1) Are you aware that the first author of this article which you have published, recently tweeted a view that is widely understood to call for the destruction of Israel? I.e. destruction of the whole of the Jewish State? *
2) This article is littered with racist propaganda, libellous accusations and is frequently factually incorrect. I am surprised it got past your due diligence and editorial processes. I do not doubt that you will already have been contacted about objectionable and poor content.
3) It will likely cause irreparable damage to your reputation as a journal and immeasurable hurt to our Jews and Israelis.
4) I strongly suggest that the article is retracted, and a formal unconditional apology, without caveats, conditions or conflation, is published by the journal and similarly by the authors.
5) Any GMC registered doctor holding and publicising such views is likely to be falling short of the standards expected of them. It may also be a criminal offence.
The decision to give such people a platform to share their poor work and racist views devalues your journal. I am most disappointed.
Dr Farhad Cooper
GMC 6150030
*I attached here, in my letter to the editor a) a copy of the author's tweet and b)an explanation of it's widely understood genocidal meaning
This is a point by point rebuttal of the editorial.
1. The text starts with stating 100 years of occupation of Palestine. It should be clear that Israel was established in 1948 following a UN partition. Occupation of the West back and Gaza commenced in 1967, 56 years ago as stated later on in the article.
2. The article states:” The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that at least 3785 people are known to have been killed in besieged Gaza, 79 people killed in the occupied West Bank and 1400 people killed in Israel over the course of 12 days, since 7 October 2023.” This is misleading information without giving context. 1400 Israelis were butchered, slaughtered, burned alive and mutilated by Hamas, a terrorist organization. Israel has the right to defend itself against these brutal attacks. Israel is asking people in the Gaza strip to leave areas that are about to be bombed, however Hamas is holding more than 1 million Palestinians hostage and use them as human shields by preventing them from leaving their homes. This terrorist act of Hamas against its fellow Palestinians greatly effects the number of casualties in Gaza. This is overlooked in your article.
3. The article states: “30% of all housing units in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or rendered uninhabitable”. This is also misleading with out the background. Hamas is using heavy populated areas, hospitals, mosques, and apartment buildings for its military op...
This is a point by point rebuttal of the editorial.
1. The text starts with stating 100 years of occupation of Palestine. It should be clear that Israel was established in 1948 following a UN partition. Occupation of the West back and Gaza commenced in 1967, 56 years ago as stated later on in the article.
2. The article states:” The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that at least 3785 people are known to have been killed in besieged Gaza, 79 people killed in the occupied West Bank and 1400 people killed in Israel over the course of 12 days, since 7 October 2023.” This is misleading information without giving context. 1400 Israelis were butchered, slaughtered, burned alive and mutilated by Hamas, a terrorist organization. Israel has the right to defend itself against these brutal attacks. Israel is asking people in the Gaza strip to leave areas that are about to be bombed, however Hamas is holding more than 1 million Palestinians hostage and use them as human shields by preventing them from leaving their homes. This terrorist act of Hamas against its fellow Palestinians greatly effects the number of casualties in Gaza. This is overlooked in your article.
3. The article states: “30% of all housing units in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or rendered uninhabitable”. This is also misleading with out the background. Hamas is using heavy populated areas, hospitals, mosques, and apartment buildings for its military operations. Using innocent civilians (i.e., fellow Palestinians) as human shields. When Israel fight to eradicate Hamas, as it has the right and obligation to do, the same buildings are unfortunately bombed.
4. The article states: “These most recent, egregious healthcare- related attacks follow a long history of Israeli violence against health workers, the destruction of health infrastructure, the systematic obstruction of access to healthcare”. Regarding the first part, here again, Hamas
is responsible for using these hospitals as army bases to provide itself with human shields, which constitutes a war crime. Regarding the
obstruction of access to healthcare – Israeli doctors have trained Palestinian doctors over the years and kept close connections with their trainees. Moreover, Israeli doctors treated countless patients from Gaza and the West Bank who came to them seeking treatment for complex brain disorders, including brain tumors, vascular malformations, trauma and congenital birth defects. That care was usually provided free of charge. Ironically, one of the current Hamas leaders (Ichie Sinwar, a notorious terrorist who had murdered or coordinated the killing of numerous Israeli civilians), was treated for a brain tumor in an Israeli hospital, thus saving his life. In the past years, the arrival of patients from Gaza has stopped since Hamas (not Israel) has refused travel permits for their citizens to Israeli hospitals. Amazingly, Israeli attempts to communicate directly with Hamas authorities to grant such permits (after ensuring the approval from the Israeli authorities) fell on deaf ears. Nevertheless, some high-ranking Hamas leaders and their family members apparently receive special treatment, and still find their way to Israeli hospitals for complex medical care.
