February 02, 2025
This Article was featured in The Australian and written by Alexi Demetriadi on 3 February 2025.
The Palestinian Authority has given a rare but “significant” seal of approval to an Australian crossfaith NGO working to build bridges between Israeli and Palestinian doctors, and fund equipment and training, in the first formal approval of a “cross-border” organisation in years.
Founded by Melbourne businessman Ron Finkel, nongovernment organisation Rozana funds training for Palestinian doctors and nurses, unites Israeli and Palestinian professionals and institutions, and has facilitated hospital equipment and transfers for injured Gazans to West Bank and East Jerusalem hospitals.
Mr Finkel is Jewish, and Rozana’s executive team and board includes Israelis, Palestinians and Jewish and Muslim Australians, including, until recently, Lebanese Muslim community leader Jamal Rifi.
It was the Sydney doctor’s involvement with Rozana that prompted a Hezbollah-aligned military court to sentence him to10 years’ jail for a “baseless” offence of “collaborating” with Israel, forcing him into exile.
On Christmas Eve, PA Interior Minister Ziad Hab al-Reeh certified Rozana as a registered charity and approved establishment of an official representative office in Palestine, which allows the NGO to take out a local bank account, open an office, and – most importantly– for its West Bank-based staff, including director Mohammad Asideh, to engage directly with public hospitals.
Mr Finkel said Rozana’s approval and permit was a “significant breakthrough” after it developed strong relationships with the Palestinian health ministry.“ (The PA) knows that what we do is cross-border and we are fundamentally committed to a two state solution, and our commitment is to strengthen Palestinian health infrastructure, particularly at a human capital level,” he said.
Rozana in 2024 also partnered with a health project in Gaza, and registration with the PA is significant given it is coinciding with the tentative ceasefire, offering new avenues to expand its programs in the Strip. While multinational NGOs have representative offices, it is the first time a “cross-border” body that works both in Palestine and Israel, where Rozana has longstanding operations, has got the approval in years.
“(Some large NGOs) don’t do any work in Israel, they’re doing development work in Palestine, but have no connection across the border in Israel,” Mr Finkel said.
“That is the key difference …Rozana’s core philosophy believes in the power of health to build cross-border relationships.
“Absent this official status, (public) hospitals report to the health ministry, which doesn’t authorise them to speak to this kind of NGO. This status enables (us) to engage with the PA’s ministries, public institutions, universities and hospitals, and their leaderships.
“(The PA health ministers) are very keen on doing certain things with us … This is where rubber hits the road and we’ll see areas where bridges can be built.”
Rozana’s Mr Asideh will be the lead liaison with the PA and a swath of public institutions now open to the NGO. A former Melbourne resident described by Mr. Finkel as a “true leader … committed to a two-state solution”, Mr. Asideh said Rozana sought to improve the domestic health situation and its capabilities, not via aid but development.
A USAID funding grant went toward one program where Israel nurses trained about 250 Palestinian counterparts, who are now teaching the next generation.
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ALEXI DEMETRIADI, The Australian