The head of the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) has urged doctors to refuse to take part in the force-feeding of hunger-striking Palestinian prisoners, despite a recent Israeli Supreme Court decision which has ruled that the practice is legal.
In a letter to Israeli doctors, IMA chief, Dr. Leonid Eidelman, urges doctors to abide by the principles of medical ethics, regardless of the legal ruling. The statement was co-signed by IMA ethics committee chair, Dr. Tami Karni.
Israeli Physicians for Human Rights (PHRI) praised the statement as “important” and “courageous.”
Israeli High Court: Law to force-feed hunger striking Palestinians in administrative detention is constitutional: https://t.co/QJrNHuZFhY
— Yonah Jeremy Bob (@jeremybob1) September 11, 2016
Following Israel’s recent ruling on force-feeding hunger strikers, PHRI accused the Supreme Court of trampling “over medical ethics”, saying that the judges had shown “disregard for international declarations and ethics that prohibit the force-feeding of hunger strikers, a practice that can amount to torture.”
The group said that they hoped that “the medical community in Israel will refrain from cooperating with this law, and will keep acting according to the Hippocratic Oath and to medical ethics.”
(MEMO, PC)
