Dorset health workers hold vigil for hospital workers in Gaza
The vigil has been held outside Dorset County Hospital
Health workers have joined a vigil outside Dorset County Hospital in support of their colleagues in Palestine.
Doctors in Gaza have been scrambling to help a rising number of patients, including children injured in the air strikes. in overcrowded hospitals that are running short on medicines and fuel.
25 of 36 hospitals in Gaza have stopped operating and over 200 medical staff have been killed as a result of the war, yet many doctors remain in Palestine to provide life-saving treatment.
Dr Muhammed, from Dorset County Hospital, told us: “I always ask myself the question, ‘If I was in their shoes, would I have done the same?’
“The answer is you don’t know until you’ve been put in that situation but one thing is for certain, they are my role models and there aren’t enough words that can explain how brave they are.”
Nira, a student from Budmouth Academy who joined the vigil, added: "They are heroes! The hospital workers, the mothers, the fathers, the children who are carrying their own siblings, they are all heroes.
“I wake up thinking about them and I go to sleep thinking about them. People are suffering and as a young adult I need to show how important it is that we stand up for these innocent people.”
The vigil was organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in Dorset, to call for a permanent ceasefire.
Campaigner, Rob Ferguson noted: “Doctors, nurses and other medical staff have shown great bravery in continuing to work under bombardment. Our own health workers have participated in many demonstrations of support and now we meet at our own hospital to protest the bombardment.”
Dr Haseeb Khan said: “I’m here to show my support for Palestine because atrocities have been happening there and we can't not do anything.
“I hope this vigil shows the Western leaders that there are supporters everywhere and they are growing more and more. I hope that it will end with the result we all want, an immediate ceasefire.”
Dr Muhammed told us: “I think it's very important to raise our voices wherever we can. These are people, children, women, men just like us. We are here to show the support and to raise the concerns regarding what is happening and to demand for a ceasefire as early as possible.”