Israel extended Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s sentence for another six months, without evidence, charge, or trial. His only “crime” was taking care of patients in his hospital until the final moments before Israel abducted him. He remains in Israeli detention — alongside hundreds of other medical workers abducted from Gaza — subjected to the kind of violence that should be condemned universally. But it hasn’t been. Instead, American medical institutions like the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) have remained silent, abandoning their colleagues in Gaza.
The AAMC claims to support “the health of people everywhere,” but their silence suggests they've made an exception for Gaza.
It’s time to demand the AAMC speak up. Sign the petition to demand the AAMC call for the immediate release of Dr. Abu Safiya and all detained medical staff — and to demand the AAMC break its silence on Israel's destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system.
The AAMC claims its mission is “to improve the health of people everywhere.” And yet, as Israel levels Gaza's hospitals, targets healthcare workers, and kills patients both directly and by depriving them of access to adequate medical care, the AAMC has remained completely silent. Does “everywhere” exclude Gaza?
Over the last year and a half, the Israeli military has carried out a systematic destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system. Hospitals have been bombed, ambulances attacked, and every major medical facility forced to shut down at some point. Doctors, nurses, and medics have been killed, detained, or disappeared. Among them is Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, whose detention has just been extended for six months without charge. He remains in Israeli custody along with hundreds of medical staff abducted while doing their jobs — trying to save lives. Where is your outrage as a leader in healthcare in this country?
The AAMC represents over 660 medical institutions, including medical schools like Columbia University, where students who speak out for Gaza are being arrested, suspended, or even deported. Many of these campuses also have active chapters of the American Medical Student Association (AMSA) — whose students bravely demanded a ceasefire in Gaza back in November of 2023. These students are being punished for upholding the values that medical institutions like the AAMC should be leading on.
If the AAMC recognized its responsibility as a leader in health care, and condemned Israel’s genocide campaign and its destruction of Gaza’s medical system, then students wouldn’t have to risk their education and their freedom just to speak the truth.
We, the undersigned, demand the AAMC:
- Call for the immediate release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and all healthcare workers abducted from Gaza.
- Publicly condemn Israel's destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system.
- Stand in support of medical students and faculty who are being targeted for speaking up.
Speak up. Gaza is part of “everywhere.”