Gerry O’Hare tells the story of the partnership behind clinical placements undertaken by Palestinian cancer nurses in Glasgow.
It is 9am on 10 October 2025. After two years of relentless bombing and killing of Palestinians in Gaza, the Israeli Defence Forces have announced a ceasefire.
I message my nursing colleagues in Gaza, hoping they are still alive. Replies come:
Mohammad – “Still breathing, my friend. I lost my home.”
Wasim – “Heey Gerry, Alhamdulla, finally. Hope it continues, thank you bro.”
Mahmoud – “Surviving, Gerry. I hope the war stops forever.”
Others I no longer hear from. Some I know are dead; others, I fear to be.
I also contact colleagues in the West Bank – Tamer, Suhad, Saffanah, Etaf and Jehad (a common Arab name that the UK Home Secretary once claimed she’d never heard) – to share the same fragile hope that this ceasefire might last.
Building solidarity through nursing
People often ask how these Palestinians became my friends and colleagues.
In 2010, I visited the West Bank, not on official business but to see for myself what life under Israeli occupation meant for ordinary people. As a cancer nurse specialist with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, I wanted to understand how patients accessed treatment and how nurses delivered care amid the daily restrictions and humiliations of occupation.
Before travelling, I contacted local health professionals and was fortunate to meet nurses and educators who shared the realities of their work: shortages of medicines, limited access to radiotherapy, and constant barriers to patient care. One of those I met was Professor Mariam Awad, Dean of Nursing at Bethlehem University. We bonded immediately through our shared commitment to cancer nurse education. Mariam explained that, despite cancer being a major public health concern, Palestine had no postgraduate cancer nursing programme. Together, we resolved to change that.
From Bethlehem to Glasgow
Fifteen years later, Bethlehem University now offers a Master’s in Cancer and Palliative Nursing, the first of its kind in Palestine. This year’s intake includes four nurses from Gaza participating online, despite the devastation surrounding them. This success is due to Mariam’s drive and the support of colleagues in Palestine and the UK, with crucial funding from Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP).
A key part of the programme has been a partnership I helped establish between Bethlehem University and NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, allowing Palestinian nursing students to undertake clinical placements in Glasgow. These placements offer Palestinian nurses the chance to experience cancer care in a safe, well-resourced environment – something unimaginable under occupation. They also give our Scottish healthcare teams a chance to hear, directly from these nurses, what life and care under military rule mean in human terms.
The role of trade union solidarity
In 2018, MAP invited me to Gaza to work with Palestinian and UK colleagues on improving breast cancer outcomes for women. I visited regularly, my last trip being in September 2023 – just two weeks before the bombardment of Gaza began.
The pandemic and the war then brought a halt to our placement programme. When I sought to restart it, the main barrier was financial. Our Palestinian colleagues simply could not afford travel, accommodation, and visa costs.
I was fortunate to be introduced to Jim Lister who organised Unite branch meetings where I outlined the project. Robert Rae contacted UNISON Scotland’s international committee who agreed to adopt the project and encourage its branches to support the project. Which I am delighted to say they did. The response was immediate and overwhelming. Union members, many themselves NHS workers, saw this as a concrete expression of international solidarity. With their support and significant donations from Unite and Unison branches, we were able to re-establish the placements.
In August this year, Suhad and Ebba arrived from the West Bank for a two-week placement in Glasgow. It was a huge success, not just professionally, but as a symbol of connection between our communities. On a personal note, the practical and emotional support from Jim and Robert made what once seemed impossible entirely achievable.
Continuing solidarity
Without trade union backing, this initiative would not exist. The solidarity shown by Unite, Unison, Calton Books and individual supporters has been deeply appreciated by Palestinian health professionals and educators. Their support is not charity – it is solidarity. It recognises the shared struggles of working people everywhere for dignity, equality and justice.
We hope to continue welcoming Palestinian nurses to Glasgow to develop skills and build professional links. And one day, we hope our brave colleagues from Gaza will be able to travel here too, not as survivors of war, but as partners in peace and progress.
Gerry O’Hare is a cancer nurse in NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde.