Israel recently 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. 

 👉 Tell the AAMC: Call for the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and Medical Staff in Israeli Detention! 

The AAMC represents over 660 medical schools and institutions — including many of the hospitals where you or your loved ones have likely received care. Their mission is “to improve the health of people everywhere by supporting and enhancing the academic medicine community’s ability to provide education, research, and patient care.” Why does “everywhere” exclude Gaza? Why hasn’t the AAMC done the bare minimum and made a single statement on Israel’s systematic annihilation of Gaza’s healthcare system? 

 👉 Sign the petition to the AAMC: If Gaza is part of “everywhere” — speak on it. 

Israel has leveled hospitals, bombed ambulances, and destroyed the only cancer hospital in Gaza. Those desperately trying to save lives – doctors like Hussam Abu Safiya and his colleagues – are being abducted, tortured, and killed. Yet the AAMC remains silently complicit. On March 23, Israeli forces targeted ambulances and killed 15 paramedics and first responders attempting to help people injured by an Israeli attack in Rafah. After being brutally murdered, Israeli bulldozers buried their bodies and vehicles in a mass grave. Israeli forces carried out the murders execution-style, with one victim found with their hands tied and gunshot wounds to the head and chest. Despite irrefutable evidence, Israel denied deliberately targeting the medical workers. When institutions like the AAMC remain silent on atrocities like this, it makes it easier for Israel to get away with them. 

Some of the medical schools the AAMC represents, including Columbia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons, have American Medical Student Associations on campus. Unlike the AAMC, these students have spoken up and boldly demanded a ceasefire as early as November of 2023. They even released a statement in support of students advocating for Palestine. Maybe if institutions like the AAMC recognized their responsibility as leaders in healthcare and condemned Israel’s genocide campaign on Gaza, our students wouldn’t be arrested and deported for doing the same. The AAMC has a responsibility to speak up; their colleagues in Gaza and in Israeli detention, the integrity of the healthcare system, and the very students they claim to represent are relying on it. 

 👉 Tell the AAMC to speak up now and call for Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’s release!

Gaza needs doctors now more than ever – as Israel’s deliberate starvation and relentless bombings continue to ravage Gaza. On Eid al-Fitr, a holiday meant to celebrate the end of fasting throughout Ramadan, Israel bombed Gaza again. Every single bakery in Gaza was forced to close this week due to Israel’s blockade of food, fuel, and supplies. Families couldn’t celebrate breaking their fasts because there is no food to eat. Some people lost their families altogether. My friend Mohammed described Eid in Gaza to me, “I swear there is no atmosphere for Eid. The celebration was a bombing. They bombed children in their Eid clothes.” We need to demand that every institution claiming to care about people put their words to action. That includes the AAMC. Sign the petition now.

 👉 Don't miss out:

• National Action: Join us in DC on April 5!
• Join our Monday community hour on 4/14!
• Check out what we were up to last week!
• Print posters to bring to actions!
• Sign up to organize and engage locally!
• Pre-Order our new "I Love Palestinian Liberation" Tee!
• Order pink keffiyehs from the West Bank!

Until Liberation,

Nour and the entire CODEPINK team