We the Undersigned call for Freedom for Palestinian Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya

 

On December 27, 2024, Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, director of Gaza’s Kamal Adwan Hospital and his remaining hospital staff, finally surrendered to Israeli forces. By then, Kamal Adwan had been made inoperable by the IDF who threatened worse destruction. Dr. Abu Safiya has been in a series of Israeli prisons ever since. His attorney says he’s lost a third of his body weight and has suffered assault and beatings. He has not been charged with any crime but is being held under a dubious Israeli “Unlawful Combatants” provision. No evidence has been offered that he’s a combatant of any kind. Amnesty International calls for Abu Safiya’s release.

 

Abu Safiya had written several opinion pieces in the New York Times. In the last one, published a few weeks before his arrest, the Times described him as the lead physician in Gaza for the humanitarian organization MedGlobal. He’s a pediatrician but a few days earlier he had to perform the first surgery of his life. He wrote, “The human mind cannot imagine all the death and body parts and blood that surround us around the clock. But it remains our responsibility to keep on providing humanitarian services.”

 

In the fall of 2024, the Israeli military decided to empty the hospital. It bombarded parts of the facility and ordered it to be evacuated. Abu Safiya and his medical staff refused. Dr. Abu Safiya said, ‘I will stay inside my hospital until the last moment." The attacks continued. His 15-year-old son Ibrahim was killed on hospital grounds by an Israeli drone. The doctor himself was seriously wounded in another attack inside the hospital suffering six shrapnel wounds to his leg. Finally, when it looked like the whole hospital would be leveled Dr. Abu Safiya agreed to leave. There’s video of him walking through rubble into the maw of an Israeli armed personnel carrier.

 

Israeli authorities claim he’s being held under suspicion of being a “Hamas terrorist operator.” Yet after a year of “investigation” and interrogations no evidence of any terrorist activity on the part of Dr. Abu Safiya has been revealed. The doctor is as he appears to be, a person performing courageously and upholding the very best of medical ethics.

 

We call on the United States government, which supplies Israel with armaments, intelligence and full diplomatic backing, to insist that Dr. Abu Safiya be freed along with other medical staff from the former Kamal Adwan Hospital.

 

(* Disclaimer) Institutions mentioned for identification purposes only. The Campaign to Free Dr. Abu Safiya is not endorsing any groups or other efforts mentioned below

 

Initial Signers in alphabetical order

 

Yigal Arens

University of Southern California (USC), Emeritus

 

Phil Brewer MD FACEP

Founding Faculty Member, Department of Emergency Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine / Yale New Haven Hospital

 

Jim Brasile
Veterans For Peace 42
Contact Coordinator

 

John Cappadona MD,

member of Health Care Workers for Palestine (Hartford vigils) and Veterans for Peace, CT branch

 

Roane Carey

Former Managing Editor and Senior Editor “The Nation” magazine

 

Mark Colville

Community organizer/activist, Amistad Catholic Worker

 

Molly Crabapple

artist and author

 

Samuel Farber

Emeritus Professor of Political Scienced at CUNY (City University of New York)

 

Bill Fletcher, Jr.

trade unionist/writer; USA

 

John T. Fussell, JD

Retired labor lawyer

 

Ira Helfand

Past President, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

 

Rabbi Andy Kahn

Executive Director of the American Council for Judaism

 

Rev. Tony Lorenzen

Minister,

UU Church of Meriden and UU Congregation of Danbury

 

Jennifer Sarin Loewenstein

Associate Director, Middle Eastern Studies Program & Senior Lecturer,

University of Wisconsin-Madison (ret.) and Human Rights Activist.

 

Bill McKibben

author

 

David Michel
author
Former CT State Representative from Stamford (HD146)

 

Marc Nelson

Artist and teacher

 

Paula Panzarella

New Haven CT peace and social justice activist, poet and freelance writer

 

Miko Peled

President, Palestine House of Freedom

 

Rev. Allie Perry

social justice activist, a member of Shalom United Church of Christ and

active with the UCC Movement for Palestinian Solidarity and Apartheid Free Communities

 

Mitchell Plitnick

President of ReThinking Foreign Policy. 

 

Rabbi Brant Rosen

Tzedek Chicago

 

Professor Tony Rosso,

retired, Southern Connecticut State University

 

Dr. Alice Rothchild

MD Harvard university, Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council 

 

Feroze Sidhwa, MD, MPH, FACS, FICS

San Joaquin General Hospital, French Camp, CA

 

Zaher Sahloul

Pulmonary & Critical Care

Associate Professor at UIC

President, MedGlobal

 

Melinda Tuhus

journalist, human rights advocate

 

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

All signers in alphabetical order

Elizabeth Aaronsohn, Ed.D.

Associate Professor Emerita

Central CT State University

New Britain, CT 

 

Mike Alewitz

Professor Emeritus, Mural Painting

Central CT State University

Artistic Director

Red Square, New London, CT

 

Rep. Raghib Allie-Brennan

CT legislature (Danbury/Bethel)

 

Khaled Alqaddumi

President

Watan Inc.

