FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 1, 2026
Media Contact: Melissa Garriga | [email protected]
CODEPINK to Welcome AMA Conference Attendees with Somber Message of U.S. Complicity in War Crimes Against Healthcare Workers
CHICAGO – On June 5th, from 2–6 p.m. CT, outside the Hyatt Regency Chicago, CODEPINK will bring its AMA campaign front and center to AMA members attending the annual conference in Chicago. Visuals will include a truck billboard displaying the following messages:
- Israel kills and abducts healthcare workers.
- 446 Palestinian healthcare workers have been unlawfully detained by Israel since October 2023.
- 6 healthcare workers have been reportedly killed in Israeli detention since October 2023.
- 5 healthcare workers have been missing in Palestine by Israel since October 2023.
- 1,571 Palestinian healthcare workers have been killed by Israel since October 2023.
- Israel is waging a war on Palestinian healthcare workers with U.S. support.
- Free Dr. Hasan Abu Safiya! Kidnapped and imprisoned by the Israeli occupation since December 2024.
- From the US to Palestine: Medicine is not a crime.
- Speak out for healthcare workers targeted by Israeli occupation forces.
CODEPINK’s AMA campaign is directed at the American Medical Association’s CEO and Board of Trustees, asking them to speak out against the genocide in Gaza and the war crimes committed by Israel against medical professionals - with direct material support from the United States, including the kidnapping and ongoing detention and torture of Dr. Hasan Abu Safiya.
The AMA has leverage nationally and internationally and should use that leverage to publicly condemn the U.S. and Israel's continuous targeting and killing of medical professionals and medical structures in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran. Dr. Abu Safiya is but one example. Thousands of paramedics, nurses, and other doctors have been killed in Israel’s numerous attacks on hospitals and medical centers.
In 2022, the AMA released statements condemning Russia’s attacks on healthcare professionals and the targeting of civilians in Russia’s war on Ukraine. However, in the nearly three years since the genocide in Gaza began, the organization has not once said anything about the same crimes committed by Israel with funding from U.S. tax dollars.
The AMA's stated mission is to "promote the art and science of medicine and the betterment of public health." To truly achieve this, one must fight for every physician and every hospital. The campaign is asking the AMA to call for the release of Dr. Abu Safiya and all detained healthcare workers, urge U.S. and Israeli action on his status, demand access to medical care and humanitarian aid for Gaza, push to lift U.S. visa restrictions for patients, and condemn the destruction of healthcare systems from Gaza to Iran.
For more information, please contact campaign organizer Jenin at [email protected].
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