West Bank: young winners sing for safe health-care

Taher, Luay Al Zarou and Ayoub Idris performed live in front of a cheering crowd in a youth art competition, held by the ICRC and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Hebron. Their winning rap song highlights the risks that health workers take during armed conflicts. It calls for respect for health centres, ambulances and Red Crescent volunteers and for their protection from any form of attack.

The competition attracted 100 participants from eight towns, villages and refugee camps in Hebron and Bethlehem. Young artists used various media, such as murals, short films and rap songs, to promote safe and unfettered access to health care for all.

Violence against health-care workers and the people they seek to help during times of armed conflict is one of the most serious challenges we face in the world today. International humanitarian law stipulates that medical facilities, ambulances and health workers be allowed to treat all patients freely, and prohibits their being targeted.