5a. The claim that Israel “aim to increase morbidity and mortality (such as the de- development of Palestinian health and other essential services” is not true. Israel made sure billions of dollars from Qatar were delivered as aid to the Palestinians in the Gaza strip. Hamas has used this money to build its military infrastructure, including 500 km long fighting tunnels, developing rockets, etc., instead of developing Gaza. Also, since Hamas doesn’t seem to care about developing Gaza, despite Israel having retreated from Gaza in 2005, it continued to supply electricity, fuel and other commodities to the Palestinians in Gaza. On top of that, increasing morbidity and mortality are the Hamas aims, by using the Palestinians in Gaza as human shields and make Israel look like ruthless killers. Israel’s aim on the other hand is to fight Hamas and hurt it as badly as possible. It is a terrible shame that civilians are hurt in the prosses. But this is not taken lightly and Hamas knows it. Which is exactly why they hide behind civilians.
5b. In the same context the article states: “exerting full control over—and now withholding—the water and electricity supply to the Gaza Strip”. Israel is not required by international low to provide Hamas, its enemy at war, with supplies. Humanitarian aid is being supplied through Egypt for a few days now. Let us all hope it will reach the Palestinian people who so badly need it and not be hijacked by Hamas as they have done in the past.
5c. In the same context of aiming to increase morbidity and mortality, the article states: “the deliberate targeting of limbs leading to traumatic limb loss and disability), in occupied Palestine.” The targeting of limbs is to spear lives which is one of the highest moral virtues of Judaism and the Israeli’s, unlike Hamas who kills for the sake of killing. May I remind the authors that Hamas killed, butchered, slaughtered, burned alive and
mutilated who ever was in their way – Jews, Muslims and Christians, some where Israeli, others were foreigners.
6. The article states that “with this in mind, it is impossible to divorce the violence of recent days from the long history of the Israeli occupation of Palestine.” This is true, Israel was singing peace agreements with many Arab nations in the Middle East. Israel was on the brink of signing a normalization peace agreement with Saudi that had the potential to reignite peace talks with the Palestinian authority. According to experts in the Middle East this was the primary trigger for the attack by Hamas at this time. See Hamas charter below for further details.
7. The article states that: “on the evening of 17 October an airstrike on Al- Ahli Hospital in Gaza City killed at least 471 people.” This was verified to be caused by a miss fired missile, fired from within Gaza towards Israel. This I was promised has been corrected.
Some other important background missing from the article:
Hamas is an elected government in Gaza and therefore has responsibility for the people of Gaza.
The goals of Hamas are clearly stated in their Charter (also called the The Covenant of the Islamic Resistance Movement): “Initiatives, and so-called peaceful solutions and international conferences, are in contradiction to the principles of the Islamic Resistance Movement.” (Article Thirteen: Peaceful Solutions, [Peace] Initiatives and International Conferences). In addition, the Charter clearly states that the destruction of the state of Israel is one of its main goals. Quoting from the Charter and from their spiritual leader and founder of the Muslim Brotherhood
Hassan al-Banna: “Israel will exist and will continue to exist until Islam will obliterate it, just as it obliterated others before it.”
Hamas’ charter goes beyond destroying Israel. It longs for Jewish genocide: “The Prophet, Allah bless him and grant him salvation, has said: ‘The Day of Judgement will not come about until Moslems fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Moslems, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him."
This background knowledge is imperative for understanding the conflict a bit better.
I am writing to you as a midwife working within the NHS to voice my
gratitude and support of the recent editorial published by yourselves:
‘Violence in Palestine demands immediate resolution of its settler
colonial root causes’. As a healthcare worker I am horrified and
appalled by the breaching of international law by Israel and the
ongoing genocide in Gaza, and violence in the West Bank. My own union
and professional body, the Royal College of Midwives, have declined to
comment or release a statement leaving me feeling isolated and
unsupported. This editorial, and it having been published by the BMJ Global Health,
has offered vital personal support at this challenging time.
