https://www.thelancet.

com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)02509-6/fulltext

Pada tanggal 27 Oktober 2023, sehari setelah Offline karya Richard Horton dipublikasikan

secara online,1 saluran telepon di Gaza menjadi sunyi.

Informasi yang tersedia menunjukkan bahwa pada malam tanggal 27 Oktober terjadi

pemboman Israel yang paling hebat di Gaza sejak tanggal 7 Oktober 2023. Selama situasi

yang meningkat ini, kami membaca Offline Horton dengan rasa terkejut dan kebingungan.

Horton menggambarkan “krisis kemanusiaan yang memburuk” di Gaza dengan jumlah

korban tewas “lebih dari 5000 orang dan terus bertambah”1 (yang kini berjumlah lebih dari

10 300 di Gaza saja2). Ia juga merujuk pada kekejaman yang dilakukan oleh sayap militer

Hamas dan kelompok bersenjata lainnya pada 7 Oktober, termasuk penyanderaan ratusan

orang.

Kami sepenuhnya setuju bahwa kekerasan terhadap warga sipil harus dikutuk, apapun

pelakunya. Horton juga berupaya mengecam “asimetri kemarahan”.1 Kami juga

menyampaikan sentimen serupa, namun menarik kesimpulan yang berbeda mengenai di

mana dan bagaimana asimetri ini berkembang, dengan mengacu pada bias anti-Palestina yang

terus-menerus dalam pemberitaan di berbagai media berpengaruh, baik di masa lalu maupun

di masa lalu. bulan,3 dan berlangsung selama beberapa dekade.4

Yang lebih memprihatinkan lagi adalah klaim Horton yang tidak berdasar bahwa klinik medis

di Gaza “dihiasi dengan gambar [Saddam Hussein dan Osama bin Laden]”.1 Pernyataan aneh

dan pada saat yang berbahaya ini berisiko mendorong orang-orang yang berupaya melakukan

kekerasan dan menyerang layanan kesehatan penting. Klaim ini juga tidak konsisten di mata

penulis dan penandatangan Korespondensi ini, yang memiliki pengalaman puluhan tahun

mengunjungi fasilitas kesehatan di Palestina (dan khususnya Gaza) dan belum pernah

menemukan gambar seperti itu.

Apa yang ingin diperoleh Horton dari pernyataan-pernyataan ini, dan dari pernyataan bahwa

“budaya teroris” diproyeksikan ke dalam “hampir setiap aspek kehidupan di Gaza”?1 Dengan
melontarkan tuduhan-tuduhan berbahaya ini, Horton memberikan narasi luas yang

menyamakan Palestina dan rakyat Palestina dengan terorisme, dan narasi militer Israel yang

mengklaim fasilitas layanan kesehatan telah digunakan oleh sayap militer Hamas, sehingga

memberikan alasan bagi Israel untuk terus melakukan pemboman terhadap fasilitas yang

dilindungi ini.

Setiap pembela kesehatan dan perdamaian harus menggunakan setiap kesempatan untuk

menyerukan diakhirinya semua kekerasan. Kami mengambil instruksi dari Komentar Khan

dan rekan-rekannya pada Lancet Commission on Peaceful Societies through Health Equity

and Gender Equality (Komisi Lancet tentang Masyarakat Damai melalui Kesetaraan

Kesehatan dan Kesetaraan Gender) tahun 2023, yang memberikan nasihat kepada pekerja

layanan kesehatan (dan juga melibatkan warga global): “menjauhkan diri, atau tetap diam,

dari upaya perdamaian tidak melayani kepentingan kesehatan dan juga tidak melindungi

kesehatan dari risiko konflik”.5 Seruan ini semakin mendesak; kita tidak boleh memilih diam.

Akhiri kekerasan.

JS adalah wali dari badan amal Medact yang terdaftar di Inggris. BK adalah anggota Oxford

Teaching Group; telah melakukan perjalanan ke Gaza untuk mendukung pendidikan dan

pelatihan kedokteran; dan secara finansial mendukung Bantuan Medis untuk pekerjaan medis

dan kemanusiaan warga Palestina. NM adalah Ketua dewan pengawas International Medical

Education Trust (IMET) dan menerima kontribusi dari IMET untuk perjalanan ke Gaza

bersama Oxford Teaching Group, dan menerima dukungan dari Bantuan Medis untuk

Palestina untuk perjalanan ke Gaza untuk melakukan pekerjaan kemanusiaan. Semua penulis

lain menyatakan tidak ada kepentingan bersaing. Korespondensi ini telah ditandatangani

bersama oleh 19 rekannya (lampiran hal 1).

Catatan editorial: Lancet Group mengambil posisi netral sehubungan dengan klaim teritorial

dalam teks yang dipublikasikan dan afiliasi institusional.

On Oct 27, 2023, a day after Richard Horton's Offline was published online,
1

the telephone lines fell silent in Gaza.

Available information suggests that the night of Oct 27 saw the most intense
Israeli bombardment of Gaza since Oct 7, 2023. During this spiralling situation,
we read Horton's Offline with shock and confusion. Horton describes a
“worsening humanitarian crisis” in Gaza with a death toll “over 5000 and rising”
1

(which is now over 10 300 in Gaza alone

2

). He also refers to the atrocities committed by the military wing of Hamas and
other armed groups on Oct 7, including the taking of hundreds of hostages.
We fully agree that violence against civilians should be condemned, irrespective
of the perpetrator. Horton also seeks to condemn an “asymmetry of outrage”.
1

We echo this sentiment but have drawn different conclusions of where and how
this asymmetry has developed, with reference to persistent anti-Palestinian bias
in reporting across influential media outlets, both in the past month,
3

and extending across several decades.

