Irish doctors behind Gaza fund-raising effort call on Australian government to speak out against attacks

Irish Times

2 days ago

A group of Irish doctors working in Perth are behind a fund-raising and awareness initiative that has raised over $170,000AUD (€96,000) for humanitarian aid in
Gaza
and received the support of nearly 1,000 medics across
Australia
.
The campaign started in March, 2024, with five doctors sitting around Dr Mairéad Heaney's kitchen table. Dr Heaney is a paediatric consultant from Galway who has been based in Australia for 21 years. She and her fellow doctors had been left wondering what, if anything, they could do to help the people of Gaza.
Their campaign reached a landmark last week with full-page adverts – paid for by hundreds of doctors – running in both the Sydney Morning Herald and Melbourne Age. The adverts called on the Australian government to take action in opposition to the ongoing crisis in Gaza and the West Bank.
'When we first met, we talked about how devastated and helpless we felt about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and what we could possibly do to help,' said Dr Heaney. 'None of us felt safe speaking out at work as Australia is much more like America in terms of influential lobby groups, censorship and lack of mainstream media coverage.'
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The small group had 'no idea where to start, no idea how to fund-raise'. Over the course of more than a year, they arranged for the screening of multiple films highlighting the plight of Palestinians. They also ran a GoFundMe campaign, which raised tens of thousands of Australian dollars. That money has been donated to charities working on the ground in Gaza.
'We then decided we needed to speak out publicly as doctors,' said Dr Heaney. They wrote an advert for publication in the Melbourne Age and the Sydney Morning Herald under the headline 'We cannot stay silent'.
It called on the Australian government to take a stronger stand against the ongoing Israeli military action in Gaza which has resulted in the deaths of more than 53,000 people, including more than 15,000 children.
The advert also called for the immediate release of Israeli hostages still being held by Hamas in the wake of terrorist attacks in Israel on October 7th, 2023.
'We have been very careful to be apolitical,' said Dr Heaney. 'We focused on humanitarian issues [and] thought we would be lucky to get 100 signatures.'
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She said the small group was 'going to chip in to raise the $9000 ad cost'. However, she added: 'Over five days, we reached 900 doctors all over Australia who were willing to speak out and not be silent. This included so many influential Australian doctors. Former Australians of the Year, professors, college presidents and multiple Order Of Australia medal recipients, as well as so many normal doctors like us.'
She said many young Irish doctors who have come to Perth for a year or two 'have felt very isolated in their advocacy for
Palestine
'. These young doctors have joined the Perth Doctors Medical Aid for Palestine group.
The group plans to deliver a statement to the Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese this week and they are continuing to raise funds on the
GoFundMe platform
- https://www.gofundme.com/f/js2a8a-medical-aid-for-gaza