Additionally it’s the human rights and evidence based approach that I
value within healthcare, and is a beautiful representation to the
wider community that healthcare workers seek justice, equity and
inclusion through the provision of healthcare services.
Reading this article, I wish to convey my profound appreciation for its content. It was received with great favour, and I found it to be a sincere representation of the current situation on the ground, renewing my faith in humanity.
Furthermore, I would like to extend my gratitude for your courageous stance on this matter. I recognize that the topic is highly complex, and your editorial decisions may subject you to political pressures or potential backlash from certain interest groups or political parties.
This review article, which concludes that "There was no evidence of a significant effect of any of the maternal vaccines on the reported safety outcomes." makes no reference to GSK's trial of RSVpreF vaccine (NCT04605159) that was terminated in February 2022. The decision to stop vaccinations was announced more than a year before the article was submitted (1).
The decision to halt the trial was made following a recommendation from the Independent Data Monitoring Committee based on an observation from a routine safety assessment.
The GSK safety signal is discussed in the article by Mazur et al (authors’ reference 18).
The fact that a large trial of a maternal vaccine had been stopped for safety reasons should have been included in this article, and perhaps modified the conclusions.
In this era of evidence based medicine, a BMJ Global Health editorial
should be based on evidence more than opinions. Most if not all of the
contributors to this article have links to the Palestinians.
1/ if the root of the violence are settlers, then let`s correct your
misinterpretation of historical facts. 90% of the Palestinians are
settlers and have come from neighboring Arab states, especially since
the end of the 19th century when Israelis developed the country and
new job opportunities were created.
See for example https://jpn01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wik...
"During the first half of the 19th century, there were several waves
of immigration from Egypt to Palestine. They favored settling in
already established localities. There used to be 19 villages in the
southern coastal plains and near Ramla with families of Egyptian
descent, and to this day, some villages in the northern parts of the
region of Samaria, especially the...
In this era of evidence based medicine, a BMJ Global Health editorial
should be based on evidence more than opinions. Most if not all of the
contributors to this article have links to the Palestinians.
1/ if the root of the violence are settlers, then let`s correct your
misinterpretation of historical facts. 90% of the Palestinians are
settlers and have come from neighboring Arab states, especially since
the end of the 19th century when Israelis developed the country and
new job opportunities were created.
See for example https://jpn01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wik...
"During the first half of the 19th century, there were several waves
of immigration from Egypt to Palestine. They favored settling in
already established localities. There used to be 19 villages in the
southern coastal plains and near Ramla with families of Egyptian
descent, and to this day, some villages in the northern parts of the
region of Samaria, especially the 'Ara Valley, have a sizeable
population of Egyptian descent.[20] In addition, some rural and urban
Palestinians have Albanian, Bosnian, Circassian, or other non-Arab
ancestry due to the legacy of the Ottoman period, which brought
non-Arab communities to the region in the 19th century."
For instance, when a Palestinian`s family name is Matsraoui, it means
the Egyptian. Mitsri means Egyptian in ancient Greek as well as in
Hebrew and Arabic.
2/ I`m quoting this article " With this in mind, it is impossible to
divorce the violence of recent days from the long history of the
Israeli occupation of Palestine. This history is marked notably by the
1948 Nakba that involved the violent displacement of more than 700 000
Palestinians from over 400 villages and towns by Israeli settlers,13
14 and the preceding British colonial occupation of Palestine"
That`s another blatant misconception. There was no Israeli intention
whatsoever to displace Palestinians when the UN voted for a partition
plan in 1947, as Israel was too busy trying to survive the upcoming
invasion by 6 neighboring well armed Arab armies. Palestinians fled
from well before the 1948 war.
Reference "1948 and After. Israel and the Palestinians" by Benny Morris
Clarendon Press- Oxford University Press
Reference: The Economist October 2, 1948: "Of the 62,000 Arabs who
formerly lived in Haifa not more than 5,000 or 6,000 remained. Various
factors influenced their decision to seek safety in flight. There is
but little doubt that the most potent of the factors were the
announcements made over the air by the Higher Arab Executive, urging
the Arabs to quit....It was clearly intimated that those Arabs who
remained in Haifa and accepted Jewish protection would be regarded as
renegades."
