Healthcare Workers for Palestine vigil in Chicago, December 16, 2023 [Photo: Healthcare Workers for Palestine - Chicago via Instagram]
On December 18, healthcare workers held a rally at the Chicago headquarters of the American Medical Association (AMA) to urge the organization to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
Rather than responding to the workers’ appeal, the AMA sent security guards to forcibly remove the workers from the building. The incident sheds light on the support of the AMA for US imperialism and contains lessons for healthcare workers who seek to end the Netanyahu government’s campaign of genocide against the Palestinians.
Like workers in other industries, healthcare workers are outraged by Israel’s ongoing and systematic murder of medical personnel and deliberate destruction of hospitals in Gaza. For months, healthcare workers in the United States have been calling and sending emails to the AMA, urging the organization to defend its Hippocratic Oath and for the association to denounce these crimes publicly.
At the December 18 rally, workers brought a physical copy of their demands, which they planned to deliver personally to AMA representatives.
Even before the rally began, policemen and security guards arrived at the building and positioned themselves on its perimeter as the workers approached. As speakers addressed the rally and led the workers in chants, AMA security guards took pictures of the workers without asking for their consent. The guards also asked journalists who were covering the rally to leave the area.