In a number of press interviews today, Dr Gilbert has stressed the urgency of the current situation in the Gaza Strip. He repeatedly emphasised the need for a ceasefire in a city many have now likened to an extermination camp.
Johannesburg – Today was a busy day. Dr Mads Gilbert, with phenomenal passion and dedication for the Palestinian cause, went from one media house to another to advocate the cause for justice. Some of the main topics highlighted were Israeli attacks on healthcare, racism and government attitudes towards the issue.
Newzroom Afrika
Dr Gilbert made an appearance on the television screens of viewers of Newzroom Afrika. He took the opportunity to flip apartheid Israel’s narrative that it was defending itself from “terrorists”.
“Half of the killed 12 000 are children! How can you call that defence of your country? What a cowardly army! They go for the hospitals and civilians, they do collective punishment by denying them water, food, medical supplies and relief. What is this? 2023?”
Radio Islam International
Palestine’s healthcare system is under attack. After a second day under Israeli occupation, the director of the main medical complex in Gaza says the situation is “catastrophic”. The Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza is “completely out of service”, while at least 11 470 people have been killed since early October.
Scenes in the Indonesian Hospital, northern Gaza. [Picture:
Dr Gilbert is convinced there is no Hamas command centre under hospitals in the besieged city.
“They claim it’s a command centre [Al-Shifa Hospital]; they have absolutely no proof. It’s so stupid that the whole world is laughing. They know all the tunnels. There could be a tunnel under Shifa, but a command centre? I move freely around the hospital. My phone has never been controlled, I’ve talked to anyone, I’ve opened any door I want to.”
Kaya FM
Speaking to Kaya FM’s Phemelo Motene, Dr Gilbert has opened up a broader conversation around both direct and indirect racism. He speaks about humanitarian aid, the Global South and local expertise. “They don’t need me. What they need is my shoulder, because everyone needs a shoulder of solidarity.”
An interesting observation from the show host: the voice of a White man appears to be heard more readily. “We need your race, too,” she says.
Gilbert: At the core of what we see now is extremely deep racism because nobody would accept what the Israelis are doing to the Palestinians unless they see the others as being less than themselves. #Gaza #Palestine #PalestineGenocide
— Salaamedia (@salaamedia) November 16, 2023
Radio 702
In a telephonic interview with John Perlman on 702 Drive with John Perlman, Dr Gilbert made an impassioned plea for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, followed by a decent flow of electricity, water and aid into the enclave.
Gilbert: The duty to explain how you can attack civilian healthcare is wholly on the Israeli army, Israeli government and the US government. The weight of the evidence is really on the Israelis. #Gaza #Palestine #PalestineGenocide @DrMadsGilbert
— Salaamedia (@salaamedia) November 16, 2023
“People are dying and we keep discussing stupid details,” says Dr Gilbert, urging an immediate end to the bombing and calling for electricity, water and aid to be allowed into the Gaza Strip. #Gaza #Palestine #PalestineGenocide @DrMadsGilbert
— Salaamedia (@salaamedia) November 16, 2023
Meanwhile, South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa had earlier said the city had become more like a “concentration camp” as Israel’s relentless attacks on civilian infrastructure went on.
Channel Islam International
Just a short while ago, Dr Gilbert was live on Channel Islam International out of their studios in Johannesburg. He said the South African anti-apartheid movement in the 20th century showed that it was possible to achieve an equal, “respecting” society. He also speaks about calling Israel’s actions “genocide”.
“This is the struggle [for] the value of a human life. This is the struggle against racism, this is the struggle, at the end of the day, against a new type of apartheid which is much worse, with all due respect, than the apartheid you had during the terrible years you had in South Africa.”
Power Fm
Speaking to POWER Breakfast host Thabiso TT Tema this morning, Gilbert took pains to draw attention to the fact Israeli occupying forces were using the narrative of Hamas ‘militants’ under Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital to attack healthcare services. He earlier said attacks against healthcare were no less than attacks on the social fabric of Palestinians.
Just yesterday, they [Israelis] released video footage of what they said are arms retrieved from there (the video footage has not been independently verified. Would you know if there was this kind of operations by Hamas underneath hospitals or near the site of hospitals?
“I’m not a military man. I don’t go around to find command centres. I’m a doctor. But I’ve been walking freely all over Shifa for 16 years. I’ve been using my camera, I’ve been picturing, I’ve been videoing, I’ve been interviewing people, I’ve written two books about Gaza. I’ve never been controlled; they never said ‘Oh, don’t go there, let us have a little look at your camera'” – Dr Mads Gilbert, interview with POWER Breakfast.
“I don’t use the word Hamas, I use the word Palestinian resistance because it’s much more. It’s a popular resistance against occupation. You have to understand that any doctor, medical student or nurse you talk to in Gaza, they consider themselves part of the Resistance because this is a popular resistance against an inhuman occupation and colonisation.”
This is the end of our coverage for today. Check back tomorrow for more updates as the Durban leg of the tour gets underway.
