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palestinian rights
The American Medical Association Is Failing to Speak Up for Dr. Abu Safiya
If they speak out to save just one Palestinian doctor's life, they could pave the way to save hundreds of other prisoners.
Apr 10, 2026
Israel tortured a 1-year-old baby. They burned him with cigarettes and drove nails through his feet as a form of torture during his father's interrogation. This isn't some twisted, made-up movie scene; this is real life. And it's the one case we know of right now, but who knows how many other babies, in all their innocence, have been tortured by the Israeli military? It also begs the question: Since they're willing to do this to an infant, what are they doing to older prisoners?
It's always been clear that the Zionist settler colony will go to any length to achieve its goal of being an ethnostate. To achieve this goal, it subjects Palestinians to mass-imprisonment campaigns. No title—child, teenager, mother, father, health professional, aid worker—is spared from the Israeli prison system. Because if Israel can't just outright exterminate all Palestinians at once, the next best option is to round them up and slowly kill them behind bars.
Well, that was the case before March 30, 2026, when the Israeli Knesset passed a bill that calls for the hanging of Palestinian prisoners within 90 days of being convicted of killing Israeli settlers. The bill was introduced by Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has been wearing noose pins and carrying around a physical noose to publicly show his excitement for potentially becoming Israel's official executioner. When the vote was called out and the bill was passed, Ben-Gvir popped champagne bottles with his cronies, celebrating the essence of killing more Palestinians.
These are illegal settlers under international law, who have been terrorizing Palestinian villagers for years, their attacks becoming increasingly frequent and heinous. Palestinians have had their houses set on fire while inside them at the hands of these settlers, backed by the state. It is important to remember that the Israeli military courts operate outside of constitutional processes and have been widely condemned for their human rights abuses. In these courts, Palestinians have a conviction rate of over 96%, most often for crimes they never even committed.
Our government is killing people in cold blood, and the institutions meant to advocate for us remain silent even when it is their peers being forced into tanks, handcuffed, and locked away and tortured.
Israel promotes its interests by incentivizing settlers to brutalize Palestinians and destroy their land. And now, after systematically denying Palestinians' right to defend themselves, they are branding them as cattle to be killed by hanging. Israel is carrying out its genocide in the form of codified law. This is the true face of the settler colonial state of Israel: dehumanization to the lowest level.
Right now, Israel is holding the highest number of Palestinian prisoners ever recorded. One such prisoner is Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya. He was the sole lead of the only functioning hospital in northern Gaza, Kamal Adwan Hospital. For the "crime" of providing medical aid to Palestinians, he was surrounded by Israeli tanks and soldiers and forced into imprisonment in December 2024.
Israeli society is getting more and more draconian: no prosecution, no unanimity, nothing. Simply put, if the Israeli military sees fit to kill a Palestinian prisoner, they will do so. Dr. Abu Safiya has been in an Israeli prison for 16 months, and there is speculation that he is being tortured. But again, if they can torture an infant, what's a middle-aged man to them? The new Israeli bill gives the IOF a pathway to execute prisoners like Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya: torturing them to force a confession, convicting them, and then hanging them. Clearly, he's been deemed a threat to the very existence of Israel because he helped save the lives of Palestinians.
This is the situation of medical professionals outside of the West, heroes who put everything on the line to provide care for their people. In comparison to the most "esteemed" doctors in the US—like those within the American Medical Association, with all their prestige and shiny titles—the healthcare workers subjected to deadly imperialist brutality deserve our recognition, and they urgently need our help.
You might be thinking, "What does the American Medical Association have to do with a detained Palestinian doctor?" Firstly, we need to contend with the fact that it is our US tax dollars that fund these genocidal soldiers, prisons, and policies that got Dr. Abu Safiya arrested in the first place. The American government and its institutions are just as guilty of the oppression of the Palestinian as the Israelis are. We need to stop operating on willful ignorance because it has cost thousands of lives in the region, a tally that is increasing by the second with the recent attacks on Iran and Lebanon.
Secondly, the American Medical Association (AMA) prides itself on its strong relationship with the World Medical Association, which has already called for the release of Dr. Abu Safiya, demonstrating alignment with its policies that "support the rights of physicians worldwide." The advocacy of foreign doctors is integral to the AMA as a whole. Why is a Palestinian doctor being ignored by them, then? Maybe the topic of genocide is too taboo for them. That would be ironic if so, when a genocide is the culmination of healthcare sectors being destroyed, lineages lost, and eugenics shaping a land and people forever. These are topics any medical association should be speaking about, especially one that represents the literal country that enabled this violence. Imagine the leverage the AMA could have in the halls of Congress when advocating for change.
The recent codification of the execution of Palestinian prisoners poses a grave threat to Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya's life. Will the AMA finally act now, in the face of such injustice and wickedness? If they speak out to save just one doctor's life, they could pave the way to save hundreds of other prisoners.