4

Of even greater concern are Horton's unsubstantiated claims that medical

clinics in Gaza are “adorned with pictures of [Saddam Hussein and Osama bin
Laden]”.
1

This bizarre and dangerously timed statement risks encouraging people who
seek to cause violence and attack essential health services. This claim is also
inconsistent in the eyes of the authors and signatories of this Correspondence,
who have decades of experience visiting health facilities in Palestine (and
specifically Gaza) and have never come across such images.
What did Horton seek to gain from these statements, and from suggesting that
“terrorist culture” is projected into “almost every aspect of life in Gaza”?
1

By making these dangerous accusations, Horton feeds pervasive narratives that

equate Palestine and Palestinians with terrorism, and Israeli military narratives
that claim health-care facilities have been used by the military wing of Hamas,
thereby providing an excuse for the continued Israeli bombardment of these
protected facilities.
Any advocate for health and peace should surely use any opportunity to call for
an end to all violence. We draw instruction from Khan and colleagues'
accompanying Comment to the 2023 Lancet Commission on Peaceful Societies
through Health Equity and Gender Equality, which counsels health-care workers
(and engaged global citizens alike): “staying distant, or keeping quiet, from
peace efforts neither serves the interests of health nor does it protect health
from risks from conflict”.
5

This call is as urgent as ever; we must not choose silence. End the violence.
JS is a trustee of the UK-registered charity Medact. BK is a member of the Oxford
Teaching Group; has travelled to Gaza to support medical education and
training; and financially supports Medical Aid for Palestinians' medical and
humanitarian work. NM is the Chairman of the board of trustees for the
International Medical Education Trust (IMET) and receives contributions from
IMET for travel to Gaza with the Oxford Teaching Group, and receives support
from Medical Aid for Palestinians for travel to Gaza to conduct humanitarian
work. All other authors declare no competing interests. This Correspondence
has been co-signed by 19 colleagues (appendix p 1).
Editorial note: The Lancet Group takes a neutral position with respect to
territorial claims in published text and institutional affiliations.
On Oct 27, 2023, a day after Richard Horton's Offline was published online,
1

the telephone lines fell silent in Gaza.

Available information suggests that the night of Oct 27 saw the most intense
Israeli bombardment of Gaza since Oct 7, 2023. During this spiralling situation,
we read Horton's Offline with shock and confusion. Horton describes a
“worsening humanitarian crisis” in Gaza with a death toll “over 5000 and rising”
1

(which is now over 10 300 in Gaza alone

2

). He also refers to the atrocities committed by the military wing of Hamas and
other armed groups on Oct 7, including the taking of hundreds of hostages.
We fully agree that violence against civilians should be condemned, irrespective
of the perpetrator. Horton also seeks to condemn an “asymmetry of outrage”.
1

We echo this sentiment but have drawn different conclusions of where and how
this asymmetry has developed, with reference to persistent anti-Palestinian bias
in reporting across influential media outlets, both in the past month,
3

and extending across several decades.

4

Of even greater concern are Horton's unsubstantiated claims that medical

clinics in Gaza are “adorned with pictures of [Saddam Hussein and Osama bin
Laden]”.
1

This bizarre and dangerously timed statement risks encouraging people who
seek to cause violence and attack essential health services. This claim is also
inconsistent in the eyes of the authors and signatories of this Correspondence,
who have decades of experience visiting health facilities in Palestine (and
specifically Gaza) and have never come across such images.
What did Horton seek to gain from these statements, and from suggesting that
“terrorist culture” is projected into “almost every aspect of life in Gaza”?
1

By making these dangerous accusations, Horton feeds pervasive narratives that

equate Palestine and Palestinians with terrorism, and Israeli military narratives
that claim health-care facilities have been used by the military wing of Hamas,
thereby providing an excuse for the continued Israeli bombardment of these
protected facilities.
Any advocate for health and peace should surely use any opportunity to call for
an end to all violence. We draw instruction from Khan and colleagues'
accompanying Comment to the 2023 Lancet Commission on Peaceful Societies
through Health Equity and Gender Equality, which counsels health-care workers
(and engaged global citizens alike): “staying distant, or keeping quiet, from
peace efforts neither serves the interests of health nor does it protect health
from risks from conflict”.
5

This call is as urgent as ever; we must not choose silence. End the violence.
JS is a trustee of the UK-registered charity Medact. BK is a member of the Oxford
Teaching Group; has travelled to Gaza to support medical education and
training; and financially supports Medical Aid for Palestinians' medical and
humanitarian work. NM is the Chairman of the board of trustees for the
International Medical Education Trust (IMET) and receives contributions from
IMET for travel to Gaza with the Oxford Teaching Group, and receives support
from Medical Aid for Palestinians for travel to Gaza to conduct humanitarian
work. All other authors declare no competing interests. This Correspondence
has been co-signed by 19 colleagues (appendix p 1).
Editorial note: The Lancet Group takes a neutral position with respect to
territorial claims in published text and institutional affiliations.