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From:
yma.phd <yma.phd@gmail.com> Date: Thu, Nov 16, 2023 at 8:39 AM
Subject: Thank you--APHA 2023 Annual Meeting Update
Dear friends, new and old:
Tell everyone you know in the public health/medical community: The American Public Health Association, the country's largest and oldest public health association, is finally calling for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
An issue that many of our vaunted health institutions, leaders, and outlets have ignored, or worse, have issued statements about that obscure the horrific current reality and long-standing history of Israeli direct and structural violence towards Palestinians. Indeed, the Executive Director of this very organization released a statement on November 3
rd (
read it for yourself here), almost a month into the ongoing devastation, without ever once calling out Israel as the actor perpetrating the continuous, unbearable horror in the Gaza Strip, including the destruction of multiple health facilities, the restrictive siege that has kept out food, water, fuel, and medical supplies, and the murder of hundreds of health and humanitarian workers, as well as at least
11,000 others, 70% of whom are estimated to be women, children, and the elderly. Tens of thousands more are physically injured. The mental trauma is unmeasurable.
Did we get everything we wanted in the statement? No, we did not. It is disheartening that calling for a ceasefire is presented as some radical position when it is the bare minimum we should be asking for, considering the level of destruction and trauma that increases in Gaza by the hour. We initially wrote a lengthy, comprehensive statement that encompassed the entirety of Israel's assault on Gaza since October 7 and situated it as just the latest assault in Israel's broader project of settler colonialism and apartheid (remember, as a latebreaker policy, we had to specifically tie it to immediate events, or it would not have been accepted). We debated this initial statement for an hour or more (I have no idea; time flew by...), going back and forth on some aspects of the language. As you can imagine, the opposition came prepared (they were handing out flyers that same morning telling Governing Councilors to vote AGAINST our policy) and engaged little with the content of the resolution, relying on mischaracterizations (including the despicable accusation that Jewish Voices for Peace is an antisemitic organization--unbelievable) and vague accusations that the policy was "unbalanced." Eventually, a motion to postpone was broached and seemed to be gaining traction. We were concerned the policy would be held up indefinitely. During a break, after significant consultation, we opted to craft a one-sentence amendment that could get the American Public Health Association on the record as calling for an immediate ceasefire.
With the support of so many who stood in silent protest, and the vocal support from other Governing Councilors and advocates (including the incredible Dr. Camara Jones and Dr. Linda Rae Murray, both past presidents of APHA, who spoke on our behalf), the final amendment passed in a landslide, with nearly 90% in favor. We appreciate the many Governing Councilors who voted yes on our amendment.
We are not clear on when this will be posted as policy on the official APHA website-we have been told it could be 4-6 weeks (as is standard for policies), but we hope there will be an official APHA press release sooner. We will keep you updated. If you would like to share our press release of this significant milestone,
it is available here. I have also attached an image created by our great students for you to share on social media.
You can also respectfully reach out to people in your APHA section(s) and let them know about the ceasefire policy (they may not have heard yet) and how you feel that APHA took a stand on such a prominent social justice and health equity issue. We can expect people opposed to these policies to attempt to mobilize within sections against any future or more comprehensive policies about Palestine, and we need to show that their viewpoint does not represent our organization's commitment to health justice for everyone.
Why is it important that APHA take such positions, even if they seem largely symbolic? As stated on their website, their policy statements are used to: 1) help shape APHA's position on legislation and regulations, 2) write briefs and statements on many public health issues, 3) highlight the latest research on specific public health topics, and 4) are the source of information for reference and resource information for the public, such as infographics, fact sheets, and reports. You can reference this policy when calling your political representatives to demand a ceasefire, for example, or if a health-related organization fears that calling for a ceasefire is too controversial. Importantly, it shows that we stand in solidarity with the unbelievably brave health workers in Gaza, and that we will not accept that this endless bombardment, harassment, discrimination, and the blocking of vital goods is in any way "self-defense."
On a personal note, I want to thank a few people who made this possible-first, my co-chairs of the Palestine Health Justice Working Group, Dr. Cindy Sousa (who unfortunately could not join us in person this year), and Dr. Rachel Rubin. Despite the incredibly tight timeline (latebreaker policies were due Oct 13!), Cindy kicked off the writing process immediately, and this wouldn't have happened without her. Along with diligently working on the draft as well, Rachel spent much of her time in Atlanta huddled with me working on all this and also spoke so courageously at the Governing Council.
Few people at APHA have as deep a historical understanding of the organization's unwillingness to pass any previous resolution about Palestine as Dr. Amy Hagopian, who presented this history at our panel on Sunday. Amy has been a tireless advocate since the beginning and was a large reason I joined this work within APHA. Thank you, Amy!
Cheryl Conner and Renee Odom offered invaluable advice about navigating the (very confusing) GC process and did incredible work in organizing our amazing silent protest in the room. Thank you both for helping us with this at lightning speed.
Many others helped in ways large and small, most of whom we met just a few days ago. Thank you.
As I arrive home from APHA this year, my heart is filled with immense gratitude to all of you who came to our session (more than 80), came to our business meeting (more than 50), and the many, many of you that CAME OUT for the Governing Council Session. I cannot emphasize enough how your presence changed the dynamic in the room and, I believe, showed people where the people of this organization is on this issue and how we cannot remain neutral. The opposition was seemingly concerned about fracturing the organization with such a vote-you showed them that the real fracture would occur if we, an organization that purports to center public health, do not speak out when we are witnessing an obvious human-made catastrophe of the type that Israel is inflicting upon the Gaza Strip, including creating a dire health crisis. We will not be silent, we will not be told that this is too political or controversial, and we will not be afraid to speak the truth. We are an evidence-based profession, and the evidence is clear.
Thank you all.
In solidarity,
Yara