The BMJ Global Healths`s concern for universal access to health and
sanitation is obvious. We Israelis will continue to provide water to
Gaza and to the Palestinian authority, to form Palestinian medical
teams and treat their patients in our hospitals, and even taxy them
from border crossings to our medical facilities for free. But we won`t
accept this religious never ending conflict whose goal is to deplete
the Middle East of Christian and especially Jewish "infidels".
Drs. Smith, Kwong, Hanbali, Neilson, and Khoury are alarmed by "the latest escalation in "Occupied Palestine", calling for an immediate resolution of its "settler-colonial root causes". While the paper at issue seems timely, its very timeliness – the fact that it intervenes in a loaded conflict literally in the heat of the fighting – calls for meticulous editorial standards, expected in all cases and mandatory in this instance.
Unfortunately, it is clear that the paper's treatment by the BMJ did not meet these – nor any other acceptable – standards. The basis for the claims made here is lacking. Primary facts are missing, vital points are baseless, and others are outright lies. Given the high sensitivity and responsibility needed, one wonders if this paper fits the professionalism and scientific standards that BMJ claims to cultivate. BMJ's willingness to breach these standards is alarming.
Crucial facts overlooked: The authors note events occurring in Gaza between the 7th and the 15th of October, reporting the death of Palestinian health workers while ignoring crucial events that happened on October 7th. The following points require the immediate attention and action of BMJ readership:
1. Over 3000 Palestinians crossed the border to Israel, butchered more than 1400 people, including babies, children, and elders in their beds, raped young teenagers dancing at an outdoor party, and burned villages and whole communities (1...
Drs. Smith, Kwong, Hanbali, Neilson, and Khoury are alarmed by "the latest escalation in "Occupied Palestine", calling for an immediate resolution of its "settler-colonial root causes". While the paper at issue seems timely, its very timeliness – the fact that it intervenes in a loaded conflict literally in the heat of the fighting – calls for meticulous editorial standards, expected in all cases and mandatory in this instance.
Unfortunately, it is clear that the paper's treatment by the BMJ did not meet these – nor any other acceptable – standards. The basis for the claims made here is lacking. Primary facts are missing, vital points are baseless, and others are outright lies. Given the high sensitivity and responsibility needed, one wonders if this paper fits the professionalism and scientific standards that BMJ claims to cultivate. BMJ's willingness to breach these standards is alarming.
Crucial facts overlooked: The authors note events occurring in Gaza between the 7th and the 15th of October, reporting the death of Palestinian health workers while ignoring crucial events that happened on October 7th. The following points require the immediate attention and action of BMJ readership:
1. Over 3000 Palestinians crossed the border to Israel, butchered more than 1400 people, including babies, children, and elders in their beds, raped young teenagers dancing at an outdoor party, and burned villages and whole communities (1). Thousands of armed Palestinians took part in this crime against humanity. Thousands of people from families living in Gaza volunteered and committed these horrid crimes. These are deeds that should not be condoned or justified by any medical provider – or any human being, for that matter.
2. Among those people butchered were many healthcare providers, peace activists, and Israeli volunteers who worked with civilians living in Gaza and helped them receive the best medical care across the border (2). These good, loving people sought to live peacefully just like the authors in London, Melbourne, Sydney, and Boston.
3. On that very date, Hamas kidnapped over 220 people from Israel to Gaza (3). Hamas showed off the abducted babies, children, and elderly, including Holocaust survivors, parading citizens as trophies, traumatized, abused, and beaten. Hamas has been keeping them in captivity for 19 days (as of today; and counting) without letting the Red Cross visit them (4) or informing their families whether they are alive, wounded, or in need of medical aid (5). These are acts that cannot be accepted as justified by any medical provider.