The genocide in Gaza has shown me that so much of what I thought about society was false. I once believed I lived in a world where good prevails, but I have come to realize that selective empathy is the rule. The leaders of this world don't hold empathy for anything or anyone that stands in their way of global domination. I frequently think of how many lives have been lost at the hands of US-Israeli imperial violence. The sheer number of casualties in Gaza, despite being predicted to be in the hundreds of thousands, has never been enough reason to stop. I think of how one of the first targets in the US war on Iran was a girl's elementary school, which they targeted with not just one strike, but three in a row.
Our government is killing people in cold blood, and the institutions meant to advocate for us remain silent even when it is their peers being forced into tanks, handcuffed, and locked away and tortured. At this point, advocating for the release of our prisoners who were wrongfully detained is the least we can do.
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Answering the Four Children in the Shadow of the Gaza Genocide
In a historical moment where Jewish identity is facing political and moral division, the inquisitive nature of the Four Children can inspire a new generation of Jewish families to question what we have been told about Palestinians in Gaza.
Apr 03, 2026
During the Passover seder, Jewish families recall our cultural yearning for freedom and liberation through storytelling and asking questions. This week, families across the Jewish world will gather to retell an ancient story, connecting with ancestors who passed on to us a generations-old struggle for justice and peace.
But what makes this night different from all other nights? This Passover, Jewish communities will continue to witness a rupture over Israel’s actions in Gaza, while Israel’s attacks on Iran and Lebanon will surely generate new questions. But, unlike the Four Children, or the child reciting, “Mah Nishtana,” many Jewish children will have their questions left unanswered.
By exploring what the Four Children might ask in this moment, and offering answers aligned to our Jewish values, we honor rather than shy away from the Jewish tradition of asking questions.
The wise one, what does he say? “What are the testimonies, the statutes, and the laws which the LORD, our God, has commanded you?” And you shall tell him the laws of Pesach.
If we truly want to honor our traditions and values, we must not shy away from difficult questions.
The wise child asks, “What are the testimonies of Palestinians in Gaza? What are the international laws that nations follow? What are the Jewish ethics which our ancestors have passed to us?”
When the wise child asks for testimony, you must share the countless firsthand accounts of Palestinians in Gaza who have endured deteriorating conditions and cruelty at the hands of the Israeli military.
When the child asks for statutes, you must guide them to United Nations reports, International Court of Justice cases, and International Criminal Court investigations that provide evidence of war crimes and genocide.
When the wise child asks for laws, you must show how our Jewish texts instruct us to value all life, command us against standing “idly by the blood of another,” and teach us to honor each soul as a universe.
The wicked one, what does he say? “What is this service to you?” He says, “to you,” but not to him. By thus excluding himself from the community he has denied that which is fundamental.
The wicked child asks, “Why do they deserve this?” “They,” the child says, and not Palestinians, not families, not human beings. When the child excludes others from humanity, they exclude themself. You must call them in and say, “we must stand with Palestinians facing genocide in Gaza.” “We,” and not, “I,” for our safety is intertwined.
The simple one, what does he say? “What is this?”
The simple child asks, “What is this?” What is the truth about Gaza?” He hears opposing narratives in the news, on his phone, and in his Jewish community. He hears Zionists describe the people who live in Gaza as terrorists, animals, and other dehumanizing labels justifying collective punishment. He sees another reality, a mosaic of humanity–children, doctors, journalists, and families– experiencing profound grief and suffering.
The simple child is confused, and we must direct him to seek truth and act in alignment with his Jewish values: Never again means never again for anyone.
As for the one who does not know how to ask, you must open [the story] for him [...]
And for the child who doesn’t know how to ask, you must open a path for them to question the narratives that Zionists tell of Palestinians in Gaza, just as Jewish culture teaches us to question, challenge, and debate our traditions and worldviews.
Passover is a testament to the power of retelling stories that resonate across generations. The Four Children, a key part of the Passover haggadah, have always acted as archetypes of Jewish engagement. In a historical moment where Jewish identity is facing political and moral division, the inquisitive nature of the Four Children can inspire a new generation of Jewish families to question what we have been told about Palestinians in Gaza.
If we truly want to honor our traditions and values, we must not shy away from difficult questions. Nor should our answers ignore the parts of our tradition that teach us to prioritize life, to love the stranger, and to challenge our worldviews. Our children deserve nothing less.
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'This Is Our Land,' Says the Israeli Settler
Israel has killed at least 26 Palestinians in the West Bank since the beginning of the year, of whom at least eight were murdered by settlers.
Mar 24, 2026
As Muslims around the world celebrated an end to the holy month of Ramadan over the weekend, Palestinian communities across the West Bank were violently assaulted by Israeli settlers in what witnesses describe as coordinated attacks.
Masked settlers—many under military protection—carried out raids in at least 12 locations, according to multiple reports and video footage. They burned cars, homes, and used weapons, including guns, grenades, rocks, live fire, and pepper spray, to inflict pain on Palestinians.
