29 August 2025

Dear Colleagues,

As we prepare for the SAAFP Annual General Meeting on 5 September 2025, I write to respectfully bring to your attention a motion I have submitted calling for SAAFP to take a principled, urgent, and consistent stance on the humanitarian and medical catastrophe in Palestine.

This is not a political intervention.
It is a call to uphold our own constitutional and ethical obligations as family doctors — obligations enshrined in our Memorandum of Incorporation (MOI).

✅ Why This Matters to SAAFP

Our MOI commits us to:

  • 1.1.1: Promote optimal health through advocacy and development of the primary health care team.
  • 1.1.2: Develop family medicine through education, research, and dissemination.
  • 1.1.3: Represent family physicians in international forums.
  • 1.1.4: Influence relationships with institutions and the public.

The current crisis in Palestine strikes at the heart of these objectives — and we have already affirmed this.

In February 2024, SAAFP issued a statement expressing grave concern over the killing of over 340 healthcare workers, the destruction of 30 of 36 hospitals, and the decimation of Gaza’s higher education sector. We called for an end to violence and for support to Palestinian healthcare workers.

Since then, the situation has deteriorated catastrophically.

🔴 The Humanitarian & Medical Emergency

  • At least 1,400 healthcare workers — doctors, nurses, paramedics — have been killed in Gaza since 2023.
    (Source: Medical Aid for Palestinians, ReliefWeb, 19 May 2025)
  • Over 33 of 36 hospitals have been destroyed or forced to close.
  • The UN Commission of Inquiry has stated these attacks amount to war crimes and extermination.
  • The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has ruled:
    • January 2024: Israel is plausibly committing genocide in Gaza.
    • July 2024: Israel maintains a regime of apartheid in the occupied territories.

This is not a “conflict.”
It is the systematic dismantling of a health system and a people — a healthicide.

⚖️ The Double Standard & Our Credibility

  • WONCA issued detailed, urgent statements on Ukraine — naming MSF, ICRC, UNFPA, and calling for member action.
  • For Palestine, its response has been vague, delayed, and lacking specificity — until its 28 August 2025 statement, which, while welcome, equates Gaza with Ukraine and Sudan, ignoring the unique scale and legal reality of the crisis.

This false equivalence undermines the moral authority of our profession.

As family doctors, we are bound by medical neutrality, equity, and the sanctity of life — not by geography or politics.

Our silence — or weak statements — in the face of plausible genocide is not neutrality.
It is complicity.

📝 The Motion: A Call for Consistency, Not Controversy

The motion I have submitted calls on SAAFP to:

  1. Affirm our 2024 statement and acknowledge the deteriorating reality in Palestine.
  2. Reaffirm our MOI commitments to human rights, equity, and medical ethics.
  3. Issue a public statement that:
    • Condemns attacks on healthcare workers, facilities, and civilians,
    • Demands an immediate and permanent ceasefire,
    • Calls for accountability for violations of international humanitarian law.
  4. Commit to concrete solidarity, including:
    • Scholarships for displaced Palestinian medical students and trainees,
    • Academic partnerships with Palestinian institutions,
    • Advocacy for the rebuilding of Gaza’s health system.
  5. Leverage our role as hosts of the 2027 WONCA Conference in Cape Town by:
    • Urging the President and Council to negotiate with WONCA World to dedicate the Conference to “Justice for Palestinians: Rebuilding Health and Humanity”,
    • Proposing plenaries, workshops, and cultural events focused on Palestinian health.
  6. Support sustained advocacy within WONCA, including:
    • Backing the Healthcare Workers for Palestine (HCW4P) campaign calling for the suspension of the Israeli Association of Family Physicians (IAFP),
    • Preparing a motion for the WONCA Council in Lisbon 2025,
    • Committing to raise this issue at every SAAFP and WONCA Council meeting until 2027.

This is not about division.
It is about integrity, consistency, and leadership.

🛡️ Addressing Concerns
“This is too political.”
This is aboutmedical ethics, not politics. The ICJ has ruled ongenocide and apartheid— legal, not political, findings.
“It will divide the membership.”
Silence divides more.Many members — especially young doctors — are deeply concerned. This is a chance to lead with courage.
“We should stay neutral.”
Neutrality in the face of plausible genocide is not neutrality — it iscomplicity.
“The motion was submitted late.”
The crisis is urgent. I request the Chair allow it underurgency, as permitted by democratic practice.
“What about Ukraine, Sudan, DRC, etc.?”
We stand for justice in all conflicts. But where theICJ has ruled on genocide, our response must bespecific, urgent, and unambiguous.

🌍 This Is Who We Are

We are family doctors.
We stand for life.
We stand for equity.
We stand for truth.

We do not choose between justice and medicine — because justice is medicine.

I urge you to allow this motion to be debated at the AGM — not because I ask it, but because our MOI, our oath, and our conscience demand it.

With respect and solidarity,

Prof. S. Moosa
Full Member, SAAFP
Former President, WONCA Africa and Member-at-Large, WONCA World
Founder, Family Doctors for Global Justice Caucus

🔗 References & Actions