Our Annual General Meeting will be held at 7pm on Thursday 22nd September over Zoom. We hope to see you there.
The FQMS Annual General Meeting is a vital event at which we discuss our work over the last year and our future plans, including elections to the Trustee Board.
Thank you to everyone who joined us at the FQMS Gala Dinner on Saturday 18th June 2022 at the Savile Club. The evening was well attended. We are still counting the donations and hope to be able to update you soon.
We decided on a slightly different format this year and there were speeches from two of our trainees Dr Naim Qamhia (Haematopathologist at Southmead Hospital, Bristol) and Dr Nidal Somera (Urologist at Addenbrooks Hospital, Cambridge), who we have been supporting to do their subspeciality training in the UK.
Dr Nidal Somera
We also had two wonderful performance. Firstly during the reception from Elise Trio (students from the Royal Academy of Music). The night ended with Syrian Masters (Hamsa Mounif, Bassef Seaf, Mohamad Salah, Khaldoun AlNajjad and Walid Zaido).
Elise TrioSyrian Masters
As with previous years, we had a fantastic selection of items on our sale table and in our raffle. We also had beautiful floral centrepieces donated by Rima Abboushi, which were sold at the end of the night.
Thank you to everyone who was able to join us on Thursday 19th May in Battersea. It was a wonderful afternoon. Guests were able to drop off your garments and homeware to be hand-embroidered by LVPx. Neil Serougi, one of our trustees, spoke about our work in Palestine.
LVPx is a upcycling initiative that provides sustainable income to artisan refugees in Lebanon. We work with a network of highly-skilled women to transform your favourite clothing and homeware with beautiful fine embroidery.
During this event, LVPx provided individual design consultations and guests could browse the new Prêt-à-Porter collection, of which part of the proceeds was donated to FQMS to support our vital work.
We were also graced by wonderful performances by Lina Shahin, Walid Zaido and Sanaa Wahab.
Want to learn more about the history of Palestinian villages which were destroyed or evacuated in 1948?
You can watch the full recording of the webinar here
Dr Thabet Abu Rass
Dr Thabet Abu Rass is Co-Executive Director of The Abraham Initiatives, an NGO that promotes equality and Jewish-Arab partnership in Israel’s society.
Dr Abu Rass obtained his Ph.D. in the field of Regional Development and Middle East Studies from the University of Arizona, 1997. He is a political geographer and a former lecturer in the Department of Geography and Environmental Development at Ben Gurion University as well as the Sapir College. Dr Abu Pass taught courses on ethnic relations, land, planning, and regional development.
Dr Abu Rass is an expert in Palestinian citizens of Israel and Arab-Jewish relations. He took a central role in the process of creating the “Future Visions” of Palestinian citizens of Israel and co-authored three of the future vision documents which have provided a road map for the status, engagement, and demands of Arab society in Israel. He is a prominent voice in promoting the rights of the Bedouins of the Negev and teaching of the Nakba in all Israeli schools.
Dr Abu Rass continues to publish articles regularly in the Hebrew and Arabic press.
As a result of the Nakba, his family split between Gaza refugee camps and the town of Kalanswa inside Israel where he lives. He will be talking about the pre 1948 Palestinian villagers and the destructive effect of the Nakba.
Dr Hala Qasrawi
We were also joined by Dr Hala Qasrawi, a recent graduate from An Najah National University Medical School.
As one of the top graduates, she was selected as one of the first candidates for a FQMS funded teaching fellowship.
She spoke about her experience training at An Najah and how this teaching fellowship has helped her.
Thank you to everyone who was able to come to our exhibition in Bristol, A History of Palestine Through Posters at the Palestinian Museum, Bristol. It was an enjoyable afternoon. Many of you came to see our special historical posters, focusing on the occupation, resistance, solidarity and culture, and learn more about our work.
Our Annual General Meeting was held at 7pm on Thursday 23rd September. As social distancing measures have only just started to lift the AGM was be held online again this year.
The FQMS Annual General Meeting is a vital event at which we discuss our work over the last year and the future, including motions and elections to the Trustee Board.
Here is a summary of what was discussed:
The Chairman summarised his statement on FQMS’s activity in 2020 as provided in the 2020 annual return.
Accept the Report and Accounts of the Trustees for the year ending 31st December 2020 – agreed.
Reappoint auditors Clarkson Hyde to assess our accounts for the year ending 31st December 2021 – agreed.
Retire and reappoint the following trustees:
Khaled Dawas – agreed.
Ahmed Massoud – agreed.
Neil Serougi – agreed.
