Swiss doctors and challenges began a hunger strike in front of Parliament in Bern on Monday in protest against the Israeli war on Gaza, calling on the Swiss government to take a more strict stance towards Israel.
Switzerland denounces some Israeli measures in the war, such as the attack on a hospital last month, but it refrains from taking more strict steps demanded by protesters such as imposing sanctions on Israel or recognizing a Palestinian state.
Doctors participate in the protest, putting medical speakers and wearing blood -stained (fake) medical clothes to show the suffering of civilians in Gaza, and decided to rotate to refrain from food for 24 hours in a sequential system throughout the parliament sessions in September.
“The white coat was protecting you, and today, if you wanted to save your life, you should take it off, and this is unacceptable, and it is unacceptable that we do not interact with that,” said Professor Petro Magno Horst, surgeon and member of the Swiss Health Care Association against Genocide.
This protest comes after similar moves in Swiss universities and other protests at the beginning of the week, with the spread of famine in some regions of Gaza due to the systematic starvation policy pursued by the Israeli government.
“We can say that the government is currently silent, ineffective, and I would like to say that it is somewhat cowardly, and it lacks courage and I think it is time for change,” said Professor Karl Blanche, Director of the Geneva Center for Humanitarian Studies and one of the protests.
And Switzerland, which has close ties to Israel, says it is committed to neutrality, but agreed to the sanctions imposed by the European Union on Russia because of Ukraine, and this raised accusations by some critics of adopting double standards.