Week in Review
11/23/24
My memoir 'Inspired and Outraged: The Making of a Feminist Physician' is out now from New Village Press!
Urgent health update: Consequences of war on Gaza, West Bank/East Jerusalem and Lebanon 11/16/24
Israeli air, land, & sea bombardment continue across Gaza, causing further civilian casualties, displacement, & destruction of houses & other civilian infrastructure. The siege of northern Gaza has choked off all humanitarian aid, and intense ground attacks increase casualties as Israel issues evacuation orders – with nowhere to go.
The extension of the war to the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Yemen is a health and human rights emergency, and an escalation that threatens world war.
The New Anti-Abortion Argument Takes Us Back to the 19th Century
The pronatalist argument comes back to control women’s reproductive autonomy. It didn’t work the last time.
Escaping through the walls in Gaza
The reality of life in Gaza. This is the story of one family, and their desperate attempts to flee to safety under the bombardment of Israeli tanks. It is but one story among millions.
Anti-Palestinian Racism Survey Additional Findings Report 2024: Student and Educator Data
This report summarizes additional findings from a national survey investigating anti-Palestinian racism conducted in the United States (US) from March 1st through April 3rd, 2024. The survey was conducted with approval of the UCSF Institutional Review Board (IRB). “Anti-Palestinian racism is a form of racism that “silences, excludes, erases, stereotypes, defames, or dehumanizes Palestinians or their narratives.”
An initial finding of the survey is that 64.6% of respondents experienced anti-Palestinian racism either directly or online. This theme also emerged in a separate survey item in which 63.4% of respondents reported experiencing silencing, exclusion, harassment, physical threat or harm, or defamation while advocating for Gaza and/or Palestinian human rights. In addition, the findings also revealed that 73.5% of respondents felt alone or isolated in their concern about Palestinian human rights and 87.9% of respondents had witnessed others experiencing anti-Palestinian racism either directly or online. AntiPalestinian racism negatively impacts the people experiencing it and the data suggests that the racist behavior is widespread. In addition, 55.3% of respondents were afraid to speak out about what is happening to Palestinians in Gaza or for Palestinian human rights in general.
As health professionals, we were especially concerned about the impact of anti-Palestinian racism on respondents' physical and emotional health. The vast majority (82.4%) reported experiencing harm to mental or physical health at least once or twice due to experiencing or witnessing anti-Palestinian racism, with 71.2% reporting health impacts at least some of the time and 38.3% reporting health impacts most or all of the time.
The group behind Project 2025 has a plan to protect Jews. It will do the opposite.
A good explanation of the dangers of Project Esther, a public-private plan for dismantling any domestic group that supports Palestinian rights — which they call the “Hamas Support Network.” The plan’s first targets are pro-Palestinian organizations like Students for Justice in Palestine, American Muslims for Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace. But that’s just the start.
Project Esther has its sights on what it describes as a much broader “coalition of leftist, progressive organizations such as Open Society Foundations, Tides Foundation and numerous others.” It calls for using tools including anti-terrorism and anti-racketeering criminal prosecution; deportations; public firings; removal of tax-exempt status; blocking of funding; and campaigns to sow discord within movements to “disrupt and degrade” these organizations.
11/10
Gaza on Fire: The Health and Human Rights Consequences of the War
Dr. Nidal Jboor, moderator
talk by Dr. Alice Rothchild
Presented with BUC’s
UUs for Justice in the Middle East
Birmingham Unitarian Church
Palestinian UN Envoy's Deeply Emotional Speech at the UNSC Leaves the Chamber in Stunned Silence.
Civil Rights Orgs Warn Pomona College Unprecedented Suspensions of Students Are Unlawful, ‘Punishes the Act of Protest Itself’
As college and university students face immense push back, suspensions, loss of housing, etc when engaged in pro-Palestine activities, Palestine Legal is fighting back.
Five legal organizations including Palestine Legal, the Asian Law Caucus, the Center for Protest Law and Litigation, the ACLU Foundation of Southern California, and the National Lawyers Guild of Los Angeles sent a letter to Pomona College today warning the school that its unprecedented suspensions of a group of students for the remaining 2024-2025 academic year without due process violated First Amendment principles and California law.
KAOS “Once More Into the Breach”; Olympia, WA