ACTION IN DC WITH DOCTORS AGAINST GENOCIDE 6/4/25

On 6/4/25, Phil Brewer and Alice Rothchild joined others from Doctors Against Genocide for an Advocacy Day in Washington DC targeting Republic senators. We discussed the realities of the genocide and starvation in Gaza and the role of the US, and presented the congressperson or their staff with a prescription for ending genocide.

Midday, we attempted to hold a press conference in the Hart Building, but Capital Police prevented the event and instructed us to leave. We circled the large foyer 3 times, chanting, and as we were leaving, the police suddenly ambushed and arrested 7 healthcare providers. We held the press conference outside, videoed by Aljazeera and Press TV. The arrested folks were released about 2 hours later and paid a $50 fine.

Here is a transcript of the press conference statement read by Dr. Rothchild:

My name is Alice Rothchild.  I have worked in Gaza 4 times since 2004, most recently in August 2023. I am a member of DAG and JVP, a retired obstetrician/gynecologist, writer, and human rights activist. I work with We Are Not Numbers, a group that supports young Gazan writers to tell their compelling stories of grief, trauma, survival, celebration, & loss, to English speaking audiences. I have curated a weekly documentation of the health and human rights consequences of the bombs falling on Gaza, published on the JVP HAC website. (jvphealth.org) I am well aware of the consequences of this war to the human beings living in this 26 by 6 mile strip of land.

As an ob-gyn, a human being, and a mother, I have watched in horror, the rising casualties, now over 54,000, 2/3 women and children, and over 123,000 injured. Gaza has the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world. More children have been killed in Gaza in just 20 months than were U.S. soldiers in all foreign wars, from Iraq to Afghanistan, across 20 years. The total number of deaths is actually much higher, people killed by hunger, disease, forced homelessness, loss of parents, buried in rubble, or other war-related horrors.

I have watched the rates of stillbirths, premature births, maternal and neonatal illnesses and death steadily increase because of the lack of prenatal and postnatal care due to the deliberate destruction of health facilities and health workers, the extreme lack of food leading to chronic malnutrition and starvation, the destruction of almost all of the housing.

700,000 women and girls of menstruating age face a menstrual hygiene emergency. Because water insecurity affects 90% of Gaza households, women and girls face poor menstrual hygiene and lack of supplies, increasing the risks of UTIs, STIs, and long-term reproductive and GYN complications. Menstruation has become a source of shame, panic, and isolation. Israel prevents hygiene and protection supplies (sanitary pads, dignity kits, and soap) from entering Gaza.

On 5/24. Gaza pediatrician Dr. Alaa Al-Najjar faced an unimaginable scene at her hospital in Nasser Medical Complex when nine of her ten children, three months to 13 years, were severely burned and died when their home in Khan Younis was engulfed in flames during an Israeli bombardment. The tenth child was also wounded; her husband died.

I cannot keep silent as more mothers and babies suffer and die.  We demand a ceasefire now and the rapid deployment of massive humanitarian aid. Thousands of trucks loaded with food and medical supplies are waiting at the check points. They must be allowed to enter and distribute aid immediately through the well-established humanitarian channels developed by UNRWA, WFP, UNICEF and other groups. We must stop this slaughter now.