Middle East Conflict:
Demanding Peace and Health

January 2024

Since WPSR issued its statement on “Seeking Peace and Protecting Health in the Middle East” in early November, the situation in Gaza has worsened dramatically, the number of lives lost (23,000 and counting) has become even more alarming and unconscionable, and the humanitarian crisis and suffering even more dire.

Therefore, WPSR urges US leadership to demand an immediate cease-fire and negotiate Palestinian statehood and Israeli security. We demand that the US stop supplying military aid to Israel and only support humanitarian aid until negotiations commence. We urge WPSR members to contact their Members of Congress and President Biden with these demands.

Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7 was horrific.  There is a vast difference, however, between the reaction that may have been warranted and the war Israel, under PM Netanyahu, acting in concert with the most extremist, far-right elements in his government, is fighting. 

Israel’s widespread destruction of Gaza’s civilian infrastructure, including roughly 70 percent of its housing, and the displacement of the vast majority of Gaza’s people, is making most of Gaza uninhabitable for the foreseeable future. Disease is now rampant, hunger almost universal, and the United Nations reports that most of the enclave is at risk of famine. 

The humanitarian crisis is at risk of growing exponentially as the conflict is now involving Lebanon, Yemen, and possibly Iran. Israel possesses nuclear weapons and the risk of escalation to nuclear annihilation is very real.

As we did in our first statement, the board of WPSR reaffirms its stand against war, violence, and terror, and again calls for actions and dialogue that protect the health, safety, and security of the Israeli and Palestinian people. 

We also strongly reiterate our call for compassion for both innocent Israelis and Palestinians and again urge our members to avoid extremes of thinking and rhetoric. Just as it should be possible to recognize that Hamas is a terrorist organization and a threat to both Palestinians and Israelis without being seen as being anti-Palestinian, it should also be possible to recognize Israel’s ongoing extremism, and to support Palestinian rights, without being seen as being antisemitic. 

WPSR, as an organization, maintains our strong stance against hatred on the basis of religion, race, ethnicity, or national origin. We advocate for justice for all in Israel and the occupied territories, believe in Palestinian rights, deplore Islamophobia and antisemitism, and oppose the extremist policies of Israel’s current far-right government that are breaches of international law. We also condemn, in the strongest way possible, acts of terrorism and the holding of hostages, as well as the intentional targeting of civilians, healthcare workers, and all those engaged in humanitarian efforts. As advocates for health and well-being, we call for immediate humanitarian intervention to ensure the swift delivery of essential supplies, including food and medicine, to Gaza, which has experienced a total collapse of its healthcare system. 

The current level of hostilities, destruction, suffering, and killing cannot continue. To allow for the provision of critical humanitarian aid and protection of as many innocent civilians as possible, WPSR joins in the call for an end to hostilities, for the return of all hostages, and for all sides to commence sincere and earnest efforts to come to a durable, peaceful resolution in which Israelis and Palestinians can co-exist. 

We make the following appeals:  

• to our U.S. Senators and Representatives to call for the release of all hostages and to register their opposition to the extremist policies currently guiding  Israel’s conduct in its war against Hamas, as well as to urge President Biden and his administration to make it clear to Israel and it’s far-right leaders that any U.S. support will stop being provided unconditionally if they do not immediately stop the wanton destruction and killing of civilians in Gaza and commence peace negotiations.

• to you, WPSR’s members and supporters, to contact your elected officials Senators (click here), your Representative (click here), and President Biden (click here) to urge them to use their voices and votes in support of these demands.  

Finally, as an organization deeply concerned by the specter of nuclear weapons, and given the ever-increasing chances of the current situation escalating into a widening, regional conflict, which, in turn, raises the risk of a nuclear war, we strongly urge the United Nations to take immediate action to resume negotiations toward establishing the Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction. We also urge our U.S. Senators and Representatives to take this opportunity to help prevent and avert a catastrophic nuclear arms race by leading the effort to cancel the two trillion dollar U.S. nuclear weapons modernization plan in all its forms and thereby open broader pathways to further nuclear diplomacy and bilateral arms control agreements.

Seeking Peace and
Protecting Health in the Middle East

November 2023

We’d like to start by calling for compassion for both innocent Israelis and Palestinians and urge our members to avoid extremes of thinking and rhetoric.

We unequivocally condemn the horrific terrorist attack by Hamas on Israel, in which they brutally killed 1,200 Israelis (mostly civilians), took hundreds of hostages, and continue to call for the destruction of Israel.

While Israel has real security concerns and the right to defend itself, Israel must also follow the laws of war — what is also known as international humanitarian law — and the growing number of innocent civilians in Gaza, a great many of them children, that continue to be killed in Israeli airstrikes, and the denial of food, water, and humanitarian aid is unacceptable. 

WPSR strongly stands against hatred on the basis of religion, race, ethnicity, or national origin. As an organization with many members and supporters who have strong ties to both Israel and Palestine — most who have long advocated for justice for all in Israel and the occupied territories, believe in Palestinian rights, deplore Islamophobia and antisemitism, and oppose much of Israel’s current, right-wing government’s policies — we strongly condemn the intentional targeting of civilians, healthcare workers, and all those engaged in humanitarian efforts.

There are no easy answers. We urge all sides to come to a peaceful resolution in which Israelis and Palestinians can co-exist. WPSR is joining in the call for a ceasefire (or, at minimum, a cessation of hostilities), return of all hostages, and the commencement of negotiations for a lasting peace. As advocates for health and well-being, we also join PSR's call for immediate humanitarian intervention to ensure the swift delivery of essential supplies, including medicine, to Gaza, which has experienced a total collapse of its healthcare system. And, as an organization deeply concerned by the specter of nuclear weapons, we strongly support PSR's statement urging the United Nations to take immediate action to resume negotiations toward establishing the Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction. 

And, for all healthcare and public health professionals, WPSR strongly urges signing the Call to Immediate Action and Petition to Address the Violence in Israel and Gaza and Its Health Consequences. This statement and petition has been issued by the Peace Caucus of the American Public Health Association, and we encourage members and supporters to take part in this unified health professionals’ call for an immediate end to the violence that has already killed and injured many civilians and which may escalate into a regional conflict, in turn raising the risk of a nuclear war. Organizations and Individuals can sign on here.