ON Saturday September 27th, NHS orthopaedic surgeon and co-founder of Medical Aid for Palestine (MAP), Dr Swee Ang visited West Cork to receive the €40,000 raised from the Bantry to Mizen Walk for Gaza which was held in August.

Speaking at the weekly Palestinian solidarity march in Skibbereen, Dr Swee expressed her sincere gratitude to everyone who took part in the 44km walk and said she felt ‘truly overwhelmed’ at the outstanding support and solidarity shown across all the communities of West Cork with the people of Palestine.

Local MAP workers on the ground in Palestine and their families get real hope from events like this walk and from the weekly Palestinian solidarity events. 

Medical Aid for Palestine still have over 120 local workers in Gaza and provide vital supplies, medicines and humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, West Bank and Lebanon.

Liaising with trusted and experienced local partners in the West Bank, Gaza, East Jerusalem, and Lebanon, MAP deliver immediate medical aid to those in greatest need while also building capacity and skills in the Palestinian Healthcare System.

Sharing the experiences of some people she had met and heard from in Gaza, Dr Swee recounted the story of an old farmer who had been arrested and tortured for two months and came out from prison in poor health.

He found his house had been demolished and all his trees destroyed but the first thing he said to his daughter was ‘get me a bulldozer and we will clear this rubble - I am going to plant 1,000 olive trees’.

When she pointed out that he was too old to ever enjoy olives from these trees, she said ‘they are not for me, they are for you and your children’. 

Dr Swee said that the resilience of the Palestinian people and their deep connection to their land was really incredible.

The people of Gaza and Palestine have awakened the conscience of the world, brought people together and made love, compassion, and our common humanity the foundation of a global activism. 

Dr Swee established Medical Aid for Palestine after witnessing the Sabra and Shatila massacres of Palestinian refugees in 1982.

She has visited and worked in Palestine many times, lastly in 2018, when she was arrested and mistreated for 12 days, before being barred from entry to Palestine for ten years.

Although 76 years old, she continues to work as a full-time orthopaedic surgeon in the NHS and was in Lebanon in 2024 operating on the hands of the hundreds of men women and children who were badly injured in the Israeli pager attack.

Anyone who wishes to support the work of Medical Aid for Palestine can do so at www.map.org.uk