Publishing fake. The authors note "an atrocious attack on Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City" and state that it was conducted by the Israeli military even though Israel provided solid proof that it resulted from a misfired Jihad rocket! (6,7). Major news media, including the New York Times and the BBC, have since apologized for publishing this fake report without checking. The Times, admitting it "should have taken more care with the initial presentation, and been more explicit about what information could be "verified". (8)
Proposing a hypothesis that overlooks historical facts. The authors ignore the UN partition resolution concerning Israel's right to exist, and speak of "Zionist expansionism" relying on "colonial roots theory". Moreover, they "forget" to note that Israel withdrew from Gaza 18 years ago. Eighteen years of misery and destruction have affected many Palestinians, but the reality is more complex than presented in the paper.
Conveniently enough, the authors fail to note that Europe, the US, and significant groups in Israel acted to fund the building of a healthier infrastructure in Gaza (9). Hamas is the terrorist organisation ruling and distributing (or not) the funds for the medical infrastructure and care in Gaza. Unfortunately, under its rule, most of the funds were not invested in education and medical facilities but rather put into manufacturing missiles to hurl onto civilian populations in Israel (10) and constructing tunnels (11), where civilian hostages are currently held. The authors, under the BMJ's sponsorship, eagerly force their theory on a fragile, complex crisis, neglecting to even mention verified facts about Hamas' pogrom—a mega-planned massacre that cannot be overlooked in any serious analysis of the conflict.
This article contains essential reading. I have worked in humanitarian support for palliative care in Gaza for almost a decade. The medical and clinical staff work under extreme resource constraints and difficulty as they try to offer high quality healthcare to the people of Gaza even before this terrible outbreak of hostilities. Up to 60% of essential medicines are not available and, in my own speciality area, almost no oral morphine is available for cancer pain....can you imagine the suffering? This is all due to the seige conditions over 17years in Gaza. I have also never worked with such values orientated, compassionate, skilled colleagues who seek to serve their people in such dfficult circumstances.
As my Gaza colleague, Dr Khamis Elessi, said 'we condem the killing of all civilians, including in Israel, but punish those who are responsible and not innocent civilians' . As the UN Chief, Antonio Guterres recently stated 'The grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.'
We must hear and act on the reality of the barage on our fellow health care workers and settings. Thus far, reported by OCHA, 103 clinical staff have been killed from all areas of healthcare. These represent some of the most senior and skilled and some of those with the most promise for the future. 76 attacks are recorded by WHO on 35...
This article contains essential reading. I have worked in humanitarian support for palliative care in Gaza for almost a decade. The medical and clinical staff work under extreme resource constraints and difficulty as they try to offer high quality healthcare to the people of Gaza even before this terrible outbreak of hostilities. Up to 60% of essential medicines are not available and, in my own speciality area, almost no oral morphine is available for cancer pain....can you imagine the suffering? This is all due to the seige conditions over 17years in Gaza. I have also never worked with such values orientated, compassionate, skilled colleagues who seek to serve their people in such dfficult circumstances.
As my Gaza colleague, Dr Khamis Elessi, said 'we condem the killing of all civilians, including in Israel, but punish those who are responsible and not innocent civilians' . As the UN Chief, Antonio Guterres recently stated 'The grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.'
We must hear and act on the reality of the barage on our fellow health care workers and settings. Thus far, reported by OCHA, 103 clinical staff have been killed from all areas of healthcare. These represent some of the most senior and skilled and some of those with the most promise for the future. 76 attacks are recorded by WHO on 35 healthcare facilities including 20 hospitals and 24 ambulances. Hospital have been asked, no thtreatened, to evacuare despite no where to go for the patients and staff have refused courageously. This is not permitted under international humanitarian law.
My nephrology colleagues tell of the terrible choices they face as the fuel runs out and vital supplies are gone yet the cases of rhadomyolysis due to crush injuries rapidly rises meaning those that have survived will now die. My paediatric intensivist colleageus tell me of the babies whose lives will be snuffed out as generators are empty of fuel and the children who come in with their names written on their limbs so they can be identified in death. My surgical colleagues tell me of the slaughterhouse that the main ER has become and using vinegar to clean wounds as they try to continue surgery in hospitals they are being told to evauate. My internal medicine colleagues tell me of the inability to access chronic disease care such as insulin. My oncology colleagues tell me of the imminent closure of the only cancer hospital due to lack of fuel......and I could go on.
