ANKARA: Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert, who has been actively involved in solidarity work concerning Palestinians for decades, has decried the West’s failure and double standards to address the events in Gaza, where Israel’s attacks have killed more than 21,000 people, mostly children and women, and led to mass displacement and homelessness.
“It seems like Europe, the old colonial nations in Europe, like France, Spain, Belgium, Germany, go into some type of reflect support for this colonial project, with the United States, Canada and Australia, because they are all old colonial powers who used to occupy, to eliminate people, to kill the local population and to steal their land,” the 76-year-old professor at the University Hospital of North Norway, told Anadolu.
“History is repeating itself and we now see neocolonialism, which is based on the abuse of power and theft of land and raw material from the Global South.”
Recalling that European and Western countries immediately imposed economic and political sanct
ions on Russia when it launched its war on Ukraine in February 2022, Gilbert said: “Where are the sanctions against the war crimes of Israel? Where are the sanctions against the occupation of Palestine? Where are the sanctions against these abhorrent attacks on civilian healthcare in Gaza?”
Israel has continued its relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since the Oct. 7 cross-border incursion by Palestinian group Hamas.
Gilbert lamented that international law is not followed when the victims are in countries such as Iraq, Libya or Palestine. “You can do what you want, they don’t have to pay any attention to international law.”
But when it comes to Ukraine and “white people,” he said, there is another law. “And I think from my travels in Africa and the Middle East in the last two months, and discussions with many people, politicians, and diplomats, and medical colleagues, this double moral, this double standard is very very clear to them. And it is very upsetting because it challenged the idea
that ‘we are one humankind and every single life is worth protecting. Every single life should be holy.'”
In this perspective, the killings in Gaza in over two months, he said, is the “exact opposite” of how we want the world to be: just, which observes human rights, rights of children, rights of people in armed conflict, a more human world after the World War II.
“All of this is broken, and all of this is allowed when Israel is perpetrating it,” added Gilbert, who has served in the territory many times, especially during attacks.
‘Lost our words’ to describe Gaza disaster
Asked to describe the current conditions in Gaza, he said most of us ‘have lost our words’ and ‘we don’t really know anymore how to describe it.’
‘It has been described as a ‘disaster,’ as a ‘catastrophe,’ as a ‘magnum disaster,’ and I think all of these words are fitting for the current situation in Gaza. We have 2.2 million people who have been exposed to merciless bombing, starvation, thirst and rain, and winter’ for several weeks,’
he said.
Speaking of the casualties, he said at least 10,000 of them ‘need surgical treatment, and follow-up treatment to survive and minimize the consequence of the injuries.’
‘All in all, the situation is extreme, it’s man-made, all of it. This is not a natural disaster. And on top of these massive military attacks, practically no humanitarian aid is allowed in, only a trickle, and the Palestinian healthcare, as well as the Palestinians social infrastructure, has been attacked,’ he said.
‘It is unprecedented. I don’t know of any situation in modern history, where the hospitals, the healthcare system, the primary healthcare clinics, the ambulances and the healthcare workers have been attacked with such aggressiveness and such brutality as we have seen in Gaza.’
Gilbert, who has written several books including Night in Gaza, said there were 34 operational hospitals in Gaza on Oct. 7, but only 11 were left now due to Israeli attacks, and limited access to fuel, food, water, medical supplies and security.
“So, you have 2.2 million people who have been stolen of the right to have health care,” he said, adding that the people of Gaza also suffer from common diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, asthma and others.
“Because of the lack of water, the patients are not getting clean treatment in the hospitals, and we have lots of infections” such as diarrhea, vomiting, hepatitis, polio, fever and other contagious diseases, the doctor said.
“It’s horrible, it’s painful,” he said, sharing that more than 300 doctors, nurses and paramedics have been killed in Gaza to date.
“I have lost good colleagues myself. It is, extremely painful and of course criminal, because hospitals, ambulances, healthcare systems are protected according to international law. And who else than the Israeli army would systematically attack healthcare and kill healthcare workers, and get away with it. Why is not the world stopping this? … Why are the nations who voted for cease-fire … the large majority of the nations in the world, why ca
n they not stop one nation, Israel?”
Turkish president ‘staunch supporter of Palestinian cause’
The veteran activist described Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as a “strong supporter of the Palestinian cause” and called the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital in Gaza, the only cancer facility in the territory, as a “beautiful gift from the Turkish people to the Palestinian people.” It was targeted by Israelis in late October.
He called on Erdogan to continue providing humanitarian aid to Gazans as there is an “avalanche of human suffering,” “we need an avalanche of human solidarity and support” and Trkiye is in a “perfect position to increase the support for Gaza.”
Root cause of suffering of Palestinians is Israeli occupation
Gilbert said the root cause of the suffering of all Palestinians is the Israeli occupation, which must end in order to achieve peace in the region.
“As a doctor, I’m not trained to treat symptoms. I’m trained to find the root cause of the symptom … the root cause of all
the suffering in Gaza, and in West Bank, and in the Palestinian diaspora, is the Israeli occupation of Palestine. It is the Israeli settler colonial project of Palestine,” he said.
“There must be a just solution for both people. There must be a just solution for the Palestinian people. That means an end to the occupation, to the siege of Gaza, and to the repeated attacks and killing of Palestinian civilians.”
Source: Anadolu Agency