In Letter to Biden & Harris, Nearly 100 US Medical Professionals Who Served in Gaza Call for Arms Embargo on Israel

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Contact: Prapti Ajmera, [email protected]

October 2nd, 2024

Doctors + nurses “witnessed crimes beyond comprehension,” ask for White House meeting 

99 American physicians and nurses who have volunteered in Gaza since October 7th have signed a new open letter to President Biden and Vice President Harris calling for the withholding of all arms and aid to Israel and an arms embargo on Israel and all Palestinian armed groups until a permanent ceasefire is reached and an end to the conflict is agreed upon.

As the ongoing, year-long devastation of Gaza continues, the humanitarian crisis worsens, and the war has now expanded into Lebanon, these medical professionals’ message to the White House is a powerful and outraged call for a change of policy to stop the carnage. They urge Biden and Harris to meet with them to discuss what they have witnessed. 

The full letter and list of signers can be viewed here.

The signers describe the near-total destruction of Gaza’s healthcare system and testify to wanton violence directed at Palestinian civilians, including women, children, and healthcare workers. They warn that “Israel’s continued, repeated displacement of the malnourished and sick population of Gaza, half of whom are children….is absolutely shocking. We worry that tens of thousands have already died from the lethal combination of malnutrition and disease and that tens of thousands more will die in the coming months.”

The medical professionals write that what they have witnessed is “evidence of widespread violations of American law governing the use of American weapons abroad, and of International Humanitarian Law” and call for a full arms embargo on Israel, and all combatants in the conflict, as the only way to stop the killing. 

“The horrors we witnessed in Gaza over the past year will stay with us forever,” said trauma surgeon Dr. Feroze Sidhwa, a lead organizer and signer of the letter, who volunteered in Khan Younis in March and April of this year. “It is unconscionable that our government continues to arm and fund this slaughter. President Biden and Vice President Harris have the power to end this, and they always have. They must use it now.”

While the Biden Administration claims to have been working towards a ceasefire for months they appear no closer to achieving one. Israeli media outlets regularly report that Prime Minister Netanyahu is the major obstacle to a ceasefire, yet the Biden administration continues resupplying Israel with nearly unlimited and unrestricted munitions on a regular basis. With tens of thousands of Gazans confirmed dead, Israeli hostages still in captivity, and the Netanyahu government now carrying out an invasion of Lebanon, the medical professionals demand an immediate change of course.

“President Biden and President Harris, we are __ Americans who have witnessed crimes beyond comprehension. Crimes we cannot believe you wish to support. Please meet with us to discuss what we saw, and why we feel American policy in the Middle East must change…we urge you, end this madness now!” 

The signers of the letter include 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. Each included details of the specific time they volunteered in Gaza and the location where they worked.

An earlier version of the letter, signed by a smaller group of medical professionals, was first released in July 2024. Many of the letters’ findings echo similar testimonies and policy demands to their own governments from groups of Canadian and British medical professionals who also served in Gaza.

Dr. Feroze Sidhwa and other physicians who signed the letter are available for interview – please contact Prapti Ajmera, [email protected]