IMA OUT!
FRINGE CONFERENCE
OCT 8 • RDAM (NL)

19:00–21:30 (CEST)
Doors open 18:30

Theater Rotterdam
Schouwburgplein 25
Rotterdam (NL)

As the World Medical Association meets in Rotterdam, we take the debate beyond the conference halls. Join us for an evening on medical ethics, medical neutrality and the responsibility of the international medical community in the face of the destruction of Palestinian healthcare.

Attendance is open to everyone who stands for healthcare, health justice, medical neutrality and global solidarity.

PROGRAMME

18:30 — Doors open

19:00 — Opening

19:10 — Health, Rights and Justice

• Aziz Rhali
• Jeff Handmaker
• Derek Summerfield

20:30 — From Evidence to Action

• Ang Swee Chai
• Hanne Bosselaers
• Mvuyisi Mzukwa
• Marcelia Theron

SPEAKERS

Derek Summerfield

Derek Summerfield is a psychiatrist and longstanding medical ethics advocate. He will examine the IMA’s complicity in the attacks on Palestinian healthcare and healthcare workers and argue for its suspension from the WMA.

Ang Swee Chai

Ang Swee Chai is an orthopaedic and trauma surgeon and co-founder of Medical Aid for Palestinians. She has worked for decades alongside Palestinian communities living under occupation. She will discuss the path towards WMA suspension of the IMA.

Omar Barghouti

Omar Barghouti is a Palestinian human rights defender and a co-founder of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestinian rights. He is a co-recipient of the 2017 Gandhi Peace Award. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Electrical Engineering from Columbia University, NY, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Philosophy (Ethics) at the University of Amsterdam. He is the author of BDS: The Global Struggle for Palestinian Rights (Haymarket: 2011). His commentaries and interviews have appeared in the Guardian, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Financial Times, among others.

Aziz Rhali

Aziz Rhali is a pharmacist, human rights defender and Global Coordinator of the People’s Health Movement. He will reflect on the right to health, medical ethics and our duty as health professionals to act.

Jeff Handmaker

Jeff Handmaker is Associate Professor at Erasmus University Rotterdam and specialises in human rights and international law. He will address the destruction of healthcare in Palestine and its legal implications under international humanitarian law.

Marcelia Theron

Marcelia Theron is a South African physician and healthcare activist. She is a member of the Global Anti-Apartheid Movement and has worked with Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine South Africa (HCW4P). She will speak in support of the call to suspend the IMA in defence of global standards of medical ethics.

Mvuyisi Mzukwa

Mvuyisi Mzukwa is a general practitioner and Chairperson of the South African Medical Association (SAMA). He will discuss why SAMA broke ties with the Israeli Medical Association and its call for other medical associations to follow suit.

Hanne Bosselaers

Hanne Bosselaers is a general practitioner and member of Medicine for the People, with longstanding involvement in solidarity initiatives for Palestinian healthcare. She will speak about the role and responsibility of the medical community.

Why this meeting?

From 7–10 October 2026, the World Medical Association (WMA) will hold its General Assembly in Rotterdam. The WMA presents itself as the international guardian of medical ethics and is responsible for major ethical standards including the Declaration of Geneva and the Declaration of Tokyo.

The IMA OUT campaign is calling for the suspension of the Israeli Medical Association from the WMA. During this fringe conference, healthcare professionals, academics and activists will discuss medical ethics, medical neutrality, attacks on Palestinian healthcare and the responsibilities of medical institutions.

The evening will move from evidence to action: from the destruction of healthcare and the relevant ethical and legal principles to the question of what medical associations and healthcare professionals can do.