This is an FAQ/ resource list designed to accompany the following statement/demand letter to NYSNA [PLEASE NOTE THIS IS STILL IN PROGRESS! We will continue to update]:
If you are looking for quick ideas, this is a great resource for multiple ways to discuss what's happening: https://www.instagram.com/letstalkpalestine/?hl=en
Why is this important?
Since October 7th, and as of December 2nd 2023, over 16000 Palestinians have been confirmed dead, with many more stuck under bombed buildings, at least 1/3 being children, at the hands of the Israeli military. After a short "pause" in attacks, during which time the Israeli military kidnapped the head physicians at the destroyed Al-Shifa hospital, attacks continued in the West Bank, air, sea, and ground attacks have continued and there have already been hundreds of deaths. Refugee camps and other areas in Southern Gaza where the Israeli government has explicitly directed Gazans to go have been particularly under attack. Patients and medical workers have died unimagnably horrific deaths, due to being crushed by bombed buildings, being struck by missiles, shot by sniper fire, and many more have died of disease, stavation, disease, the cutting off of medical devices (including NICU babies and ICU patients), and white phosphorus. People have said that during the pause they could not even reach their loved ones under the rubble because of fear of sniper attacks. Here in the US, we have seen images of a father carrying his child severed limbs in a garbage bag, dead children holding one another after being exhumed from rubble, numerous parents holding their deceased and dying children. This is only a fraction of what is happening on the ground. Dead bodies have piled outside of hospitals, only to be eaten by dogs as survivors are forced to take cover. For those who worked in healthcare in 2020, it is reminiscent of the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic in New York, but compounded by military violence, no electricity, food or water, and the volume of death multiplied numerous times over. You can see more details here:
For accounts from medical workers describing conditions: https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/enough-enough-nurses-plea-al-shifa-hospital
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/abandoned-babies-found-decomposing-gaza-hospital-evacuated-rcna127533
Medical facilities have been especially targetted by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF), including explicit bombings of several hospitals, sniper shooting at ambulances trying to evacuate patients, and the recent kidnapping of several medical workers by the IOF. Nurses and doctors have bravely refused to leave their patients, even facing death. The number of medical workers targetted and killed is only rising .
Palestinian medical workers have called on support from international providers. We would want the same if these things were happening to us, our patients, and our families.
What is NYSNA doing, and why are we making these demands?
We are specifically calling on NYSNA because as the largest representative body for nurses in New York City and State, they set the tone for the rest of the workers here. However, we know nurses are also unionized in other unions, or working non union jobs. We still VERY much welcome participating as we act together in solidarity.
Call from Palestinian Trade Unions for Support.
What is the history of Israel/Palestine?
Many people are only hearing about Palestine since October 7th. On that day, Hamas, a political party and military organization estalished in 1987, launched an attack during which over 1000 people in Israel, and another over 200 people were taken hostage. It is also reported that the Israeli military killed their own citizens in friendly fire, though it has attributed those deaths to Hamas as well (the exact breakdown of numbers is not known). The deaths of these innocent people is unbelievably tragic, and many family members of those killed and taken prisoner have demanded that Israel stop the attacks on Gaza that began the same day. These actions of Hamas must be seen in the context of over 76 years of colonialism and extreme military violence agaist Palestinian's by Israel, including a deadly and decades long system of medical apartheid that you can learn more about here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3T5RfOG0KA
It is important to know that this stage of war against Palestinians did not emerge recently, and that Israeli officials have been publically calling for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza for some time; Gaza itself has existed as an open air prison for nearly 17 years, where no Palestinians can go in or out, and food, water, and medicine is highly restricted by Israel.
There are great podcasts, films, and articles available here.
We will also be doing political education and will reach out!
What about Hamas?
