Sick-out for Gaza health care workers

In a fierce show of solidarity with health care workers in Gaza, protesters held a press conference and rally across from NYU Tisch Hospital in New York City on Jan. 6 to demand an immediate end to the genocide in Gaza and the release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and his colleagues. 

Credit: Brenda Ryan

On Dec. 27, Israeli forces detained Dr. Safiya, a pediatrician and the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, after the army invaded the hospital and ordered everyone evacuated. Safiya’s whereabouts are unknown. In October, Israeli forces killed his son with a drone strike. 

Dr. Safiya described the horrific conditions at the hospital in a guest essay, “I’m One of the Last Doctors in This Hospital in Gaza. I’m Begging the World for Help,” published in the New York Times on Dec. 2. “The human mind cannot imagine all the death and body parts and blood that surround us around the clock,” he wrote.

The Jan. 6 “Flood NYC for Gaza” action was part of the national day of calling out sick from genocide. Protesters held photos of some of the hundreds of health care workers who have been abducted by Israeli occupation forces. 

They chanted “300,000 dead, NYU your hands are red!” and “NYU you will learn, refugees will return.” The demonstration was called by Within Our Lifetime, Healthcare Workers for Palestine, and Doctors Against Genocide. 

 – Photo and article by Brenda Ryan