142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

314225
Part I: Why should public health professionals support Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movements?

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Tuesday, November 18, 2014 : 5:06 PM - 5:12 PM

Sawsan Abdulrahim, PhD , Department of Health Promotion and Community Health Faculty of Health Sciences American University of Beirut, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
The history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict began in 1948, when the state of Israel was established after the depopulation of hundreds of thousands of indigenous Palestinians.  For almost seven decades, the conflict has been characterized by an imbalance in power between Israel, a state that enjoys full U.S. military support, and a colonized indigenous Palestinian population.  The 2014 Israeli attack on Gaza is the third in a series since 2008 where Palestinians paid a disproportionate price in civilian deaths and injuries, and witnessed the almost complete destruction of their health infrastructure.  As the U.S. continues to provide Israel with unfettered political and financial backing, American public health professionals can opt for a responsible and peaceful approach to end Israeli violence against Palestinians – the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. We advance arguments for BDS as a proactive strategy whose goals parallel the classic public health goals of addressing the root causes of injustice that lead to poor health and violence. Parallels will be drawn between the South African and the Palestinian case. The main tenets of the Palestinian BDS movement will be delineated, highlighting the movement’s focus on equal rights, justice, and international law.  We will discuss the deleterious effects of Israeli violence on the health and the health infrastructure in Palestine. Public health professionals can adopt a BDS position as a professional public health responsibility.  We will conclude with suggestions on how to organize on the BDS front following the lead of other U.S. professional organizations.

Learning Areas:

Advocacy for health and health education
Public health or related public policy
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the dynamics of how BDS might bring an end to the occupation of Palestine, resulting in improved health for Palestinians. Compare the Palestinian BDS movement today to the South African anti-apartheid BDS movement of the 1970s.

Keyword(s): War, Human Rights

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am on the faculty at American University in Beirut and an expert in Palestinian political and health issues.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.