I salute the courage and professional integrity of our colleagues who contonue to care despite the threats to their own lives and the lives of their families but we must stand together as healthcare advocates. We must ask for our professional bodies and governments to call on all parties to respect international law. We must ask for safe and continuous access to humanitarian aid. We must push for all Israeli hostages to be released. We must push for a ceasefire...for humanitarian and ethical reasons above all. We must not stay silent.
A compassionate and balanced editorial would also have expressed sadness and regret for the massacres of Israeli citizens including babies that triggered this current situation. Doctors who fail to recognise our common humanity are not worthy of our profession.
The authors and the editors at BMJ GH should be greatly commended for producing such an honest and informative piece about the context and background to the current flare-up of violence in Palestine. I hope they are able to stay firm, true to their convictions, and withstand the backlash they will inevitably receive from some of their employers/affiliated institutions. Taking a stand for an oppressed and largely voiceless people with little agency is always the right thing to do.
(submitted to the editor on 24-10-23)
To: BMJ Global Health
Dear team.
1) Are you aware that the first author of this article which you have published, recently tweeted a view that is widely understood to call for the destruction of Israel? I.e. destruction of the whole of the Jewish State? *
2) This article is littered with racist propaganda, libellous accusations and is frequently factually incorrect. I am surprised it got past your due diligence and editorial processes. I do not doubt that you will already have been contacted about objectionable and poor content.
3) It will likely cause irreparable damage to your reputation as a journal and immeasurable hurt to our Jews and Israelis.
4) I strongly suggest that the article is retracted, and a formal unconditional apology, without caveats, conditions or conflation, is published by the journal and similarly by the authors.
5) Any GMC registered doctor holding and publicising such views is likely to be falling short of the standards expected of them. It may also be a criminal offence.
The decision to give such people a platform to share their poor work and racist views devalues your journal. I am most disappointed.
Dr Farhad Cooper
GMC 6150030
*I attached here, in my letter to the editor a) a copy of the author's tweet and b)an explanation of it's widely understood genocidal meaning
This is a point by point rebuttal of the editorial.
Show More1. The text starts with stating 100 years of occupation of Palestine. It should be clear that Israel was established in 1948 following a UN partition. Occupation of the West back and Gaza commenced in 1967, 56 years ago as stated later on in the article.
2. The article states:” The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reports that at least 3785 people are known to have been killed in besieged Gaza, 79 people killed in the occupied West Bank and 1400 people killed in Israel over the course of 12 days, since 7 October 2023.” This is misleading information without giving context. 1400 Israelis were butchered, slaughtered, burned alive and mutilated by Hamas, a terrorist organization. Israel has the right to defend itself against these brutal attacks. Israel is asking people in the Gaza strip to leave areas that are about to be bombed, however Hamas is holding more than 1 million Palestinians hostage and use them as human shields by preventing them from leaving their homes. This terrorist act of Hamas against its fellow Palestinians greatly effects the number of casualties in Gaza. This is overlooked in your article.
3. The article states: “30% of all housing units in the Gaza Strip have been destroyed or rendered uninhabitable”. This is also misleading with out the background. Hamas is using heavy populated areas, hospitals, mosques, and apartment buildings for its military op...
I am writing to you as a midwife working within the NHS to voice my
gratitude and support of the recent editorial published by yourselves:
‘Violence in Palestine demands immediate resolution of its settler
colonial root causes’. As a healthcare worker I am horrified and
appalled by the breaching of international law by Israel and the
ongoing genocide in Gaza, and violence in the West Bank. My own union
and professional body, the Royal College of Midwives, have declined to
comment or release a statement leaving me feeling isolated and
unsupported. This editorial, and it having been published by the BMJ Global Health,
has offered vital personal support at this challenging time.
Additionally it’s the human rights and evidence based approach that I
value within healthcare, and is a beautiful representation to the
wider community that healthcare workers seek justice, equity and
inclusion through the provision of healthcare services.
Reading this article, I wish to convey my profound appreciation for its content. It was received with great favour, and I found it to be a sincere representation of the current situation on the ground, renewing my faith in humanity.
Furthermore, I would like to extend my gratitude for your courageous stance on this matter. I recognize that the topic is highly complex, and your editorial decisions may subject you to political pressures or potential backlash from certain interest groups or political parties.
