Doctors Against Genocide, a nonprofit created in the fall of 2023, is calling for health care workers to take a stand against the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine through their petition “Not Another Child Not Another Hospital,” according to their website. 

The petition, launched in October, was sent to medical associations across the country, asking them to advocate for Israel to stop attacking hospitals and health care workers, protect the children of Gaza and Lebanon, support divestment from Israel, advocate for unrestricted medical aid to Gaza and establish health care education that helps medical professionals treat those affected by war crimes.

According to the New York Times, Israel and Lebanon agreed to a ceasefire arranged by the U.S. and France. The conflict between the two countries was ongoing from October 2023 after the Lebanese group Hezbollah launched rockets into Israel following the Oct. 7 attacks by Hamas.

Dr. Nidal Jboor, co-founder of Doctors Against Genocide, said doctors swore an oath to care for and protect people, which he feels has not been followed during the conflict. 

“As doctors and health care workers, we swore an oath to protect life and to advocate against the loss of life in any way, shape or form. We expected the healthcare community to be the first ones to stand up, loud and strong, to call for a ceasefire to stop the mass murder of children and women,” Jboor said. “And unfortunately, the majority of the health care system is still silent.”

Co-founder of Doctors Against Genocide Dr. Karameh Hawash-Kuemmerle said health care organizations are not taking a stance on the conflict is partly because of censorship within the organizations. 

“There was a decision by a lot of the leadership not to speak immediately about Oct. 7, so there were a lot of internal memos and a lot of pressure on heads of departments and CEOs telling employees this is a topic you cannot speak on,” Kuemmerle said. 

Kuemmerle said there is also an element of anti-Palestinian racism contributing to the lack of advocacy coming from health care workers. 

“Compare what happened with Palestine to what’s happening in Ukraine, and you will see a stark difference,” Kuemmerle said. “There was, you know, massive support for Ukraine, there were massive attempts of hospitals to send aid, there were statements, there were expressions of sadness and agony.”

Jboor said the petition gained a lot of traction over the past month. As of November, more than 5,000 people signed and more than 40 health care groups endorsed the petition, according to the Doctors Against Genocide website.  

“So far, we’re having a decent response,” Jboor said. “A lot of people are joining and a lot of people are asking more questions and endorsing and interested to join.”

Jboor said Doctors Against Palestine encourages health care workers to take a stand regardless of their political views. 

“What we’re trying to do is we’re demanding that they take at least the professional and the moral stand, regardless of politics, and instead based on their medical and ethical oath to protect life, regardless of whose life it is and whatever the politics are,” Jboor said. 

The University of Minnesota Medical School has not made a statement about the conflict in Palestine. When asked, the school said in an email to the Minnesota Daily it “does not issue statements on global affairs.” 

As stated in the same email, the Medical School’s mission is “to educate skilled, compassionate, and socially responsible physicians. We support and respect the deeply personal choices our faculty, staff and students make to engage within our community and beyond.”

Dr. Asfia Qaadir, a doctor at PrairieCare and member of the Twin Cities chapter of Health Care Workers for Palestine, said it is the job of health care workers and organizations to advocate for the safety of Palestinians, and medical schools should train their students with those values in mind. 

“We need to speak up to do everything we can as health care workers, those involved in the health care sector, to save life,” Qaadir said. “And so it is absolutely part of the responsibility and obligation of medical schools to teach this, medical students to learn this, and then as health care workers to do this.”

Regardless of whether an institution takes a stance, Qaadir said there are ways for individuals to advocate for the wellbeing of Palestinians. 

“In the end, all of it is necessary, and I think it depends on what a person’s capacity is, what their skills and talents are, where they are in their understanding and learning,” Qaadir said. “I think the most foundational step in advocacy is literacy. And so it’s incredibly important for students at this moment to lean into Palestinian voices who are teaching, whether they’re reporters, health care workers, legal experts, writers, artists, first-person accounts, those who are living, you know, surviving on the ground in occupied Palestine.”

Learning the history of Palestine can help medical students and health care providers alike with the resources to care for patients from diverse backgrounds and treat patients in a way that is trauma-informed, Qaadir said.