“The system tells you... You can be Arab... but you need to be... “good Arabs”. The Arabs that do manage to build a career and get to a more senior position... need to be fine with the flag and the soldiers and the magnifying glass they’re constantly under. You need to accept that because you’re Palestinian, your career development will be more difficult, and you shouldn’t complain about it.”

On August 9th, allegations emerged against Rambam Hospital (Haifa), where four Israeli soldiers who had been wounded in Lebanon were admitted for treatment. One of the soldiers was in serious condition, and his family alleged that he had been “locked overnight” in a room with “only Arabic-speaking staff”, where he was mistreated.

This incident – where racist allegations accused Palestinian medical staff in an Israeli hospital of being “disloyal” and untrustworthy – is the tip of the iceberg, representing a far wider, more pervasive reality of silencing and persecution.

Join PHRI’s Shani Bar Tuvia and Lee Caspi for a conversation about this libelous incident, the response it met in the Israeli healthcare system, the public, and the media, and the much wider phenomenon it represents. In this episode, we delve into the daily experience of thousands of Palestinian medical workers in Israeli institutions, who are forced to lead their professional lives under a microscope. A reality where any perceived or real step outside the lines of what they are permitted to say, feel, and be, might damage their careers and professional prospects.

*For more background, listen to our previous episode on PHRI’s report on the silencing of Palestinian healthcare professionals in the Israeli medical system: https://rss.com/podcasts/diagnosingthebarriers/2433021

Or read PHRI’s report on the subject: https://www.phr.org.il/en/report-hashtaka-eng/

For years, Palestinian public healthcare workers in the occupied West Bank have been paid only a small portion of their salaries, leading to a strike by the Palestinian Medical Association announced in May 2026. Basic medications are partially or wholly unavailable at public Palestinian hospitals throughout the West Bank. Governmental clinics and hospitals are limiting services to emergency and life-saving interventions. Patients are unable to access treatment for a wide range of illnesses and conditions.

All this is occurring against the backdrop of Israeli authorities' intensified military operations across the West Bank, accelerated settlement expansion along with settler violence, blocking Palestinian laborers from entering Israel, and a significant increase in withholding Palestinian Authority tax revenues.

Join PHRI’s Milena Ansari and Lee Caspi as they delve into the roots of a public health crisis that has gone under the radar, despite the catastrophic implications for the millions of Palestinian residents in the West Bank. In this episode of Diagnosing the Barriers, we attempt to unpick an issue with multifaceted, intersecting origins, including primary Israeli control over Palestinian customs revenues, impacting every aspect of daily civilian life in the West Bank.

“Israel doesn’t just broadcast to the world ‘we have doctors that are held without any sort of charges for the past two years’; they’re not going to give that to the public on a silver platter. People need to inquire.”

Join PHRI’s Maha Loulou and Lee Caspi for a discussion about our campaign demanding the release of 14 doctors from Gaza who have been held by Israel, without charge and subject to grave torture and rights violations, for periods ranging from 1.5 to 2.5 years. We share some of their individual stories and what is happening behind bars, away from the public eye, to a group of highly skilled medical professionals who are desperately needed back home.

*For more background, listen to our previous episode on the systemic torture of medical personnel from Gaza in Israeli custody: https://rss.com/podcasts/diagnosingthebarriers/2187997

Or read PHRI’s report on the subject: https://www.phr.org.il/en/torture-of-medical-workers/

**This episode was recorded on June 1st, a mere two days before PHRI received a firsthand report from Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya's lawyer about his grave condition and the imminent threat to his life. While we work around the clock to try to save Dr. Abu Safiya and bring greater visibility to his case, we are continuing our efforts to release all 14 Gaza doctors still held in Israeli detention.