The West Bank is one of two enclosed regions where Palestinians live under Israeli control, the other being the war-torn Gaza Strip. But Israeli settlers, with the support of a far-right government and the silent complicity of many Israelis, have sought to take this land. Israel has killed at least 26 Palestinians in the West Bank since the beginning of the year, of whom at least eight were murdered by settlers.
On Monday, the widespread violence continued. In Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank, Israeli soldiers detained six Palestinians, including a journalist, after raiding and vandalizing their homes. The Israel Defense Forces also set up checkpoints around the city and surrounding villages, “closing multiple main and secondary roads with iron gates, concrete blocks, and earth mounds,” according to the Palestinian News Agency Wafa.
How can Israel dispute the facts of genital mutilation reported in none other than the Times—a paper often accused of holding sympathy for Israel? I guess just like Donald Trump: by doing it.
Attacks by Israeli settlers and soldiers have become more brazen since America and Israel escalated their war in the region. The United Nations estimates that Israeli soldiers and settlers have murdered at least 15 Palestinians since the start of the Iran war in late February.
In a brutal report in The New York Times March 18, for example, a Palestinian man had his genitals mutilated—in front of his family—and 400 sheep stolen by some 20 Israeli settlers. The account is almost too harrowing to put to words.
Imagine you are a Bedouin: a nomad, a villager in the Middle East. In Israel, this often means you are looked on as a peasant—and there’s no doubt you are Palestinian. You’re a woman, a mother. You live in a tent. Your life is seen as a threat by men across a border they built—the separation wall enclosing Palestinians in the West Bank.
A group of settlers arrives. Some 20 men beat you, slap your children, pull you out of your tent—your home—by your hair. They demean you for existing. They tie up your husband, strip him naked, cut his boxers with a knife, and tie his penis with a zip tie. Imagine that. Can you?
That’s the story of Suhaib Abualkebash, 29, in the report I mention above in the Times. “This is slow death,” Niama Abualkebash, 28, said of the attack on her husband. “Doing this to a man is to kill him.”
Human rights activists staying in the Bedouin community—a common tactic used to deter settler attacks in the past—were among those beaten by the settlers. Ava Lang, a 24-year-old American activist, recalled what the settlers said: “They were asking our names, where we’re from, saying, ‘We’re going to kill you,’ and ‘This is our land; we’re Jewish.’”
After beating the family, including a 3 year old, the settlers stole family wedding rings, cellphones, cash, and identification papers. The brother of the man who had his penis mutilated, Muhammad Abualkebash, 40, recalls what the settlers said next.
“They said; ‘If you don’t leave, we will burn you. We’ll hit you. We’ll take your children, and we will rape your women,” he said to the Times. “‘Go to America, go to Jordan or anywhere else, but go.’”
Israel has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians—mostly women and children—in Gaza since October 2023. About 1,000 have been killed in the West Bank, where, as the UN has reported, young men and boys are at a higher risk for harassment and mistreatment by Israeli settlers and soldiers.
How do Israelis feel about this? From what journalists have observed in the country, only a small portion of Israelis openly oppose violence against Palestinians.
A new poll featured on Israel’s Channel 12 reveals that first-time Jewish Israeli voters, between 18 and 21 years of age, are more right-wing and religious-nationalist in their outlook than older voters. The poll found that 75% of voters described themselves as “right-wing” compared with 68% among older voters. The self-identified “left” accounts for only 5%.
Justice is unlikely for the Abualkebash family—or any of the Palestinians harmed, intimidated, and mutilated by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Let’s not forget: beyond murder, abuse can extend to injuries, displacement, and destruction of Palestinian homes and farmland.
“Most of the international community views Israel’s presence in the West Bank as illegal,” wrote The Times of Israel on March 17, “though the US under President Donald Trump has been more tolerant.”
Also on March 17, the UN unveiled an investigation into settler violence in the West Bank, covering a 12-month period up to November 2025, warning of an “ethnic cleansing” of Palestinians at the hands of Israelis. The report denounced the Israeli government’s role in aiding settler expansion in the West Bank.
“The Israeli government has accelerated unlawful settlement expansion and annexation of large parts of the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, forcibly displacing over 36,000 Palestinians and increasing violence by Israeli security forces and settlers,” UN Human Rights spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan said at a briefing in Geneva.
Israel, responding in their usual tone, via the Israeli diplomatic mission in Geneva, accused the UN of being anti-Israel. “It does not function as an impartial and neutral human rights office, but as the epicenter of vile anti-Israel activism,” the mission said in a statement.
How can Israel dispute the facts of genital mutilation reported in none other than the Times—a paper often accused of holding sympathy for Israel? I guess just like Donald Trump: by doing it.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, where it’s been less than six months since the so-called ceasefire between Israel and Hamas was brokered, some 680 Palestinians have been killed.
On Sunday, four Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in Gaza. At least 10 others were wounded. And last week, the military killed 12 Palestinians in an urban refugee camp. One family of four was among the slain, including a woman who was pregnant with twins.
“We were sleeping and got up to the strike of a missile. The strike was strong,” said Mahmoud al-Muhtaseb, a neighbor. “There was no prior warning.”
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