with the organization Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-Israel) to protect the health of women and children in the Occupied Palestinian Territories –