“It’s up to all of us”: British doctor shares why he is on Global Sumud Flotilla

British doctor James Smith speaks out on why he is joining the Global Sumud Flotilla and why health workers must organize against Israel’s genocide.

Health workers are among the dozens preparing to join the Global Sumud Flotilla, setting sail in the first week of September from ports in Tunisia, Spain, and Italy to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza. As at least 50 ships get ready to cross the Mediterranean, People’s Health Dispatch spoke with Dr. James Smith, a British doctor and health activist with Medact and the People’s Health Movement (PHM). Having volunteered in Gaza during the genocide – and repeatedly blocked from returning by Israeli authorities – Smith now continues his solidarity work through the Flotilla’s latest launch.

People’s Health Dispatch: To start, could you briefly introduce yourself? What do you do, and how did you decide to join the Global Sumud Flotilla?

James Smith: I’m a doctor trained in the UK, and for most of the past decade I’ve worked on and off in the international medical humanitarian sector with various organizations. During that time, I’ve also maintained a strong interest in health justice and solidarity movements, and I’ve always followed the work of the People’s Health Movement (PHM).

I foremost came to connect with the Global Sumud Flotilla, I guess, because I worked in Gaza during the genocide. I spent about two and a half months there as an emergency doctor, and what I witnessed made it very clear how limited humanitarianism and the liberal political order really are. It’s clear in Gaza, as it should be in many other parts of the world, that we can’t rely on existing political or legal systems to uphold justice, fairness, or equality. Unfortunately, that responsibility often falls to ordinary folks.

We’ve seen this for decades, almost a century, in international solidarity movements around Palestine. More recently, there’s been a vibrant resurgence of direct action: dockworkers refusing to load military equipment directed to Israel and campaigns against the international arms trade in the UK and elsewhere. And, of course, we’ve seen the flotillas. They have existed since the 2000s: the Freedom Flotilla Coalition has organized more than 30 missions, but this is the biggest single international flotilla effort so far.

For me, as someone who has worked in Gaza, who has lobbied politicians, spoken to the media, and written in academic forums, there’s nothing else to do. It feels like every other avenue has already been tried. Nothing has worked. That’s why I believe it’s up to all of us – as citizens of the world, if I can use that phrase – to take action and force an end to Israel’s genocide, because that’s the only way it will happen. We need to be very aware that humanitarianism can’t solve a genocide. James Orbinski said this back in 1999, humanitarianism alone cannot stop genocide, it cannot stop atrocity crimes. So while I’ve been rejected from returning to Gaza, I also recognize that humanitarianism isn’t the answer. That’s one of the reasons why I’m joining the flotilla.

PHD: We’ve seen health workers in Gaza murdered, kidnapped, imprisoned, and tortured. As a health worker yourself – and perhaps in conversations with others joining the Flotilla – what is the driving motivation? What do you most want to raise, given the systematic attacks on Gaza’s health system, and more broadly on Palestine’s healthcare, including in the occupied West Bank?

JS: We’ve seen an unprecedented assault on health as part of the strategy of genocide. Approximately 1,600 Palestinian healthcare workers have been killed. The entire healthcare system, its infrastructure, its medical supplies, has been devastated.

I personally visited hospitals across Gaza, from north to south, all of which had suffered targeted attacks. Bullet holes in the walls. Generators destroyed by Israeli tanks. Whole wards shelled by artillery. At one hospital in Khan Younis, after Israeli soldiers occupied the building, they cut every single ultrasound probe before leaving. We’re seeing a meticulous, systematic assault on health as a way to ethnically cleanse and eliminate the Palestinian people.

Read more: Israeli destruction of Gaza’s healthcare is a blueprint for future imperialist wars

Even if this were not the case, as healthcare workers we have a responsibility that goes beyond treating the immediate pathologies that walk through the door. We also have to address the root causes of ill health, which always come back to justice, discrimination, and different forms of oppression – factors that shape how we live and relate to one another. For me, it’s a moral, professional, and political responsibility to engage in this work. And while I’ve had the privilege of working alongside many Palestinian health workers, I believe even those who haven’t shared this obligation, it is incumbent on us to resist what Israel is doing in Palestine.

PHD: To conclude, what can people who are not on the Flotilla do to support it? What should they prioritize over the next couple of weeks?

JS: The simple reality is that we live within a capitalist global order, and therefore some of our power lies in where we put our money. Francesca Albanese has published a report listing many corporations and institutions complicit in the genocide, those bankrolling it and profiting from it. One of the lowest bars for action, in this context, is to think carefully and ethically about where we spend our money. We must engage in the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement: boycott through our own purchasing choices, ensure our loved ones are also doing the same, and collectively support these efforts.

PHD: What kind of collective actions do you see as most urgent?

JS: Coordinated collective direct action is crucial: lobbying political powers to cut ties with Israel, impose sanctions, and sever economic, political, and diplomatic relationships. And we must ensure these ties aren’t reintroduced the moment a ceasefire is agreed.

In my lifetime, I’ve never seen this level of mobilization in support of Palestine. There’s been a real revival of the solidarity movement, but we still need to organize more coherently within our workplaces, friendship groups, and families. Even after two years of genocide, there is still so much work to do. As healthcare workers, we need to organize more cohesively. And these mobilizations must be sustained not just for days, weeks, or months, but for years and decades, in pursuit of a liberated Palestine.

The Sumud Flotilla is a privilege to be part of, but many people following Israel’s genocide might feel frustrated that they can’t do something, let’s say, physically. But there is always something to do, wherever we are in the world, from the remotest corners to towns and cities right next to Palestine. We need to build connections to sustain these movements and sustain each other. And we must recognize that all of these actions are interconnected: choosing not to buy an Israeli product, choosing a Palestinian one instead, or booking travel through a platform that doesn’t operate in the occupied West Bank. Each of these small acts is part of a wider movement for liberation.

Interview slightly edited for length

People’s Health Dispatch is a fortnightly bulletin published by the People’s Health Movement and Peoples Dispatch. For more articles and to subscribe to People’s Health Dispatch, click here.