SAMA votes to end all ties with Israeli Medical Association

The South African Medical Association (SAMA) has voted to end all ties with the deeply complicit Israeli Medical Association (IMA). SAMA further calls for the IMA to be suspended from the World Medical Association.

SAMA stated that this decision reflects its “commitment to upholding medical ethics, human rights, and the sanctity of healthcare work.” This follows the British Medical Association’s motion to “suspend engagement with the IMA” earlier this year.

As part of its ongoing genocide against 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, Israel has decimated the Palestinian healthcare sector at a time when it is needed most. On average, Israel has killed two Palestinian healthcare workers every day during its genocide in Gaza.

Israel’s criminal blockade, which has been severely tightened over the past two years, is not only starving Palestinians in Gaza to death, it has been preventing vital medical supplies from reaching Gaza for 18 years.

The IMA has repeatedly justified Israel’s crimes, including its bombing of hospitals in Gaza, and spread Israeli propaganda. When nearly 100 Israeli doctors signed a letter urging the Israeli military to destroy hospitals in Gaza as legitimate targets, the IMA did nothing.

The IMA has long been accused of silence and complicity in the case of torture of Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.

The IMA also lists members based in illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land in violation of international law.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled that Israel is plausibly committing genocide in Gaza. A UN independent commission of inquiry as well as the International Association of Genocide Scholars have recently affirmed that Israel is indeed perpetrating genocide. The ICJ further ruled that Israel’s military occupation of Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is illegal and constitutes apartheid.

The rulings from the World Court carry with them legal obligations not to contribute in any way to the atrocity crimes Israel is committing. SAMA is not only upholding medical ethics, but also international law.

We commend SAMA for its stand and for recognizing the need to isolate complicit Israeli institutions, just as they were during the struggle against apartheid in South Africa.

We thank Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine – South Africa and all principled medical professionals for their advocacy work for effective solidarity with Palestinians.

We call for pressure on the World Medical Association to heed SAMA’s call to suspend the IMA and for medical associations around the world to pass similar motions. BDS Movement