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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">How a ‘hostile’ NYC hospital fired an award-winning Palestinian-American nurse</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">By Azad Essa</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">May 31, 2024<br></div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><div><p>The
New York hospital that honoured a Palestinian-American nurse for her
contributions to medicine, and then fired her days later for referring
to the war on Gaza as "genocide" during her award speech, subjected
pro-Palestine staff to months of harassment, workers affiliated with the
sprawling academic medical centre told Middle East Eye.</p>
<div><p>Several health workers, including nurses and graduates from New
York University's medical school which forms part of NYU Langone
academic medical centre, told MEE that Hesen Jabr's dismissal from
Langone was part of a systematic attempt by university administrators
across NYU's affiliates to root out any expression of pro-Palestinian
sentiment amongst the hospital community since Israel's war on Gaza
began in October.</p><p>
The medics described a "stifling" and "hostile" environment for
Palestinians at the institution and said administrators refused to allow
staff or students to express sympathy or solidarity with Palestinians
in Gaza, even as Israel began bombing hospitals, killing healthcare
workers and demolishing medical facilities in the besieged Strip.</p></div>
<p>
They said that over the past eight months, healthcare workers were
forced to keep their thoughts and concerns about Gaza to themselves - or
face consequences.
</p><p>"I think it’s widely understood that anyone openly expressing
pro-Palestinian sentiments risks harassment and retaliation," Victoria
Cladhaire*, a recent graduate of the NYU Grossman School of
Medicine, told MEE.</p>
<p>"I've never witnessed anyone speaking openly about what’s happening
in Gaza in the hospital, though I’ve had private conversations with
Lebanese and Palestinian colleagues who are suffering tremendously."</p>
<p>But Cladhaire says the policing of speech is a one-way street. </p>
<p>"Meanwhile, I've been in workrooms where people have spoken openly
about having friends and family in the Israeli military - who are widely
self-documented committing war crimes - and going to American Israel
Political Action Committee conferences, etcetera, and I know I can’t do
anything about it [because] it wouldn’t be considered creating an
'unsafe' environment even though it is," Cladhaire said.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>'Because of institutional mass emails about standing with Israel and
the slew of disciplinary actions against students and staff, we are
scared to speak about anything Palestine related'</p>
<p>-<em> NYU Grossman School of Medicine graduate</em></p>
</blockquote>
<div><p>Another recent graduate of the medical school echoed the same
sentiments, and the two described several incidents of medical students
being disciplined, or of irregularities when it came to university
policy towards pro-Palestinian activism across NYU's medical affiliates.</p><p>
"The environment is extremely stifling and hostile. Because of
institutional mass emails about standing with Israel and the slew of
disciplinary actions against students and staff, we are scared to speak
about anything Palestine related and feel like anything we say, can and
will be used against us," the newly graduated doctor, who also asked to
remain unnamed over fear of reprisals, said.</p></div>
<p>The doctor said the level of policing had reached new heights, adding
that Jabr's dismissal was just a slice of a systematic attempt
to silence pro-Palestinian speech across both NYU Langone Health and NYU
Grossman School of Medicine.</p>
<p>NYU Langone is an academic medical centre and is regarded as a leader in the treatment of heart disease, cancer, and diabetes. </p>
<p>According to NYU Langone, the hospital "prides itself on creating a
collaborative environment where nurses can share their ideas for
enhancing patient care while working in an intellectually stimulating
academic environment".</p>
<h3>Doxxed</h3>
<div><p>Jabr, who had worked as a nurse at NYU Langone since 2015, said
long before she was dismissed for her comments at the award ceremony on 7
May, she had been at the receiving end of a months-long campaign to
silence and discredit her.</p><p>
She said that institutional bias towards Palestinians meant she was
constantly asked to explain herself, even as her own community was being
massacred in Gaza, and even as right-wing pro-Israeli groups doxxed her
or harassed her online.</p></div>
<div><p>Jabr said that after October, NYU Langone's HR contacted her,
following a complaint by a colleague who alleged Jabr had made her feel
unsafe.</p><p>
Jabr told MEE it began when she noticed her colleague had posted a call
on her WhatsApp status for donations to the Israeli army, just as it had
started bombing hospitals in Gaza.</p></div>
<blockquote>
<p>'I told them it was my First Amendment right. They can't do that.
They said I had no rights at NYU because it is a private institution'</p>
<p>- <em>Hesen </em><em>Jabr</em></p>
</blockquote>
<div><p>"I asked her [over WhatsApp], where was her compassion,
especially as a new mother. She didn't reply. She instead reported me to
HR," Jabr said.</p><p>
Then HR initiated a series of probes, according to Jabr. And then, the doxxing also began.</p><p>
The pro-Israel group Stop Antisemitism posted Jabr's private
Instagram content and tagged her employer after she shared a political
cartoon showing an Israeli soldier looking into the mirror and seeing a
German Nazi soldier looking right back at him. Jabr reshared the image
with the text: "Powerful."</p></div>
<div><p>Jabr said that her full name, the hospital she worked at, and
even the unit she was a part of had been made public, leaving her to
speculate that it was someone at work who had put out her private
information. She felt unsafe. </p><p>
Jabr says that instead of mitigating her fears over the doxxing, she was asked to apologise for sharing the illustration.</p><p>
Later, in December, a co-worker nonchalantly yelled at the nursing station at work, "Hesen hates Jews". </p></div>
<div><p>Though this was reported to HR, nothing came of the matter.