This review article, which concludes that "There was no evidence of a significant effect of any of the maternal vaccines on the reported safety outcomes." makes no reference to GSK's trial of RSVpreF vaccine (NCT04605159) that was terminated in February 2022. The decision to stop vaccinations was announced more than a year before the article was submitted (1).
The decision to halt the trial was made following a recommendation from the Independent Data Monitoring Committee based on an observation from a routine safety assessment.
The GSK safety signal is discussed in the article by Mazur et al (authors’ reference 18).
The fact that a large trial of a maternal vaccine had been stopped for safety reasons should have been included in this article, and perhaps modified the conclusions.
(1) https://www.gsk.com/en-gb/media/press-releases/gsk-provides-update-on-ph...
In this era of evidence based medicine, a BMJ Global Health editorial
Show Moreshould be based on evidence more than opinions. Most if not all of the
contributors to this article have links to the Palestinians.
1/ if the root of the violence are settlers, then let`s correct your
misinterpretation of historical facts. 90% of the Palestinians are
settlers and have come from neighboring Arab states, especially since
the end of the 19th century when Israelis developed the country and
new job opportunities were created.
See for example https://jpn01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wik...
"During the first half of the 19th century, there were several waves
of immigration from Egypt to Palestine. They favored settling in
already established localities. There used to be 19 villages in the
southern coastal plains and near Ramla with families of Egyptian
descent, and to this day, some villages in the northern parts of the
region of Samaria, especially the...
Drs. Smith, Kwong, Hanbali, Neilson, and Khoury are alarmed by "the latest escalation in "Occupied Palestine", calling for an immediate resolution of its "settler-colonial root causes". While the paper at issue seems timely, its very timeliness – the fact that it intervenes in a loaded conflict literally in the heat of the fighting – calls for meticulous editorial standards, expected in all cases and mandatory in this instance.
Show MoreUnfortunately, it is clear that the paper's treatment by the BMJ did not meet these – nor any other acceptable – standards. The basis for the claims made here is lacking. Primary facts are missing, vital points are baseless, and others are outright lies. Given the high sensitivity and responsibility needed, one wonders if this paper fits the professionalism and scientific standards that BMJ claims to cultivate. BMJ's willingness to breach these standards is alarming.
Crucial facts overlooked: The authors note events occurring in Gaza between the 7th and the 15th of October, reporting the death of Palestinian health workers while ignoring crucial events that happened on October 7th. The following points require the immediate attention and action of BMJ readership:
1. Over 3000 Palestinians crossed the border to Israel, butchered more than 1400 people, including babies, children, and elders in their beds, raped young teenagers dancing at an outdoor party, and burned villages and whole communities (1...
This article contains essential reading. I have worked in humanitarian support for palliative care in Gaza for almost a decade. The medical and clinical staff work under extreme resource constraints and difficulty as they try to offer high quality healthcare to the people of Gaza even before this terrible outbreak of hostilities. Up to 60% of essential medicines are not available and, in my own speciality area, almost no oral morphine is available for cancer pain....can you imagine the suffering? This is all due to the seige conditions over 17years in Gaza. I have also never worked with such values orientated, compassionate, skilled colleagues who seek to serve their people in such dfficult circumstances.
Show MoreAs my Gaza colleague, Dr Khamis Elessi, said 'we condem the killing of all civilians, including in Israel, but punish those who are responsible and not innocent civilians' . As the UN Chief, Antonio Guterres recently stated 'The grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas. And those appalling attacks cannot justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.'
We must hear and act on the reality of the barage on our fellow health care workers and settings. Thus far, reported by OCHA, 103 clinical staff have been killed from all areas of healthcare. These represent some of the most senior and skilled and some of those with the most promise for the future. 76 attacks are recorded by WHO on 35...
A compassionate and balanced editorial would also have expressed sadness and regret for the massacres of Israeli citizens including babies that triggered this current situation. Doctors who fail to recognise our common humanity are not worthy of our profession.
The authors and the editors at BMJ GH should be greatly commended for producing such an honest and informative piece about the context and background to the current flare-up of violence in Palestine. I hope they are able to stay firm, true to their convictions, and withstand the backlash they will inevitably receive from some of their employers/affiliated institutions. Taking a stand for an oppressed and largely voiceless people with little agency is always the right thing to do.
Kind regards,
Osman A Dar
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