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The nurse, Hesen Jabr, was terminated by a New York City hospital, NYU Langone Health, following her reference to Israel’s actions in Gaza as a “genocide” during an award acceptance speech. Jabr, a Palestinian American, linked her work to the suffering of mothers in Gaza during her speech, which was posted on social media.
NYU Langone confirmed Jabr’s termination, citing a breach of workplace conduct, noting a previous incident as well. Critics have labeled Israel’s military campaign in Gaza as genocide, while Israel denies the accusation, stating its efforts aim to protect civilians. This termination follows previous firings at the hospital related to comments on the Middle East conflict.
Jabr is not the first employee at the hospital, which was renamed from NYU Medical Center after a major donation from Republican Party donor and billionaire Kenneth Langone, to be fired over comments about the Mideast conflict.
A prominent researcher who directed the hospital’s cancer center was fired after he posted anti-Hamas political cartoons including caricatures of Arab people. That researcher, biologist Benjamin Neel, has since filed suit against the hospital.
Gaza Conflict Statistics
Gaza’s Ministry of Health says that more than 36,000 people have been killed in the territory during the war that started with the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Around 80% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million has been displaced and U.N. officials say parts of the territory are experiencing famine.
Critics say Israel’s military campaign amounts to genocide, and the government of South Africa formally accused the country of genocide in January when it asked the United Nations’ top court to order a halt to Israeli military operations in Gaza.
Jabr’s firing also was not her first time in the spotlight. When she was an 11-year-old in Louisiana, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on her behalf after she was forced to accept a Bible from the principal of her public school.
Israel has denied the genocide charge and told the International Court of Justice it is doing everything it can to protect Gaza’s civilian population.