South Windsor, CT

 

Shelly Altman
co-founder, Jewish Voice for Peace New Haven

 

Omar Scott Antar

CT Palestine Alliance

 

Amy Antonucci

New Hampshire Peace Action Education Fund Board Chair

 

Yigal Arens

University of Southern California (USC), Emeritus

 

Rev. Dr. Randolph W.B. Becker,
Unitarian Universalist Minister and Religious Educator

 

Peter Beinart

author

 

Leslie Blatteau

President, New Haven Federation of Teachers

 

Prof. Daniel Boyarin,

Taubmann Professor of Talmudic Culture emeritus

UC Berkeley

 

Susan Bramhall
retired Software Developer, Yale University

 

Jim Brasile
Veterans For Peace 42
Contact Coordinator

 

Phil Brewer MD FACEP

Founding Faculty Member, Department of Emergency Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine / Yale New Haven Hospital

 

Allan Brison

former Alder from the City of New Haven, CT

 

Bonnie Kim Campbell

Community Advocate

Former member of the Stamford Board of Representatives

 

John Cappadona MD,

member of Health Care Workers for Palestine (Hartford vigils) and Veterans for Peace, CT branch

 

Roane Carey

Former Managing Editor and Senior Editor “The Nation” magazine

 

Jessie H. Chang

Retired accounting professional

 

Sue Clark

ENvironmental Health Advocacy LEague (ENHALE)

Concord, MA

 

Kathy Clark

artist

 

Jerald Cole, PhD

Director, Oxford house of Connecticut

 

Andrew Courtney

Citizen Photographer

 

Mark Colville

Community organizer/activist, Amistad Catholic Worker

 

Molly Crabapple

artist and author

 

Fouad Dakwar

actor/composer

 

Mike Davis
Chairman Fostoria Area CAP and "Unite All Workers for Democracy" member

 

Doreen Desmarais
Administrative Assistant
New Hampshire Peace Action

 

Robert Dubrow

Professor Emeritus, Yale School of Public Health

 

Josh Elliott

member of the Connecticut House of Representatives, 88th district (Hamden)

 

Michael Espelin, APRN, PMHNP-BC

Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner 

 

Samuel Farber

Emeritus Professor of Political Scienced at CUNY (City University of New York)

 

David Finkel

managing editor, AGAINST THE CURRENT magazine

 

Dan Fischer

author

 

Bill Fletcher, Jr.

trade unionist/writer; USA

 

Hassan Fouda

NorCal Sabeel

 

Seth Freeman

President, 4Cs SEIU 1973

Professor, CT State Community College

 

John T. Fussell, JD

Retired labor lawyer

 

Jillian Gilchrest

State Representative (CT), MSW

 

Carol Gray, JD, PhD, LLM

Assistant Professor of Public Law

Department of Political Science

University of Alaska Fairbanks

 

The Rev. David Grishaw-Jones

Community Church of Durham, NH, UCC

 

Scott Harris

Executive Producer "Between the Lines" radio Newsmagazine

 

Howie Hawkins 

2020 Green Party Presidential Candidate

 

Robert Herbst

Human Rights Lawyer

 

Ira Helfand

Past President, International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War

 

Dr Rohini Hensman

Writer and independent scholar 

 

Nancy Holmstrom
Professor of Philosophy Emerita
Rutgers University - Newark

 

Marcus Hyde

Catholic Caucus of Christians for a Free Palestine

 

Mr. Alex Ishkanian

Elementary Special Education Teacher

 

Rabbi Andy Kahn

Executive Director of the American Council for Judaism

 

Kehaulani Kauanui, Ph.D.

 

Kathy Kelly

board president, World BEYOND War

 

Rev. Stephen Kendrick

Senior Minister, Unitarian Society of New Haven

 

Nada Khader

WESPAC Corporation, Inc.

 

Rep. Maryam Khan

CT State Representative

House District 5

Windsor, Hartford, South Windsor

 

Kaveh Khoshnood, PhD, MPH
Associate Professor, Department of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases

Yale University

 

Martha Klein 

No Pipeline Expansion Northeast Lead Facilitator

 

Susan Klein

vigiller and

member Jewish Voice for Peace

Greater New Haven Peace Council

 

Jonathan Kuttab

International human rights lawyer,

Executive Director, FOSNA

 

Brad Lander

Candidate for Congress in NY-10

Former NYC Comptroller

 

Diana Lapp, MD

Family Physician

 

Andrea Leblanc

NHPA

September 11th Families for Peaceful Tomorrows

 

David Letwin

Rutgers Adjunct Faculty Union

 

Michael Letwin

Co-Convener, Labor for Palestine National Network;

Former President, UAW 2325

 

Yi-Chun Tricia Lin

Professor & Chair, Women’s & Gender Studies

Southern Connecticut State University

 

Dave Lippman

Musician

 

Susan Lob

member Jewish Elders NYC

 

Jennifer Sarin Loewenstein

Associate Director, Middle Eastern Studies Program & Senior Lecturer,

University of Wisconsin-Madison (ret.) and Human Rights Activist.

