Hundreds of medical professionals gathered outside the World Medical Association (WMA) summit in Rotterdam on Saturday to demand the immediate suspension of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) from the international body.
Organized by the IMA Out! coalition, the demonstration highlighted accusations that the IMA has remained silent while Palestinian healthcare infrastructure has been systematically dismantled during the conflict in Gaza. As part of the protest, 81 healthcare workers removed their scrubs and lined them up facing the WMA assembly. Each garment bore the name of a Palestinian medical worker currently held in Israeli detention.
“These scrubs should not be empty. Our colleagues belong with their patients, not in Israeli prisons. Today, we literally placed their names at the WMA’s doorstep,” said Mejrem Ahmetaj, a general practitioner and member of the IMA Out! campaign.
The coalition argued that the IMA has breached nearly every ethical principle outlined in the WMA’s Code of Medical Ethics. According to the group, the association is not merely a bystander but actively defends attacks on medical facilities and blocks international condemnation.
“The IMA is not a bystander. It defends these attacks and blocks international condemnation while Palestinian healthcare is being destroyed. That is not medical neutrality. That is complicity,” Ahmetaj added.
Organizers cited data stating that more than 1,700 Palestinian healthcare workers have been killed since October 2023, with nearly all hospitals and medical facilities in the enclave destroyed. During a meeting on Thursday involving international doctors and human rights activists, campaigners argued that three decades of dialogue with the IMA have failed to produce accountability.
Jonathan Fluxman, speaking on behalf of IMA Out!, stated, “Thirty years of WMA dialogue with the IMA has done nothing but give the IMA a sense of impunity … It is time for national medical associations and the WMA to speak out and take action. Break your ties with the IMA and suspend the IMA from the WMA now.”
The campaign delivered a petition signed by over 6,500 health workers worldwide calling for the IMA’s suspension. They also demanded accountability for what they describe as the complicity of Israeli doctors in the starvation, torture, and medical neglect of Palestinian prisoners.
Among those detained is Dr. Hussam Abu Safia, head of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital. His unlawful detention has drawn international scrutiny, with reports indicating he was held at the Sde Teiman detention camp where he faced torture and medical neglect. Protesters in Rotterdam held placards demanding his release.
Elyas Abu Safia, the doctor’s son, addressed the campaign event, urging adherence to medical ethics. “My father and all Palestinian detainees must be treated in accordance with medical ethics, and doctors must abide by the Hippocratic oath they have taken. Care cannot be given based on whose life is deemed worthy,” he said.
6,500 signatures is a massive number. It shows this isn’t just a fringe issue but a genuine concern among global health workers.
Wait, does suspending an entire national medical association actually help Palestinian patients, or does it just isolate them further?
As a nurse, I find the complicity allegations deeply troubling. Medical neutrality should never be a shield for political violence.
Is the WMA actually going to take action, or is this just another performative gesture like we have seen for thirty years?
The sight of empty scrubs holding names is incredibly powerful. It really drives home the human cost behind the statistics.