We really reccomend checking out this podcast by Tareq Barconi if you are able! Many people in the US when speaking about the need to end the US sponsored genocide against every day Palestinian people are immediately asked to "denounce Hamas." However, the US and our union are not supporting Hamas, and many believe that it is not necessary to denounce a political party in order to steop a genocide against civilians.
However, there is a great deal of misinformation about Hamas promoted by the Israeli government in order to justify the ethnic cleansing of Palestine, including that Hamas wishes to eradicate Jews. It is important to understand where Israeli state propoganda ends and reality begins. Hamas's own charter lays out its sepcific relationship to Jews vs the state of Israel.
Whether a person agrees or disagrees with the right to resist oppression and violence, Israel relies on its stated right to resist as justification for its 76 years of ongoing occupation and genocide, and has leaned especialy on this logic since October 7th, 2023. It is a double standard, to say the least, to support Israel's use of its incredible nuclear military power in its self-proclaimed right to self-defense, but deny the right of Palestinian's to literally any form of resistance against occupation and genocide.
Is anti-Zionism the same as anti-Semitism?
Anti-Zionism and Anti-Semitism are not the same thing, although certain organizations with ties to Israel have worked very hard to put into law that they are. Judaism as a religion, and semitic people as an ethnicity (which includes Jews, Arabs, and others generally from the Middle East) pre-date the state of Israel by more than 3000 years. The state of Israel was created following British occupation of Palestine (1917-1947), in 1948, following the first Nakba, when over 700,000 arabs were forced to flee their homelands. Creation of the state of Israel was resisted even at the time by anti-Zionist Jews, who were mostly workers and working class people! Today, the lineage of anti-Zionist Jews is strong, most clearly exhibited by Jewish Voices for Peace, although many many other anti-Zionist Jews and organizations exist, including Israeli groups calling for free Palestine. Lobbying organizations and the state of Israel itself has attempted to force a definition of antiZionism that conflates it with antiSeminitism, despite many Jews worldwide not identifying with Israel. Meanwhile the majority of antiSeminitism comes from the white supremacist far right, NOT Arabs, Muslims, and other Black and Brown workers. The largest anti Jewish/Anti-Semetic violence in this country has been at the hands of white supremacists who hate Jews, Muslims, and all Black and Brown people, and yet many supporters of Israel work hand and hand with the same groups and politicians who are idolized by the white far right.
This is why we are explicitly calling for divestment from Israeli based pension plans and AIPAC sponsored politicians, who support the conflation of anti Semitism and anti-Zionism, and who use this false claim to justify the genocide of Palestinian people.
Some further resources are here:
NYU Faculty for Justice In Palestine statement on anti-zionism/anti-Semitisim
Interview with Jessica Rosenberg, member of Jewish Voices for Peace Rabbinical Council (5 mins)
Have any other healthcare worker groups or unions spoken out?
Yes!! Here is a partial list of petitions/letters/statements/and more by healthcare workers!!!
NYC Public City Workers
Healthcare Workers for Palestine National Letter against Genocide
UAW statement on Israel and Palestine and Committment to form Divestment Working Group
CNA/NNOC Statement (Which NYSNA "endorsed")
Union Statement signed by many US trade unions include United Electrical, UAW, United Postal Workers, and Many others (Not signed by NYSNA)
Black for Palestine Solidarity Statement
Can you help me talk to my coworkers--I am scared/nervous to bring this up, and then have hostility at work.
Yes, please reach out by providing contact information in the form provided, and let us know you want help talking to co-workers. We will also be hostly regular events, in particular in conversation with nurses in Palestine, and with historical context, so help each other learn about our interconnected struggles.
First, trade unions in Palestine have called for solidarity and have provided resources for international workers!
Here is a list of HCW statements including both general proffesional based and to/from unions sepcifically:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/14I0F-YSpuGDWa-aEGx9ixPjwv4NK0qp8SjGwtNUpNy0/edit
Here is a list of other unions and worker organizations that have issued statements and/or calls to action:
Resources for NYSNA ties to Israel