Surgeon who has worked in Gaza to give talk in Kinsale
Tonight will see a talk by an extraordinary surgeon who has worked in several hospitals in Gaza.
Oxford Professor Nick Maynard has worked in Gaza and the West Bank for years teaching and training doctors there and wishes to share his recent experiences in Gaza.
Prof. Maynard has links to Kinsale and will give a talk tonight at the Trident Hotel in Kinsale at 8pm. The talk is organised by the Kinsale Peace Project.
Prof. Maynard has been going to Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) since 2007, initially the West Bank and since 2010 Gaza.
Each year he takes a group of Oxford doctors specialising in surgery, medicine, paediatrics, and obstetrics to Gaza to teach medical students from the Islamic University of Gaza and Al Azhar University.
In recent years he said he has worked with Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP UK) as part of their surgical team to travel into Gaza to carry out and teach advanced upper gastrointestinal surgery for cancer and benign diseases.
He said: “A major focus of my work in Gaza has been to improve surgical cancer services, introduce multidisciplinary working and online MDT meetings for cancer between Gaza and Oxford/London.
“I was in Gaza in May 2023 carrying out and teaching cancer surgery, and was due to go out in October 2023, and then of course 7 October happened.
“In December 2023 with MAP I led the first UK medical mission into Gaza during the current conflict and worked at Al Aqsa Hospital for 2 weeks, spending most of my time operating on major explosive injuries to the chest and the abdomen. I am returning to Gaza in April.”
Entry to tonight’s talk is free but donations are welcome for Gaza.
Cork city
Meanwhile, the 26th Cork Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstration is due to take place on Leeside this weekend.
During the 25th demonstration, a 15 year old Irish-Palestinian boy living in Cork, named Bisam, spoke about how “Israel is wiping Gaza off the map”.
Bisam called for a stepping-up in Ireland of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign, which seeks to isolate Israel politically, culturally and economically.
A thousand people took part in the march, which coincided with Land Day, an annual Palestinian day of action against land seizures.
Another speaker at the march and rally, Emer Ní Mhaoldomnaigh, called for Israel to be expelled from the forthcoming Eurovision Song Contest.
Teachers call for ceasefire
At the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation annual Congress yesterday, Wednesday, members condemned the catastrophic loss of life, the mass displacement of innocent civilians and the ongoing destruction of infrastructure, including schools and hospitals in Gaza and the West Bank.
Supporting a motion expressing solidarity with the people of Palestine, delegates repeated calls for an immediate and full ceasefire to enable the flow of international humanitarian aid to the area. The motion also condemned the 7 October Hamas attack on Israeli civilians.