Amputating the Body, Fragmenting the Nation: Palestinian Amputees in Gaza

In this paper, we seek to contextualize amputations sustained by Palestinians during the Great March of Return within a framework of settler-colonial ideology and practice. Utilizing case studies identified in our advocacy work at Physicians for Human Rights Israel, we evaluate the conditions in which these amputations occurred and their relationship to the politicized Palestinian body, land, and nation. Through evaluating themes of intentionality and subjugation, the politicized Palestinian body, and reflections on the challenges of navigating human rights and humanitarian possibilities, we reflect on our work and the ability to advocate for health justice in inherently violent and eliminatory bureaucratic and legal systems. We conclude with a discussion on the utility of a human rights approach that is divorced from a structural and historical analysis of the dire situation on the ground.