 

Estela Lopez-Espelin, LCSW
Licensed Clinical Social Worker

 

Rev. Tony Lorenzen

Minister,

UU Church of Meriden and UU Congregation of Danbury

 

Moshé Machover 

Professor (emeritus) 

 

Justine McCabe

PhD, clinical psychologist, human rights activist

 

Bill McKibben

author

 

David Michel
author
Former CT State Representative from Stamford (HD146)

 

Nadia D. Milleron

Candidate for US Congress MA D-1

 

Craig Mokhiber

International Human Rights Lawyer,

Member, Gaza Tribunal

 

Hani Mowafi, MD, MPH 

Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine

Yale School of Medicine

 

Gary Mummert

 former chair of UU's for Social Justice

 

Sadu Nanjundiah

Professor, Physics, CCSU

 

Ofer Neiman

anti-Zionist Israeli citizen

 

Marc Nelson

Artist and teacher

 

Rev. Craig M. Nowak

Minister, Shoreline UU Society

 

Karen M. Ortiz, Esq.

Candidate for U.S. Congress (NY-12)

 

Abdul Osmanu

Hamden (CT) Legislative Councilor District 3

 

Frank Panzarella

retired president of IAM, Local 1990

 

Paula Panzarella

New Haven CT peace and social justice activist, poet and freelance writer

 

Frank Panzarella

retired president of IAM, Local 1990

 

Rev. Joshua M. Pawelek

Unitarian Universalist Society: East

Manchester, CT

 

Miko Peled

President, Palestine House of Freedom

 

Rev. Allie Perry

social justice activist, a member of Shalom United Church of Christ and

active with the UCC Movement for Palestinian Solidarity and Apartheid Free Communities

 

Mitchell Plitnick

President of ReThinking Foreign Policy

 

Karina Quintans

New Hampshire Coalition for a Just Peace in the Middle East

 

Mazin Qumsiyeh

Professor & Medical Geneticist

Bethlehem University

 

Cora Quisumbing-King, PhD

NHPA

 

Dianne Fireweed Radmore 

artist, writer, activist

co-founder, Denman Islanders for Climate Action & Social Justice 

 

Alice Robinson, BS, MPH

Public Health Scientist

 

Simón Rodríguez

journalist and researcher

 

Max Cisneros Roman

Racial Justice Advocate and Migrant Community Activist 

 

Melene Rose

Citizen of the United States. Resident of Connecticut   

 

Rabbi Brant Rosen

Tzedek Chicago

 

Lillian Rosengarten

A refugee from Nazi Germany, anti-Zionist defender of Palestinian freedom and self-determination for all Palestinians This encompasses a bi national solution with two national identities living together in harmony.

 

Professor Tony Rosso,

retired, Southern Connecticut State University

 

Dr. Alice Rothchild

MD Harvard university, Jewish Voice for Peace Health Advisory Council 

 

Ellen Rubin, APRN

Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner 

 

Zaher Sahloul

Pulmonary & Critical Care

Associate Professor at UIC

President, MedGlobal

 

Stephen R. Shalom

Emeritus Prof., William Paterson University of NJ

 

 

Feroze Sidhwa, MD, MPH, FACS, FICS

San Joaquin General Hospital, French Camp, CA

 

Evan Siegel

Iranian specialist

 

Steve Siegelbaum

Educator, singer/songwriter

 

Janet Simmon

PEN, NH Palestine Education Network

 

Dr. Michael Spath

Indiana Center for Middle East Peace

 

Reginald Saint Fortcolin

Fridgeport founder/ Environmental and Food justice advocate 

 

Eric Stamm, LCSW, MPH

Hartford Quaker, Hope Out Loud, Hartford

 

Jill Stein M.D.

 2024 Green Party Presidential Candidate

 

Alice Sturm Sutter

retired Family Nurse Practitioner, NYC

 

Brian Tokar

Institute for Social Ecology

 

Melinda Tuhus

journalist, human rights advocate

 

Maureen Tyra

Educator, Bridges of Peace and Hope Board member

 

Edwin Vargas, Jr.

Former Deputy Speaker

Connecticut House of Representatives

 

LouAnn Villani
retired nurse

 

Rev. Dr. Don Wagner

retired, Orland Hills, IL

 

Max Weiss

Professor of History, Princeton University

  

Jesse Steven Wheeler

Friends of Sabeel North America (FOSNA)

 

Anna-leila Williams
Professor Emerita
Frank H Netter MD School of Medicine at Quinnipiac

 

Jody Williams 
Nobel Peace Laureate 

 

Sherry Wolf

Tempest Collective and JVP NY

 

Ted Zuur

Ukraine Solidarity Network

 

Groups

Christians for a Free Palestine

Catholic Caucus of Christians for a Free Palestine

Middle East Crisis Committee

Pax Christi USA  

Promoting Enduring Peace