Instead, Jabr says she was warned to stay clear of posting her opinions
on social media. </p><p>
"I told them it was my First Amendment right. They can't do that. They
said I had no rights at NYU because it is a private institution. That
[freedom of expression] only applied at the federal level," Jabr said. </p></div>
<div>
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</p></div>
<p>Jabr said that NYU Langone didn't specify what she could not post on social media even though she repeatedly asked for clarity.</p>
<p>"All they would say is that we have a certain population we need to
keep comfortable. And when I pushed back and I asked what about my
comfort? Isn't this discrimination? They said I represent NYU and it's
my job to uphold the code of conduct and make everyone feel
comfortable," Jabr said.</p>
<p>Jabr said the hospital's refusal to support and protect her impacted
her mental and physical health. She began taking fewer shifts at work as
a result of the stress. </p>
<div><p>MEE reached out to NYU Langone repeatedly for comment, but did not receive a response by the time of publication.</p><p>
However, the hospital did confirm to The <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/28/nyregion/nyu-langone-nurse-fired-gaza-war.html" target="_blank">New York Times</a> that she was fired following her speech, noting "a previous incident".</p><p>
"Hesen Jabr was warned in December, following a previous incident, not
to bring her views on this divisive and charged issue into the
workplace," the statement from NYU read.</p></div>
<p>"She instead chose not to heed that at a recent employee recognition
event that was widely attended by her colleagues, some of whom were
upset after her comments," the statement added.</p>
<h3>An award followed by dismissal</h3>
<div><p>On 7 May, the 34-year-old Jabr, who had worked at the hospital
since 2015, was honoured by her colleagues with the
Sebastian Brun Compassionate Care Award for her "exceptional" work with
bereaving women who had lost children during pregnancy or childbirth.</p><p>
Jabr was honoured "for not only providing stellar care but also provides
support for the rest of the nursing staff so that we can all live up to
her example". </p></div>
<blockquote>
<p>'The NYU brand is notably one that prioritises the stifling of pro-Palestinian expression and the siding with genocidaires'</p>
<p>- <em>spokesperson for NYU Alumni for Justice in Palestine,</em></p>
</blockquote>
<div><p>In her acceptance speech, Jabr thanked her colleagues, and
saluted her mother and grandmother "earnestly and sincerely wanting to
care for these patients and alleviate their pain during the most
difficult time of their lives".</p><p>
At the tail-end of her short address, Jabr made a passing remark on the events unfolding in Gaza.</p></div>
<div><p>"It pains me to see the women from my country going through
unimaginable losses themselves during the current genocide in Gaza,"
Jabr said.</p><p>
"This award is personal to me for those reasons, even though I can't
hold their hands and comfort them as they grieve their unborn children
and the children they have lost during this genocide. I hope to keep
making them proud as I keep representing them at NYU," she added, to
rapturous applause.</p></div>
<p>On her next shift at work on 22 May, Jabr was summoned into a meeting
with the president and vice president of NYU nursing, in which she was
told she "put others at risk" and "ruined the ceremony" and that she had
"offended people". </p>
<p>"They told me that I was warned in December not to talk about my
politics at work. And that it was a violation of the code of conduct,"
Jabr told MEE.</p>
<p>"I told them that my comments were relevant to the award. It was an
award for treating bereaving mothers in a unit and my care for them. It
was something that was personal to me and relevant to bring it up."</p>
<p>Jabr said the president said that people had reached out to administrators to register their discomfort with her speech.</p>
<p>Hours later, she was terminated and escorted out of the hospital by a plain-clothes police officer.</p>
<p>"It was humiliating," Jabr recalled.</p>
<div>
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</p></div>
<p>Jabr's characterisation of the approach toward Palestinians from
NYU's leadership is supported by recent medical graduates who told MEE
that there was a double standard in terms of whose lives, dignity, and
perceived “safety” are valued.</p>
<p>"The medical school issued a statement enumerating the Israeli lives
lost back in October but has never done the same for Palestinians, even
though the death toll is at least 40 times greater, and despite students
raising this inconsistency with them on multiple occasions," Cladhaire,
the newly-graduated doctor, said.</p>
<p>Cladhaire noted that medical students were even forbidden to hold a candlelight vigil for Palestinian healthcare workers.</p>
<div><p>"Students also asked to hold educational events about the
healthcare crisis in Gaza and the administrators just ignored our
emails. I know of a classmate who was accused of a hate crime for
posting an informative flyer about medical apartheid in Gaza in the
hospital. She had to apologise and take 'professionalism' classes,"
Cladhaire added.</p><p>
NYU has been one of the major flashpoints in the US over the past eight
months, with several students and faculty facing censure for their
pro-Palestine positions. </p></div>
<p>"The NYU brand is notably one that prioritises the stifling of
pro-Palestinian expression and the siding with genocidaires, even amidst
the carnage we’ve witnessed in Rafah these past few days," a
spokesperson for <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/www.nyuajp.org" target="_blank">NYU Alumni for Justice in Palestine</a>, a coalition made up of 3,100 NYU alumni, told MEE.</p>
<p>"The irony is egregious - NYU Langone fired a nurse for speaking
against a genocide in which the Israeli military has deliberately
destroyed hospitals and killed healthcare workers.</p>
<p>The alumni group added that they will continue to halt donations or
any other support to NYU until it ends censorship on Palestine and its
"complicity" in the Israeli genocide and occupation, the spokesperson
said.</p>
<div><p>"Protecting human life is a value we recognise remains forever
critical to the healthcare sector, particularly amidst a genocide
exacerbated by the weaponization of healthcare access en masse," the
group said.</p><p>
*<em>Name changed for safety reasons</em></p></div>
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