Pictured here are friends and allies who have come to a Trebuchet/Convisero meeting for Physicians for Human Rights Israel at my home, moderated by Convisero mentor Susannah Sirkin, former longtime policy director at Physicians for Human Rights (U.S.).
Here is the invitation from Susannah:
I'm very pleased to join Sherman Teichman and Iris Adler who are graciously hosting a discussion with Drs. Guy Shalev and Lina Qassem-Hassan of Physicians for Human Rights - Israel (PHRI). *
They will talk about their efforts to respond the humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza and the West Bank as well and PHR-I's longtstanding and ongoing work to promote dignity, equality and justice for all people living under Israel's responsibility control.
These human rights leaders will be on a short visit to the Northeast U.S. to raise awareness and broaden their network for advocacy and support.
Sunday evening, March 31st, 7 pm, at Sherman's home
Dr. Guy Shalev—Guy is PHRI's Executive Director and a research fellow at the Minerva Center for the Rule of Law Under Extreme Conditions. He is a medical and political anthropologist specializing in the intersection of medical professionalism, ethnonational politics, and bioethics in Israel/Palestine. Guy received his Ph.D. from The University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill in 2018, and his publications have appeared in American Anthropologist, Israeli Sociology, and Culture, Medicine, and Psychiatry.
Dr. Lina Qassem-Hassan—Lina is the Chairperson of PHRI's Board of Directors. She is a family medicine specialist with Clalit Health Services in the Haifa and Western Galilee District, specializing in end-of-life care. In addition to regularly volunteering with PHRI's West Bank mobile clinic and medical delegations to Gaza, Lina volunteers with their Prisoners and Detainees department, accompanying Palestinian hunger strikers. Recently, Lina volunteered with PHRI's emergency make-shift clinic for survivors of the October 7 massacre and has spoken out about her belief that all victims of this war deserve medical treatment.
Much appreciation,
Susannah (Sirkin), former longtime policy director at Physicians for Human Rights (U.S.)
The horrific events of October 7th in all its brutality and sadism, and the subsequent Israeli regime’s rampant operational reaction to destroy Hamas with its abhorrent loss of thousands of innocent lives have shaken me. Elsewhere I have addressed strategies attempting to restore deterrence but for me, the imperative has always remained how to struggle to secure a humane future for both Israeli and Palestinian peoples (NIMEP Insights).
This meeting of PHRI is, among others I have hosted including the Abraham Initiatives, of organizations I believe have integrity in the midst of all this horrific chaos.
I have defended the concept of self-determination for both Israel and Palestine for many decades. Immediately after the days after the ’67 war, influenced by Prof. Leibowitz who I had met at Givat Ram Hebrew University “warned against the state of Israel and Zionism becoming more sacred than Jewish humanist values”… and of the “dehumanizing effect of the occupation on the victims and the oppressors.”
We were privileged to have in our midst Prof. Liebowitz's grandson Akiva and his wife Hila.
