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Physicians for Human Rights meet with Palestinian Prime Minister
Ran Goldstein, Physicians for Human Rights Israel (PHRI) via gmail.mcsv.net


PHRI meets with the Palestinian Prime Minister | 22.10.2019


Dear Friends,

Last Wednesday, we had an unusual meeting with Palestinian Prime Minister
Mohammad Shtayyeh, in his office in Ramallah. Shtayyeh took office several
months ago and expressed interest in meeting PHRI and getting acquainted
with our work early into his term.

During the meeting, PHRI staff members and volunteer physicians, including
those who visit Gaza monthly as part of our medical delegations, discussed
ways to mitigate the difficulties Gaza residents have accessing medical
treatment outside the Strip, the continuing health care crisis in Gaza and
the West Bank and the shortage of drugs and medical equipment.

The Palestinian prime minister thanked PHRI for its work over the years, its
fight against the occupation, its solidarity with the Palestinian people,
and its commitment to doing what it can to help any patient who comes to us
any day. The prime minister encouraged us to keep up our work in the West
Bank and the Gaza Strip and expressed hope that the Israeli peace camp
grows. “I’m for political separation and economic connection”, Shtayyeh told
the delegation.

Another topic discussed in the meeting was the decision made a few months
ago by the Palestinian Authority to stop referring Palestinian patients to
Israeli hospitals.

Shtayyeh said the decision was motivated by what he described as “theft” and
patient exploitation by Israeli hospitals, explaining hospital stays for
Palestinian patients are particularly long, and the cost of care is higher
than what is charged for Israeli patients. In this way, Israeli hospitals
enrich themselves at the expense of the Palestinian Authority.

Shtayyeh added that the hospitals refuse Palestinian Authority audits or
have an independent accountant oversee billing. The prime minister stressed
another reason for stopping referrals to Israeli hospitals was a desire to
invest in and develop the Palestinian health care system toward independence
and invited Israeli physicians to come work in West Bank hospitals, rather
than Palestinian physicians and patients going to Israel. “Instead of
Mohammad going to the mountain, the mountain will come to Mohammed. I’m
Mohammed”, he said with a smile.

Along with criticism of Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Shtayyeh
welcomed any cooperation on health issues and said he encouraged PHRI’s work
in the West Bank, in Gaza and as a whole.

As an organization dedicated to the right to health, we must keep working as
hard as we can to ensure Palestinian patients are not harmed by the
cessation of referrals to Israeli hospitals while supporting measures taken
to develop and enhance the Palestinian health care system so that it may
become independent, in the spirit of the prime minister’s statements. The
allegations regarding overcharging must be thoroughly and seriously
examined, and Israeli hospital billing practices concerning Palestinians
should be transparent.

So long as the occupation continues, Israel remains responsible for the
lives of Palestinians, and this responsibility includes finding solutions
for those whose medical treatments are not funded by the Palestinian
Authority. That is the price of the occupation.

Sincerely,
Ran Goldstein,
Physicians for Human Rights Israel Executive Director.
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