Healthcare workers gathered in Vancouver Monday to action their demand for the immediate release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and other Palestinian healthcare workers illegally detained in Israeli prisons without charge.
A recent report by Abu Safiya’s lawyer indicated that the Palestinian physician’s health had seriously deteriorated and that he endured “daily violence and beatings” since being transferred to Rekafet underground prison. Dr. Abu Safiya was detained in December 2024 during an Israeli military raid on the hospital, which ultimately led to the closure of the last functioning medical facility in northern Gaza.
The action included a press conference followed by a theatrical “die-in” by healthcare workers symbolizing the 1,571 Palestinian healthcare workers killed by Israeli Occupation Forces including six who have died in Israeli jails since October 2023.
“The Canadian government must push Israel to grant all detainees access to timely and appropriate medical care pending their release in keeping with international law,” stated Dr Annalee Yassi, a member of BC Physicians Against Genocide.
“The protection of healthcare workers is demanded under international law, and it is Canada’s duty to demand Israel’s compliance with this” remarked Ben Fussell, a member of the BC Nurses union. “We need the federal government to step up — specifically, against Israel’s detention and torture of our health care worker colleagues in Gaza and the West Bank. Words are not enough,” he emphasized.
Heba Al-Nashef, a Palestinian-Canadian midwife who served in Gaza recalled the constant dangers faced by healthcare workers: “I will never forget, after saying goodbye to my midwife colleague at the end of her shift, hearing screams outside the hospital where she had been brought back to hospital. She had been hit in her right arm by shrapnel from Israel bombing.”
A total of 446 Palestinian healthcare workers have been documented as detained or missing and 83 still remain in arbitrary detention without charge. Among them are 17 physicians, 28 nurses and 13 paramedics. Each of them has spent on average 670 days in detention and their ages range from 21 to 66 years.
Senator Yuen Pau Woo also attended the press conference, stating, “I stand in solidarity with BC Physicians against Genocide to draw attention to the targeting of Palestinian health care workers by the Israel Occupation Forces in Gaza. There is no justification for the killing and unlawful detention of health workers — an action which can only be understood as a deliberate attempt on the part of Israel to increase the suffering of the Palestinian people. We see it clearly; why doesn’t the Government of Canada?”
The event was organized by BC Physicians Against Genocide and BC Nurses United for Social Justice as part of a worldwide effort by the British Medical Association, the World Medical Association, Amnesty International, Physicians for Human Rights Israel and others.
Coming together over the past year, BC Physicians Against Genocide (BC PAG) has attracted strong support among physicians in the province. Reflecting on why he became involved in advocacy for his Palestinian colleagues, plastic surgeon Dr. Doug Courtemanche observed “For me It became personal on March 22, 2024 when my colleague Dr. Ahmed al-Maqadmeh, a young Palestinian plastic surgeon working in Gaza was killed by Israeli sniper fire, along with his mother, and his cousin… Would you choose rules that allow a reconstructive surgeon to be killed in the street at the age of 33, or instead, choose rules that would allow a reconstructive surgeon the opportunity to repair people’s bodies, hearts, minds and spirits?”
BC PAG has organized numerous events over the past year. They also offer support to colleagues who speak out in support of their Palestinian colleagues in Gaza only to face charges of “anti-semitism” and suffer workplace recriminations from medical institutions.
Public health physician and member of the Jewish Faculty Network, Dr Annalee Yassi told the press conference, “As a Jewish person, brought up to value human life and social justice, it is appalling that some people have fallen for the notion that Israel is the country for Jewish people, so therefore must be offered some sort of impunity. For thousands of years, Jewish people lived in harmony with people of all religions in the Middle East. Excusing Israeli crimes because of a history of Jewish persecution is illogical; moreover, it is not only un-Jewish – it’s a false stereotype – and it’s antisemitic.”
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