Every bombed village is my hometown. And every dead child is my child. Every grieving mother is my mother. Every crying father is my father. Every home turned to rubble is the home I grew up in. Every brother carrying the remains of his brother across borders is my brother. Every sister waiting for a sister who will never come home is my sister. Every one of these people is ours, just like we are theirs. We belong to them, and they belong to us."
— James Baldwin
Since October 7, 2023, the U.S. and Israel have attacked countless hospitals and schools across the Middle East, killing and injuring thousands of people. The genocidal U.S.-Israeli alliance regularly lies about these attacks, pointing the blame at the victims instead. In October 2023, for instance, Israel bombed a hospital in Gaza and killed over 450 Palestinians — and then claimed it was Hamas that did it. In September 2024, as Israeli attacks on Lebanese health infrastructure intensified, Israel alleged that Hezbollah was storing weapons in hospitals and using ambulances for their own purposes. Most recently, in late February of this year, the U.S. bombed an elementary school in Iran, killing more than 150 young girls; shortly after, Trump declared that it was Iran that bombed the school.
Yet our healthcare and educational institutions here in the U.S. aren't speaking out against these flagrant crimes. That needs to change. What does it say about major organizations like the American Medical Association (AMA) that ignore the targeting of their colleagues by their own government? Where is the international solidarity?
We, people of conscience in the belly of the beast, must not let our community members become numb to the death and destruction that our tax dollars are funding abroad. Those living under U.S. and Israeli bombs are not unlike us; we all want to live dignified lives full of love and joy. We want to be a part of a community. We want a clean, habitable planet for future generations. Because it is our government that is waging a war of aggression and, in turn, lighting the entire Middle East on fire, we must fight for those whose schools and hospitals are being bombed, whose societies are under attack.
We cannot let the elites who profit from such immense human suffering win. Individuals and institutions in the U.S. must act now. As it does at home, the AMA must use its power to advocate for public health abroad, which means calling for an end to the war crimes that the U.S. and Israel have committed against health infrastructure in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran.
According to Iranian Deputy Health Minister Ali Jafarian, since the illegal U.S.-Israeli war on Iran began, "twenty-nine clinical facilities so far have been damaged, and 10 of them were forced to shut down. Additionally, 52 health centres, 18 emergency services locations, and 15 ambulances have also been damaged or destroyed."* Meanwhile, Israel has systematically targeted ambulances in Lebanon. And in Gaza, there are no fully functioning hospitals left. Israel has methodically decimated the healthcare system, destroying 22 of the region's hospitals and leaving the rest at critically low capacity.
The ongoing attacks on health infrastructure in Iran and Lebanon are not disconnected from the imprisonment of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital, in 2024. These deliberate attacks that seek to destroy the people and the institutions that sustain life for entire populations are part of a larger plan to clear the way for U.S. imperialism and Zionist colonization.
The World Medical Association (WMA) spoke out and called for Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya's release after you and countless other activists appealed to them. Now, it's the AMA's turn.
As this U.S.-Israeli war goes on, we must ramp up the pressure on those who have remained silent. Let's use our voices and take action to stop the killing in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran.
👉 Here are more ways to engage:
- Send a letter to Congress members to demand Leqaa Kordia be released!
- RSVP for our Summer Workshops: Challenging Zionism in Schools!
- The Global Sumud Flotilla is back up, sign up for updates here!
- Register for our Palestine Working Group!
Until Liberation,
Jenin and the entire CODEPINK team
P.S. Check out our fresh new arrivals at our CODEPINK Store!
*Read Al Jazeera's article, Iran says 1,255 people killed in US-Israeli attacks, mostly civilians
