Kathleen Ruff, RightOnCanada.ca
The World Health Organization, UNICEF, UN Human Rights experts, Amnesty International, as well as Jewish organizations, including Jewish Voice for Peace, Independent Jewish Voices, the Jewish Council of Australia, have called on the world community to speak up and demand, as Amnesty International says, that Israel “immediately end its devastating siege on the occupied Gaza Strip which constitutes a genocidal act, a blatant form of unlawful collective punishment, and the war crime of using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare.”
But leading health organizations, whose stated mission is to uphold international humanitarian law, have failed to speak up, saying by their silence that Palestinian lives do not matter and that Palestinians are excluded from the protection of international humanitarian law.
Many academics, scientists and researchers in the health sector have experienced being blocked when trying to get their professional organizations to respond appropriately to the decimation in Gaza and the complete abnegation of professional solidarity in the face of the destruction of the Gazan health system and attacks on health workers.
We will therefore be holding the following webinar on Monday, May 19, 2025, 5 pm CEST / 11 am EDT / 8 am PDT to Share Experiences, Build Solidarity, Develop Strategies:
Webinar: What to do when your organisation turns a blind eye to injustice
The webinar aims to bring together like-minded defenders of human rights to share experiences and explore across organisations what strategies could be useful to help stop the genocide and protect the people, the environment and what is left of the health care system in Gaza. We feel that learning, sharing and building solidarity with others in similar situations might be the strongest strategy now.
Speakers are:
- Amira Aker, Boston University
- Kathleen Ruff, Collegium Ramazzini
- Amy Hagopian, University of Washington
- Nick Maynard, Oxford University Hospitals
- Fred Hosea, Professional Alliance for Civilizational Ethics
- Moderated by Judy Rebick
RightOnCanada.ca is a human rights advocacy website. It was created by Kathleen Ruff from a concern that Canada is going backwards on human rights, both nationally and internationally. It receives no funding from anyone.
Brief bio: Kathleen Ruff is a longtime human rights activist. She was the first Director of the BC Human Rights Commission and Director of the Canadian Court Challenges Program. She received the Canadian Public Health Association’s award of National Public Health Hero and the Appreciation Award from the Asian Citizens Center for Environmental Health. She was awarded the Medal of the Quebec National Assembly.
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