Ramallah: A petition protesting Israeli-imposed segregation in hospitals in the 1948 areas has collected thousands of signatures.
The move comes after the racist practice of segregation between Jewish and Palestinian women in maternity wards in Israeli hospitals was exposed.
The petition is a collaboration between Israeli and Palestinian human rights activists and is directed to the heads of several Israeli hospitals who have tolerated this practice.
The Israeli-rights group Zazim teamed up with Physicians for Human Rights and took out a huge billboard sign in front of Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba, urging a stop to the racist practice.
The Kfar Saba Municipality ordered the billboard to be removed accusing it of “offending public sensitivities”.
Zazim said the dismantling of the billboard showed how the racist practice is being tolerated by officials.
“Citizens spent thousands of shekels for the billboard to legally protest the issue of segregation. The response of the Kfar Saba Municipality violated the freedom of expression of these citizens and also lends support to racist practices,” said Raluca Ganea, the executive director of Zazim.
“Racism in Israel’s health sector is evident and remaining silent will only strengthen it. Medical ethics call for equal treatment.”
Rights activists have been touring Israeli hospitals and handing out flowers in maternity wards to spread awareness of the racist practice.
Activists say the segregation often happens without a direct request from an Israeli patient.
A member of the Jewish Home party in the Knesset has been quoted as saying, “It is natural that my wife wouldn’t want to share a hospital room with a woman who gives birth to a baby who might want to murder her baby 20 years from now. Arabs are my enemies and that is why I do not enjoy being next to them.”
Activists have vowed to erect new billboards.