Re-elect newly appointed trustees:
Yasmin Tabbakh – agreed.
Electra Simon – agreed.
Naseer Chia – agreed.
Special resolutions:
Officially change the name of the charity to “Al Quds Foundation for Medical Schools in Palestine” – agreed.
Amend the Articles of Association to expand the scope of support – agreed.
For the full details of the resolutions that were passed, please read the minutes.
To coincide with our live event on 26th June 2021, we had a beautiful acrylic on canvas inspired by the recent events in Gaza by artist William McDermid.
Gaza – A Life in Rubble
William McDermid is a Scottish artist living/working on a houseboat near Richmond. He enjoys using colour and texture, filling his work with emotion which his audience can interact with.
This piece is called “Gaza – A Life in Rubble” and is 60 x 60 cm. The canvas is stretched on a wooden frame.
The auction was live between Saturday 26th June and Saturday 3rd July 2021.
Thank you to everyone who attended and participated in our webinar on 26th June.
Speakers included students and doctors we support on their journey to specialism. They talked about their experience living, studying and working in Palestine.
Summary clip of the event
More information on our speakers:
Dr Najib Salameh
In partnership with Juzoor, we supported Najib during his laparoscopic gynaecological surgery training at University College Hospital London. He has been back in Palestine for the last two years. He’s been working as a consultant OBGYN at Beit Jala Government Hospital (referral centre for the district of Bethlehem), as well as teaching Al Quds University medical students.
Dr Khubaib Ayoub
In partnership with Juzoor, we are supporting Khubaib as a Clinical Fellow in Diabetes in Endocrinology at King’s College Hospital, London. He has the Palestinian and Arab Boards in Internal Medicine. He was a Internist and part time Lecturer at An-Najah National University.
Dr Saleh Eleiwa
Saleh graduated from Islamic University of Gaza Medical School. As a top graduate he was offered a teaching position there, which is FQMS funded.
We were also joined by 2 medical students Alaa Sharawneh (Al Quds University, Jerusalem) and Angham Marea (An Najah University, Nablus)
Thank you! With your help our third webinar was our best yet!
The webinar focused on Gaza, in particular Al Azhar and Islamic University of Gaza Medical Schools, as well as our undergraduate scholarship programme.
Short clip from our March webinar
We still need your help raising funds for our programmes in the West Bank and Gaza. Please donate now if you can. The level of poverty across all of Palestine has become more critical and every day counts.
For more information on our speakers:
Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah is a British-Palestinian Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon. He completed his medical education at University of Glasgow in the UK.
In 2012, he became Head of the Division of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at the American University of Beirut Medical Centre and in 2015 co-founded and became director of the Conflict Medicine Programme at Global Health Institute at the American University of Beirut.
Dr Abu-Sittah returned to the UK in 2020 and continues his in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. He is an Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer at the Centre for Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College University of London. He has published extensively on war injuries including a medical textbook, “Reconstructing the War Injured Patient” and has a forthcoming book, “Treating the War Injured Child.”
Dr Abu-Sittah has worked as a war surgeon in Iraq, South Lebanon and during the 3 wars in the Gaza Strip. His work was featured by numerous newspapers and media outlets notably La Monde, The Independent, Telegraph, BBC and CNN.
Mr David Nott OBE
Mr David Nott is a world renowned war surgeon. He is a Consultant at St Mary’s Hospital where he specialises in vascular and trauma surgery and also performs cancer surgery at the Royal Marsden Hospital.
For the past 25 years, Mr Nott has taken unpaid leave each year to work for the aid agencies Médecins Sans Frontières, the International Committee of the Red Cross and Syria Relief. He has provided surgical treatment to patients in a range of conflict and catastrophe zones in Bosnia, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Chad, Darfur, Yemen, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Haiti, Iraq, Pakistan, Libya, Syria, Central African Republic, Gaza and Nepal.
As well as treating patients affected by conflict and catastrophe and raising hundreds of thousands of pounds for charitable causes, Mr Nott teaches advanced surgical skills to local medics and surgeons when he is abroad. In Britain, he teaches the Surgical Training for the Austere Environment (STAE) course at the Royal College of Surgeons.
In 2015, Mr Nott established the David Nott Foundation with his wife Elly. The Foundation supports surgeons in developing their operating skills for war-zones and austere environments. In 2019, Picador published David’s bestselling memoir, War Doctor.
Mr Nott will tell us about his vast experience of working in war zones such as in Gaza.
Mr Imran Yusuf
Imran Yusuf is a Kenyan-born British stand-up comedian of Indian Muslim descent. He is renowned as a skilful raconteur who seamlessly weaves socio-political satire with heartfelt introspection in his charmingly endearing trademark styling. Languid, punchy, cheeky and utterly loveable, Imran has established himself as a truly unique voice in the world of comedy.
