Photo by Yossi Zamir, Shatil Stock

This government clearly plans to go after the most vulnerable people. But to us, these people are neither nameless nor faceless – they are the communities we work with and support daily. They are the people our volunteers meet on the ground and form strong bonds with. They are the ones we fight for:

A Gazan woman attempting to obtain medical treatment, on the phone with Lama Taha, our Freedom of Movement coordinator. A trans woman who cannot wait four more years and is fighting for the therapy she deserves alongside our Public Health director, Lital Grossman. An incarcerated person whose health deteriorated due to poor health services in prison, calling our case manager Naji Abbas. A caretaker from the Philippines who discovered that her insurance wouldn’t cover her cancer treatments and trusts Evyatar Shamir of our Open Clinic to pressure the insurers to assume responsibility.

The incoming government is determined to hurt these people and their communities. They will try to discriminate and withhold medical treatments, hurt migrants and incarcerated persons, and abuse Palestinians living under military occupation. Their language may be whitewashed, but their goals are clear: new laws to allow racist and queer-phobic discrimination, an “Immigration Law” to imprison refugees and impoverish migrants, and the further corruption of a “Civil Administration” that is nothing but a military governate. We should not offer this government a single day of grace.

It’s time to resist.

Ahead of an impending stand-off, it’s time to harness our experience and expertise; plan our moves; and tighten our core moral and professional principles to react swiftly and efficiently through policy, legal, and advocacy work. Both on the ground and in international arenas.

Physicians for Human Rights - Israel