Palestinian health professionals visit Australia in landmark peacebuilding project

A high-level delegation of Palestinian health professionals visited Australia last month – the first time a group of Palestinian medical leaders has visited this country. The health professionals were on a fact-finding mission to learn about medical equipment that the Australian government has given to help fund a rehabilitation hospital in Hebron.

The visit by the eight-strong group of health leaders included surgeons, obstetricians, gynaecologists and epidemiologists, and the head of research in the West Bank Ministry of Health.

The delegation was the first of five by Palestinian and Israeli health leaders who will visit over the coming year as part of a $4 million grant awarded by the Albanese government in March to the Palestinian-Israeli health diplomacy organisation Rozana, to buy equipment for the Al Rahma rehabilitation hospital in Hebron.

The delegation was led by Executive Director of Rozana Palestine Mohammad Asideh, who told The Jewish Independent that Hebron is the largest governate in the West Bank but has never had any rehabilitation services. “Until now, whoever needs rehabilitation has to go somewhere else: Ramallah, Israel, East Jerusalem.

“We built the hospital in cooperation with a local organisation, but we also needed equipment,” Asideh added. “So the grant of $4 million to Rozana has two purposes: the first to buy the equipment for the hospital, the rehabilitation hospital - and then to bring five delegations to Australia from Palestine and Israel.”

“Some of the delegations are only Palestinian, like this one, but others will include Palestinian and Israeli health professionals.”