Imran came to notice following rave reviews and a Best Newcomer nomination for the Foster’s Edinburgh Comedy Awards at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2010 and appearing on Michael McIntyre’s Comedy Roadshow, both in the summer of 2010.
In January 2017, Imran went out to the occupied territories with MAP and the late Jeremy Hardy. They made a short film about the condition of health under occupation.
In 2015, Imran hosted the first ever “HaLOL” comedy night to celebrate the growing talent of British Muslim comedy in the UK, after which along with CEO of Unitas Communications; Muddassar Ahmed, Imran became a Director of HaLOL Entertainment, a non-profit organisation seeking to encourage participation in the arts amongst minority communities.
Imran’s latest solo show “Saint, Sinner, Sufi”, proved to be his deepest work yet, observing and acknowledging his journey towards middle-age maturity. The show debuted at The Edinburgh Festival in 2018.
Dr Fadel Naim
Dr Fadel Naim studied medicine at Friedrich Alexander University, Germany and went on to get his PhD in Orthopaedics and Traumatology from Gazi University, Turkey. He was Medical Director of El Wafa Rehab Hospital in Gaza. Dr Naim has been Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the Islamic University of Gaza since 2015. Since 2003, Dr Naim has been Consultant of Orthopaedic Surgery at Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza. He is also Chairman of the Palestinian Physician Syndicate in Southern Governorates.
Dr Anwar Al-Shaikh Khalil
Dr Anwar Al-Shaikh Khalil has been Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Islamic University of Gaza since 2009. He is a Senior Consultant Paediatrician; Head of the Higher committee and Paediatric Scientific Committee in the Palestinian Medical Council. He was the former director of the Al-Nassr Paediatric Hospital, MOH. He has been Coordinator and Supervisor of the students’ elective courses and external relations for the past 11 years.
The Q&A will be with the following students:
Ms Asmaa Abu Hamada is currently studying medicine at Al Azhar University, Gaza. She is due to graduate next summer.
Dr Haytham Shuhaiber graduated from the Islamic University of Gaza in 2017. He started his residency programme in paediatrics at Hamad Medical Corporation in Qatar last year.
Mr Hisham Abuamro is currently studying medicine at the Islamic University of Gaza. He is due to graduate this summer.
Thank you! With your help the second part in our trio of fundraising webinars was a great success and we are close to being able to fund all of our programmes for the year.
We still need your help raising funds for our programmes in the West Bank and Gaza. Please donate now if you can. The level of poverty across all of Palestine has become more critical and every day counts.
More information on our speakers:
Mr Sabih Al Masri
Our keynote speaker Mr Sabih Taher Darwish Al-Masri is a Businessman of Palestinian origin, born in Nablus.
Mr Al-Masri’s early education and formative years were in Nablus. Since then, has had an illustrious career as Businessman, Investor and Banker in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Palestine. Mr Al-Masri is Founder and Chairman of Arab Supply and Trading Company, and is also the Chairman of the Arab Bank, Zara Investment Holding Company and Palestine Telecommunication Group (PALTEL), amongst others.
Mr Al-Masri is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of An-Najah National University and is thus the ideal person to give our keynote address.
Dr Umaiyeh Khammash
Dr Umaiyeh Khammash is a doctor and senior public health specialist with over 35 years of experience in all aspects of primary health care, from practicing medicine in West Bank hospitals to running different local and international health programs. Dr Khammash currently serves as the director of national NGO; Juzoor for Health & Social Development.
Dr Khammash will talk about the challenges facing health care services in Palestine.
Dr Khalil Issa
Dr Khalil Ibrahim Issa; Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences and Senior Orthopaedic Consultant at An Najah National University and its Hospital in Palestine. He specialised in reconstructive and spine surgery. He is currently a member of Palestinian Supreme Health Council, Palestinian Medical Council and the Orthopaedic Scientific Committee. He was an establishing member and former CEO and CMO of An Najah University Hospital. He has been supervising medical students’ electives courses for 10 years.
Dr Naim Qamhia
Dr Naim Qamhia graduated from An-Najah National University Medical School in 2011. He then specialised in histopathology in Jordan. After he completed a fellowship in oncologic surgical pathology at King Hussein Cancer Center, Jordan and then worked as a histopathologist at An-Najah National University Hospital. Dr Qamhia is currently doing a haematopathology sub-specialty training at North Bristol NHS Trust.
Here is the full recording of our February webinar:
