CALLS FOR MEDICAL BOYCOTT OF ISRAEL

Sat 15 February 2025:

A meeting of the Ophthalmological Society of South Africa (OSSA), set to take place in Johannesburg this week, has drawn the anger of medical professionals sympathetic to the Palestinian cause.

Professor Ido Didi Fabian, an eye expert, faces criticism for his affiliation with Sheba Medical Centre. The facility is alleged to have ties with the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).

In an interview with Salaamedia, Professor Nagib Du Toit, head of Ophthalmology at the University of Cape Town (UCT) expressed strong disapproval towards Fabian’s participation.

Meanwhile, there are growing calls for a medical boycott of Israel over its aggression towards healthcare workers in Palestine. More than 1 000 personnel in Gaza have been killed, injured or detained in the past year.

Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on Palestine, has called for medical professionals worldwide to cut ties with Israel in response to the destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system.

This call for a medical boycott is a direct response to what Albanese describes as Israel’s “full destruction of the Palestinian healthcare system in Gaza, a critical tool of its ongoing genocide”.