American healthcare workers who worked in Gaza demand a ceasefire and arms embargo
Write the Biden-Harris administration: urge our government to meet with American healthcare professionals who have seen Gaza firsthand.
American Healthcare Professionals Speak Out: The Reality of Gaza
Since October 2023, dozens of American healthcare professionals have volunteered in Gaza, offering critical medical aid amidst unimaginable devastation. Many of these professionals have experience in other war zones like Ukraine and Syria, but nothing could prepare them for the overwhelming suffering they witnessed.
Malnourished pregnant women undergoing C-sections without anesthesia or pain medications
Photo Credit: Doctors Without Borders
Epidemics of diarrheal, respiratory, and skin diseases raging, especially amongst Gaza’s children
Newborns dying of malnutrition and dehydration because their mothers are too malnourished to breastfeed, formula is unavailable, and clean water doesn’t exist
Lack of access to clean water, compounding the spread of these preventable diseases and worsening the health crisis
Palestinian healthcare workers murdered, disappeared, detained, abused, and tortured
Israeli soldiers shooting young children in the head and chest on a daily basis
Hospitals under direct attack by the Israeli military and starved of supplies
Photo Credit: Reuters
A death toll far higher than what is reported
Why did we write to the White House?
Without U.S. Support the Violence in Gaza Will End Immediately
The United States is Israel’s crucial supplier of weapons, munitions, jet fuel, logistical and maintenance support, diplomatic cover at the United Nations, and legal cover at the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. Our taxes have provided tens of billions of dollars of lethal assistance to Israel just since October 2023. Without our massive military support, the horrifying crimes we witnessed in Gaza will stop immediately.
Americans do not want to spend tens of billions of dollars shooting children, dropping bombs on refugees, starving pregnant women, and torturing nurses and doctors.
We felt compelled to speak out about these crimes because we, as Americans, are directly involved in them.
We urge President Biden and Vice President Harris to meet with us.
We need to meet as soon as possible to discuss what we saw and how American policy should change. You can ask the President and Vice President to meet with us by clicking here.
We are doctors and nurses, not politicians. We would rather be caring for our patients and spending time with our families than lobbying the United States government.
But our consciences will not let us forget what we saw in Gaza, and will not allow us to abandon the million children trapped there
Our Taxes Are Funding This slaughter. Enough.
Our taxes shouldn’t be spent on bombing refugees, starving pregnant women, or torturing healthcare workers.
As healthcare providers, it is our job to save lives. It's what we're good at. But it is impossible to provide meaningful medical care in the face of such a massive and indiscriminate assault on civilians.
Unfortunately, previous attempts to communicate with the White House have gone unanswered. So we are writing again.
Who are we?
Who are we?
We are American Nurses, Physicians, and Surgeons who have Volunteered in Gaza since October 7, 2023
None of us support the horrors that were committed by Palestinian armed groups and individuals in Israel that day.
As healthcare workers, we are guided by the Constitution of the World Health Organization, which affirms: “The health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security and is dependent on the fullest cooperation of individuals and States.” We believe in this mission, and we strive to uphold it in everything we do.
Health is fundamental to peace and security, and it depends on the full cooperation of individuals and nations. This belief forms the ethical foundation of healthcare.
A Multifaith, Multiethnic Group of Americans
We are veterans and reservists, Rhodes and Fulbright scholars, members of the Gold Humanism Honor Society, professors of medicine and nursing, department and residency program directors, and both academic and community practitioners. Many of us have familial ties to the Middle East, while others do not. We are Muslims, Jews, Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, agnostics, and atheists.
Our Experience in Conflict Zones Worldwide
We treated victims of the 9-11 and Boston Marathon Bombing terrorist attacks. We have worked throughout the world in the harshest disaster and conflict zones: Ukraine, Syria, Sudan, Iraq, Afghanistan, the West Bank, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Honduras, Uganda, Kenya, Bangladesh, Chad, Haiti, Burkina Faso, and others. We have volunteered with the International Medical Corps, Doctors Without Borders, MedGlobal, the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, and many other organizations.
Healthcare is Essential to Peace and Security
As healthcare workers, we are guided by the Constitution of the World Health Organization, which affirms:
“The health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security and is dependent on the fullest cooperation of individuals and States.”
We believe in this mission, and we strive to uphold it in everything we do.