Dr Mads Gilbert is set to visit South Africa to tell the untold stories of his time working in Shifa Hospital and living in Gaza
South Africa – In the realm of unwavering dedication and unyielding commitment, Dr. Mads Gilbert stands as a beacon of hope and healing. The Norwegian physician and humanitarian has stood as a steadfast guardian of humanity and fearlessly served as a volunteer doctor in Al Shifa Hospital during many of the Israeli onslaughts in the past. Hosted by Salaamedia, Gilberts is set to visit South Africa in November for his Gaza Tour.
Amidst the ongoing genocide, his journey becomes more than just a tour; it is a vital odyssey, an honorable mission to illuminate the plight of Gaza. It is an opportunity to ensure the stories of the resilient Palestinians echo across the country, dismantling the false narrative that cloaks Israel as a moral army. Revealing instead the stark reality of an apartheid state determined to extinguish the Palestinian spirit.
In the heart of the storm, Gilberts bore witness to the horrors of Gaza during the dark days of 2014’s Operation Protective Edge. The relentless onslaught unleashed by Israel claimed the lives of over 2 000 Palestinians, leaving more than 10 000 others maimed and scarred. The current events unfolding in Gaza surpass even those depths of human suffering and despair. With every passing second, the Palestinian people are condemned to a fate that defies imagination as Israel continues to slaughter them, said Gilbert, his voice laden with despair.
“Our brothers, sisters, and children in Gaza are being slaughtered by the thousands. As we are speaking the Israeli occupation forces are killing one Palestinian child every 10 minutes on average. The number of killed has now passed 9 000 killed Palestinians in 3 weeks. That is 3 000 per week for three weeks. The majority of the killed, if you compare women children and men, the majority are children which will soon reach 4 000 killed in three weeks. In 2023 and nobody is stopping it.”
Assault on essential services
In a desperate plea, Gilbert fervently implored everyone, particularly South Africans who intimately understand the horrors of Apartheid, to rise up and demand justice for the Palestinians. Israel’s cruelty knows no bounds, as it not only claims the lives of innocent Palestinians but also mercilessly targets hospitals, once sanctuaries of healing and refuge. With an overwhelming arsenal supplied by the US, Israeli forces have ruthlessly bombed hospitals and ambulances, further crippling Gaza’s already fragile healthcare system. The depths of despair in Gaza are immeasurable, as places of solace are transformed into scenes of devastation and despair.
“So far due to bombing and lack of fuel, 57 medical facilities, hospitals and primary healthcare clinics in Gaza have been shut down. More than 30 ambulances have been targeted. More than 130 medical staff have been killed, the numbers go on. More than 67 UN employees have been killed.”
The deliberate obliteration of medical facilities, coupled with the deliberate shutdown of water pipelines, has plunged 2.2 million people into an abyss of despair, deprived of the most basic human necessity: clean water. The consequences are catastrophic, as patients and healthcare workers battle amid deplorable conditions. Doctors, already operating under extreme duress, are pushed to the precipice of exhaustion, their resilience tested beyond measure. What is desperately required at this moment is urgent, life-saving aid.
“They need urgent supply not by white doctors coming from the West and putting up some tents, no. What they need is to stop the bombing, to lift the brutal siege of Gaza and allow fuel for the generators, water and food for the people, medical supplies for the hospitals immediately and then we need to open for medical teams coming in from all parts of the world to support and to take the call from our colleagues. Nurses, doctors, paramedics in Gaza who have now been on call, standby working 24 hours around the clock for three consecutive weeks.”
SMread: Puppets in power: The deafening silence of Arab Nations as Gaza bleeds
Questioning the claims
Amidst the chaos, there are claims made by the Israeli forces regarding the presence of Hamas in hospitals. However, these assertions seem to serve as distractions from the main issue. Gilbert, with his extensive experience in Gaza, dismisses these claims as a ploy to divert attention and dismantled it with a critical eye.
“I’ve been working in Shifa Hospital during the bombings in 2006, 2009, 2012 and 2014. I know the place. I’ve been all over. I’ve never been stopped. I have filmed, pictured, interviewed, opened the doors I wanted to open. I’ve never been restricted nor have my documentation been looked through or censored in any way. I’ve never seen any trace of this claimed command centre. The Israelis say they have the most sophisticated intelligence system in the world. They have x-rayed the whole Gaza strip. They have mapped all the tunnels of the resistance. They know every phone number to every citizen. They call them, they harass them, they threaten them, they know the address of everyone, they have detailed aerial photos of every corner in the neighbourhood. Why have they not been able to come up with some evidence during these 16 years of claims that there is a command centre?”
Gilbert emphatically highlighted the absurdity of Israel’s claims, underscoring the baselessness given their track record of bombing three hospitals without any justification or even saying they have a command centre within. The stark reality exposes the hollow justifications, laying bare the unjustified aggression against vital healthcare facilities. All these claims serve one purpose, to drag the attention away from the thousands killed and the war crimes being committed.
The Human Cost: Starvation, thirst, and disease
Beyond the immediate casualties, Gaza’s population faces an imminent humanitarian catastrophe. The blockade has deprived 2.2 million people of clean water, resulting in thirst and rampant infections due to unsanitary conditions. Starvation looms large as bakeries struggle to operate without electricity and fuel.
“Here is the situation. No water. People are thirsting to death, in particular the children and people are getting a lot of infections because they can’t wash their hands. Starvation because the influx of food and flour to Gaza has stopped. No medical supply and not only for the wounded. Remember in a population of 2.2 million people there are diabetics, there are people with hypertension, with myocardial acute, myocardial infections. There are psychiatric patients who need attention and especially attention during times of attacks. All these common patient groups are also denied their medical treatment.”
Gilbert vehemently condemned the inaction of world leaders, particularly highlighting the racism embedded in the lack of decisive action. He questioned the double standards applied, emphasising that the same atrocities in any other conflict zone would prompt immediate intervention and the ‘Israel needs to defend’ itself rhetoric was not justifiable any longer.
“When did it become a defence to kill 4 000 children? When did it become a defence to bomb the wounded and the needing in hospitals? When did it become a defence to turn off the water, the food supply and the power supply to 2.2 million civilians, decent people, living incarcerated in Gaza for 17 years under siege and brutal Apartheid rule? The only explanation for these atrocities and this illogical support for the defence is racism. Joe Biden, the leaders in the EU, president of Canada, they don’t see the Palestinian people as equal human beings. Had they for one second considered the population in Gaza as equal human beings, they would have called and they would have stopped the Israeli government immediately.”
Gilbert’s impending visit to South Africa carries immense significance. The objective is clear: to foster understanding, empathy, and a collective drive to bring an end to the suffering in Gaza. It is his hope to see a “broad based representation in the audience” in the pursuit of a common humanitarian goal. The fate of the Palestinian people hangs in the balance, demanding not just words of condemnation but tangible, immediate intervention to end their unimaginable plight.
The first event is set to take place in Durban at the NMJ Hall on 17 November with more to follow.
For more information contact Ponty Moletsane on,
011 680 0335
081 569 9770
ponty@salaamedica.com
