Confronting the Colonial Roots of Global Health Inequities in Gaza; Comment on “The Rhetoric of Decolonizing Global Health Fails to Address the Reality of Settler Colonialism: Gaza as a Case in Point”

Document Type : Commentary

Authors

1 Department of Human Sciences and education “R. Massa”, Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca, Milano, Italy

2 Department of Psychology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch, South Africa

3 Gaza Community Mental Health Program, Gaza, Palestine

Abstract

This response critically examines the editorial by Engebretsen and Baker, emphasizing the colonial underpinnings of global health as it pertains to Gaza. We argue that global health is not merely ineffective but complicit in perpetuating settler colonial structures that exacerbate health disparities. The health crisis in Gaza is intricately linked to Israeli occupation, challenging the reductionist frames of “conflict health” and “refugee health” often employed by global health institutions. The presence of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Gaza exemplifies how international health efforts can depoliticize the crisis, as they often operate within constraints that do not challenge the underlying power dynamics. Our call for localization and self-determination highlights the complexities of achieving these goals in a context where the state is unrecognized. To effect meaningful change, global health must confront and dismantle the colonial structures underpinning health inequities in Gaza, moving beyond superficial humanitarian approaches to advocate for justice and autonomy. 

Keywords

References

  1. Engebretsen E, Baker M. The rhetoric of decolonizing global health fails to address the reality of settler colonialism: Gaza as a case in point. Int J Health Policy Manag. 2024;13:8419. doi:34172/ijhpm.2024.8419
  2. Smith RJ. Healthcare under siege: geopolitics of medical service provision in the Gaza Strip. Soc Sci Med. 2015;146:332-340. doi:1016/j.socscimed.2015.10.018
  3. Al-Hindi M. Criminalising Palestinians: history and borders in the construction of the Palestinian threat. Int J Crime Justice Soc Democr. 2023;12(2):36-46.
  4. Horton R. Offline: Israel-Gaza-what comes next? Lancet. 2023;402(10412):1511. doi:1016/s0140-6736(23)02398-x
  5. Bhungalia L. Elastic Empire: Refashioning War Through Aid in Palestine. Stanford University Press; 2023.
  6. Kooli C, Kooli Y. The tragic collapse of Gaza’s health system. Avicenna. 2024;2023(2):7. doi:5339/avi.2023.7
  7. Asi YM. Palestinian dependence on external health services: de-development as a tool of dispossession. Middle East Law and Governance. 2022;14(3):366-387. doi:1163/18763375-14030004
  8. Hanbali L, Kwong EJ, Neilson A, Smith J, Hafez S, Khoury R. Israeli necropolitics and the pursuit of health justice in Palestine. BMJ Glob Health. 2024;9(2):e014942. doi:1136/bmjgh-2023-014942
  9. World Health Organization (WHO). Health Conditions of, and Assistance to, the Arab Population in the Occupied Arab Territories, Including Palestine. A54/INF.Doc/5. Geneva: WHO; 2001.
  10. Wispelwey B, Osuagwu C, Mills D, Goronga T, Morse M. Towards a bidirectional decoloniality in academic global health: insights from settler colonialism and racial capitalism. Lancet Glob Health. 2023;11(9):e1469-e1474. doi:1016/s2214-109x(23)00307-8
  11. Fanon F. The Wretched of the Earth. Grove Weidenfeld; 1963.
  12. Husseini A. On the Edge of the Abyss: War and Public Health in Gaza. Institute for Palestine Studies; 2024.
  13. Puar JK. The ‘right’ to maim: disablement and inhumanist biopolitics in Palestine. Borderlands. 2015;14(1):1-27.
  14. Ijaz N, Habib AR. Public health crisis in Gaza-the responsibility of US-based academic medical journals. JAMA. 2024;332(1):13-14. doi:1001/jama.2024.10766
  15. Grimm JJ. On Academic Integrity and Historic Responsibility: Shrinking Spaces for Critical Debate in Germany after October 7. The War on Gaza and Middle East Political Science. 2024:25.
  16. Dader K, Ghantous W, Masad D, et al. Topologies of scholasticide in Gaza: education in spaces of elimination. Fennia-International Journal of Geography. 2024;202(1):1-12. doi:11143/fennia.147002

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 18 August 2024
  • Revise Date: 07 October 2024
  • Accept Date: 12 October 2024
  • First Publish Date: 13 October 2024

Share

How to cite

Statistics