Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHRI) stands at the forefront of the struggle for human rights–the right to health in particular–in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Founded in 1988 by a group of Israeli physicians led by Dr. Ruchama Marton, PHRI works to promote a just society where the right to health is granted equally to all people under Israel’s responsibility.
PHRI employs a multi-faceted approach to achieve its goals through the provision of humanitarian aid and work promoting policy change. Through our open and mobile clinics, volunteer medical professionals provide services free of charge to people with limited or no access to health care–primarily migrants, refugees, and Palestinian residents of the West Bank and Gaza. At the same time, PHRI works to change discriminatory and abusive structures and policies towards Palestinians in the Occupied Territory, prisoners and detainees, migrant workers, refugees, undocumented persons, and Israeli residents. Our methodology includes data collection, casework, legal action, local and international advocacy, education, and mobilization of the medical community. PHRI is supported by more than 3,500 members and volunteers, and each year we serve more than 20,000 people by providing medical care or assistance in accessing the right to health.
The principles of human rights, medical ethics, and social justice are at the core of our worldview. It is our position that the medical community is sometimes complicit–passively or actively–in oppressive practices that undermine equality and health. Furthermore, PHRI views the ongoing occupation of the Palestinian Territory as a root cause of multiple human rights violations including the right to health and actively advocates for its end. Thus, in all of our work, we refuse to accept policies that increase inequality and structural violence and seek to establish an alternative that cultivates true equality and solidarity.
