Manufacturing Disability: Genocide, and the Crisis of Amputee Children in Gaza, Palestine

Moderator(s)

Siham Elkassem, PhD (c)

Faculty
University of Windsor

Panelist(s)

AS

Aisha C. Sander, MSW, LIACSW

Director of Practicum Education, BASSW, Assistant Professor
Whatcom Community College
AH

Amina Hussain, PhD, MSW, RSW

Assistant Professor
Western University

This panel examines the intersection of disability, genocide and settler colonialism in Gaza, Palestine. It focuses on how violence reshapes Palestinian children's bodies, futures, and identities. Disability resulting from state-sanctioned violence is both a physical injury and a human rights violation, requiring social work advocacy for justice.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, attendees should be able to:

Analyze the intersections of disability, apartheid, occupation, and settler colonialism in Gaza through the lens of Disability Critical Race Theory (DisCrit), exploring how systemic oppression interlocks to impact marginalized communities, particularly Palestinian children.
Evaluate the impact of state-sanctioned violence on the physical and psychological well-being of Palestinian children in Gaza, with a focus on the disproportionate rates of disability, including amputations, and how these injuries are connected to larger structures of genocide and settler colonialism.
Develop strategies for social work professionals to engage in intersectional advocacy that addresses disability rights, racial justice, and colonial resistance, promoting solidarity between global disability rights movements and movements for racial justice in contexts of armed conflict.